Everything You Need to Know About the Pineapple Express Weed Strain

Can’t tell the difference between White Widow and Purple Urkle? Wondering what exactly’s in the Blue Dream you just smoked? We've created detailed profiles for each of the most popular, sought-after weed strains, in order to help cannabis users everywhere understand the different plants they’re smoking, eating, or otherwise consuming. Up next: Pineapple Express.

Uncertain. A seed company called G13 Labs claims to have invented the strain, and at one point claimed it was a cross between Trainwreck and Maui Wowie, but now has it listed as Big Bud x Skunk (which makes absolutely no sense). We think it’s more likely that someone renamed a fruity strain following the release of the popular stoner comedy of the same name to ride the movie’s hype train. All signs point to a Cinderella 99 hybrid, a legendary plant known for having a complex rotten pineapple phenotype and a soaring sativa effect, possibly crossed with Trainwreck. Basically, we can’t say for sure what the hell this thing is, and seemingly neither can anyone else.
 

The clone that's passed around as Pineapple Express first appeared in California medical dispensaries, but has since spread to the rest of the world. We would assume it was California-bred, but the mysterious nature of this strain makes it hard to pin down. The seed company game is notoriously full of liars, so we hesitate to say any of them had anything to do with this variety.

Medium (15%-20%)
 

While the variety in the movie is a world-beating strain the likes of which the world has never seen, the real Pineapple Express is a rather mild variety known for being relatively non-intrusive. Rather than pushing your thoughts and body in a certain direction, Pineapple Express seems to go along for the ride, improving mood and mental state slightly while also loosening up the body. This is a good choice for newer users and those who can’t handle the potency of many modern super-hybrids.

While your local drug dealer is probably still passing off whatever smells sweet as “Pineapple Express” to prey upon gullible newbies, there's a definable variety of cannabis by this name going around dispensaries. It doesn’t smell like pineapples to our nose, and is relatively unremarkable overall, looking different depending upon who grows it and which seed it came from. Again, it’s tough to pin down this variety because of the lore surrounding it and the tendency for people to rename strains to meet customer demand.

PE is known for being a fruity variety to be sure, but whether or not it smells like actual pineapples is a matter of debate. Though reports online of a pineapple scent and flavor are out there, there's something to be said for the “placebo effect” of strain names, and it’s likely most of these plants don’t actually smell like pineapples. The version that floats around Colorado is a softly sweet variety with a fruity-floral tang.

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Ry Prichard is a freelance cannabis photographer and researcher who loves Haze more than just about anything. Follow him into the Colorado cannabis jungle @cannabisencyclo.