This week I’ve been traveling throughout the UK and I’m reminded of l when I first bought cannabis in England. I was visiting with my parents and sister at 16, and bought some of seediest, shwaggiest weed near The Amsterdam of London, a local head shop. Things have changed quite a bit since then, and in this week’s Dispatch I am featuring a few of the people who have helped bring fire to the UK.
Karma Genetics is one of the most well known breeders from Europe, who for years had been focused on flavor and effect. While he began his career in the underground and on the forums, his time is now split between running a licensed cultivation facility in the Netherlands and his breeding and selection work.
Dubbed “The Dutch Coffeeshop experiment,” licenses were granted over the past few years to regulate cannabis that goes into the shops throughout the Netherlands. While he first became involved with the project by providing genetics, he eventually took on responsibilities as head grower and optimizing the manufacturing and post-harvest processes. While the project is supplying a few coffeeshops “People are the biggest issue - there is a lot of turnover and many people don’t have decades of experience”.
Karma began in cannabis in the 90s when he began working in a coffeeshop in Amsterdam. While there he noticed there weren’t a lot of varieties that he wanted to consume himself. “At that time grow shops would sell clones, but you only had a few choices on the menu.” Strains like White Widow, Citral, Super Silver Haze, and Northern Lights crosses were the only ones available, so he started popping seeds from Dutch seed companies to find unique flavors he wanted both for himself and for the shop.
While he first built his network on Overgrow, one of the original forums for cannabis growers, ICMag was where he began to trade seeds and clones all over the world. Quickly he began to garner a reputation for breeding and producing high quality products, and after winning a cannabis cup, another grower said "I see you making crosses, why don't you sell your seeds to me?”
After his original release of Jack Herer hybrids, he quickly started to focus on gas, chem, and OG. When cannabis went recreational in Colorado he moved to Denver where he was able to spend several years immersing himself in the expanding legal cannabis scene. After Denver he spent 2016-2020 in LA working with UK brands like Cali Kush Farms and Team 10. “There was a small group of people from London and younger UK guys that were just starting up at that time.”
“My breakthrough work that really got me going was with the biker kush.” A Hells Angels backcross, his Headbanger (Sour D x Biker Kush) became one of most successful projects and started to catch the attention of people both in California and overseas.
Because he is focused on the home grower and European community, his selections are made with flavor and effect first in mind. “Some of my stuff is not easy to grow, but that’s not what I am looking for. Bud shape, leaf ratio and ease of growing are low on the list of what I look for when selecting.
This Spannabis, be on the lookout for his release of Zowahh (Zkittlez x Sour D), Gold Digger (Kosher Kush x Biker Kush), and a hash focused line of Fresca Melon.
Subzero
Subzero has been immensely influential on the European scene, being one of the first to bring solventless to the UK. While he has made the switch to working on medical projects, his fingerprints on the legacy market remain as he brought American rosin tech to European hash makers.
While in California in 2017, he first came across rosin and saw that it was going to be an incredible wave. During his time in the states he was taught by several American hash makers and was able to return to Europe to hone his craft further while spending a few years in Spain and teaching others what he had learned in the US.
While he had some amazing teachers, "I also learned my craft by making mistakes. At first I was a trim bin hunter, and we really started seeing the potential of certain strains for rosin.”
Having grown his first plant at home when he was 21, he first started chasing after flavor by popping Dutch seeds like Super Lemon Haze at home. “My biggest inspiration and help in this journey is my mum - she has been incredibly supportive and has driven me to go for what I find passion in.” Having been an intensive care nurse for 40+ years she saw the real value of medical cannabis, and personally benefited, using cannabis for her arthritis. She continues to be an incredible advocate for medical cannabis.
While the first ever hash he smoked was old school Zero Zero and Caramello, the product quality has changed greatly since then. Nowadays he spends his time flavor chasing, selecting specifically for hash. “What we look for in a hunt is flavor and resin head structure - we are trichome farmers, we’re not looking for the biggest buds.”
To this day his favorite rosins are Guava and Z. He continues to work with an incredible network of tastemakers and connoisseurs to make final selections, and always keeps the patients in mind. As he explains “It’s not about me and what I like- it’s about what the patient needs most.
