I like to think I’m a pretty hip guy. My beard’s trimmed, I get most of the shit on Saturday Night Live. My memes are fresh. And when something starts attracting adulation, I want to find out why. So after visiting the third dispensary in a row with a jar of Mandarin Cookies, I decided to stick my hand inside and smell the commotion. Spoiler alert: It’s worth the hype.

This new, hot strain is a cross between an indica-leaning Girl Scout Cookiesphenotype, Forum Cut Cookies, and Mandarin Sunset, a sativa-dominant hybrid of Herjuana and Orange Skunk. Most of us can thank Ethos Genetics for this terpene match made in heaven; while there are a few versions from other breeders floating around in other states, the Colorado breeder has shared the wealth, making it available to both home and commercial growers.

Each bud of Mandarin Cookies hits your nose like a gust of wind, pumping out sour, earthy and Diesel notes with a doughy, citrus-heavy back end. The sweet, gassy combination is intoxicating before you even pack a bowl. Without much knowledge on the background of Mandarin Cookies (I knew it was a citrus-heavy child of GSC, which I’m very familiar with, so how surprising could it be?), I smoked a joint after breakfast one day, and it was like jumping off a cliff: The immediate effects were exhilarating, but that lasted about ten seconds before my body splattered across the floor.