Staples Center OG

Staples Center OG

We don’t think we’ve ever purchased a strain named after a building before, but this marijuana bears the name of a local landmark that we simply couldn’t pass up. Besides being home to a litany of local sports teams, would the Staples Center also be the home of an awesome high? We were about to find out.

Appearance 5/5
This flower is absolutely dazzling, and we’re not just talking about the crystals covering the leaves. Although, there are plenty of crystals to be seen. The leaves, themselves, are a shade of medium green, with orange wisps threaded throughout. Under the right light, this plant looks almost blue-green. Besides that, the leaves were spread out, dry, and easily broken apart, giving the plant a wonderful, wide-open quality that looked like it was showing off for us.

Aroma 5/5
One of the finest qualities of this flower was its fragrance. We found this bud to be very aromatic, with a complex scent profile that contained hints of clove, along with something that was approximating the smell of fresh parsley. It was an odd bouquet, but one that we found quite refreshing and enjoyable.

Taste 3/5
Unlike the aromatics of this flower, the taste of the smoke wasn’t as strong, or as complex. As we puffed away, we mostly tasted a neutral flavor that wasn’t too distinguishable. The aftertaste to the smoke leaned acrid, as well. To be fair, it wasn’t bad, it was just disappointing. This plant had passed our sight and smell test with flying colors, but we were expecting a lot more from its taste. Too bad.

Effect 4/5
This visit to the Staples Center gave us a great feeling. This is a solid Indica strain that delivers a nice, even, not too heavy-handed high. It produced waves of serenity in us, making us feel blissfully aware of our surroundings. Due to the strain’s (somewhat) mild effects, we think this Indica might be suitable for a daytime session, wherein you need to relax, or adjust your attitude, without looking spacing out on the couch for hours.

When we think of the Staples Center, there are plenty of things that jump to our minds -- hockey, basketball, crowds, escalators, expensive nachos, airport-priced beers -- but now we’ve got a new association: awesome bud. This strain produced a relaxing, light-hearted effect that would be perfect to smoke before an activity, or possibly even before a trip to the Staples Center, itself. Just watch out for those concession stand prices. Unlike this strain, they’re not always so reasonable.

If you’re heading to, or from, a basketball game (or any game, really) and you need something to blaze, this shop is your spot.

Staples Center OG (Indica) - $10/g, $25/8th

Address:
1135 Venice Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90015
Phone number: (323) 979-5892
Hours: 10am - 11:45pm, 7 days a week 

Location is everything. The neighborhood in which you reside doesn’t just affect your life circumstantially, but it has the potential to influence you in more powerful ways, than you can influence it. Even worse, when you’re a bad fit for your hood, you can stick out like a sore thumb. Or worse, be forced to move.

The neighborhood of Pico-Union is a vibrant, working class area near downtown Los Angeles. There’s so much great food here that lots of citizens become vendors by dragging a grill out onto the sidewalk, and going into business for themselves. It’s a friendly place full of color, music, and life. And Downtown Fantastic 20 Cap (or, DTF 20 Cap) is a dispensary that fits perfectly into this neighborhood.

Considering that this shop is about a mile away from the STAPLES Center (home of the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, Sparks, and Kings), it’s not surprising to see the waiting room decked out in those familiar purple and yellow colors. The color scheme continues inside, where the purple walls are a backdrop for a large, impressive street-art style mural of a smoking Lakers fan on the wall.

There were several budtenders working when we arrived. They were all friendly, and as customers flowed through the shop we noticed there were a lot of regulars dropping by. People were being called out by name, and there was a lot of small talk flying around. We were impressed by all the repeat customers, especially since there’s no greater way to endorse a place of business than by repeatedly supporting them. But it made sense to us, since our budtender was not only chill, but super-helpful in setting us up with flower.

We saw several plants on this visit, picking them out completely by random, or solely based on how amusing the name was. We admit that this strain was picked on name alone, but every so often, this lottery pays off - and it definitely paid off today when we took home some Staples Center OG.