Disclaimer: Under Colorado law, the use of marijuana is restricted to those aged 21 and older or those with a valid medical marijuana license. Colorado State University does not allow the possession or consumption of marijuana, recreational or medical, anywhere on campus. The Collegian does not condone underage consumption of marijuana.

Video edited by Rick Cookson.

I ended my last review with a note stating that my next review would be a surprise. Well, I didn’t feel right surprising my readers without first surprising myself, and that’s exactly what I did.

Without a clue of what I wanted to review for this Roastin’ with Rick, I walked into the Infinite Wellness Center on North College Avenue and experienced the true anxiety proposed by their elaborate selection. During my pursuit, I came across the beautiful flowers of Mamasan, a 50/50 hybrid strain, and decided it would be perfect for this week’s review.

Including tax, the gram cost me a total of $16.44, and even though there was quite the line when I got there, I was able to get in and out of the Infinite Wellness Center within 15 minutes. In regard to customer service, they have a pretty good system over there.

Mamasan is the bud-child of the indica-dominant strain Colorado Spice and the sativa-dominant strain Skunk #1, and its THC levels range from 12 to 22 percent. The gram I bought was tested at 13.6 percent THC. Along with perfect hybridity in this strain is perfect coloring — the buds are pure eye-candy. The flowers hold a nice, light green hue with these gorgeous orange and almost red colored hairs reaching out in all directions. The THC crystals accumulating on the outside enhance its natural colors to the furthest extent, making each individual bud look like a piece of candy.

Yet for how utterly beautiful this strain is, the smell was pretty disappointing. I’ve read other reviews of this strain and there seems to be a consensus that Mamasan has some amazing aroma. I didn’t get any of that. The smell was pretty bland for the most part, with slight hints of something sweet — maybe eucalyptus or vanilla. Without any skunky elements to these flowers, I had to really try to find some unique element. The smell was mostly this earthy, vegetative aroma without any distinctive properties.

While the smell was quite the let-down, breaking the buds apart brought a wave of satisfaction. Some say the crunch from breaking off a piece of a Kit Kat bar is the sound of enjoyment, but for me, it’s the positive vibrations produced by breaking open a fresh marijuana flower. Mamasan does just that and does it with flare. Every time I broke a new piece off, it was music to my ears. And luckily, the Mamasan buds were perfect for breaking up and grinding with my hands — it was almost a spiritual experience. The only negative aspect of breaking it up by hand was that my fingers were coated in the exterior THC crystals that I mentioned above. I’m not one for stealing, but Mamasan gives its users quite the sticky fingers.

I used a Showerhead In-Cycler, courtesy of our sponsor, Kind Creations, to smoke the Mamasan, and let me just say that this piece is pristine. The showerhead percolator makes for incredibly smooth hits, and with the water-recycler right on the piece, there is absolutely no splash-back (i.e. no nasty bong water straight into the mouth). It’s not too big and not too small — the perfect size. Honestly, out of the many pieces I’ve smoked out of in my life, this may be my favorite so far.

Although the In-Cycler made for a smooth inhale, the hits of Mamasan smoke were still pretty harsh. After each toke, I felt my throat getting a little more irritated. It wasn’t too bad, and sometimes a harsh hit is worth the cough when the taste is supreme, but this was not one of those times.

The flavor was just as bland as the smell, and even more disappointing. The slight hint of sweetness in the smell was absent in the taste, the earthy aroma attended the flavor and for some reason, there was a slight smokey-barbecue aftertaste — not the flavor I generally look for when smoking marijuana or consuming any marijuana products. Other reviewers have ranted about Mamasan’s great flavor too, but I unfortunately can’t agree with their opinions, just as they probably won’t agree with mine.

The effects of both its sativa side and indica side were evident, but with the low THC content, the high wasn’t the most powerful buzz. To be fair, my tolerance is a little higher than most, so I took a couple of extra rips just to get the full effect. The high was physically relaxing, but this was juxtaposed by a relatively energetic euphoria. I was somewhat organized, but completely forgetful and zoned out. After the first hour or so, I became pretty tired, but because of the sativa elements, I wasn’t able to take a nice midday nap (there’s nothing worse than feeling sleepy and wanting to sleep, but being unable to do so because your mind is racing).

If it wasn’t obvious before, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Mamasan hybrid. The bud was aesthetically brilliant and smoking it out of Kind Creations’ Showerhead In-Cycler was pretty awesome, but every other aspect did not meet my standards. Disappoint in almost all directions.

Overall, I give the Mamasan hybrid four leaves out of 10 — the worst score I have given to a marijuana product so far. Hopefully the next marijuana strain or product will amount to something more than just face-value.

Thanks for reading and watching. Please keep reading and watching, and look for my next review online June 15, and in the Collegian’s summer print edition June 18.