This year I’ve become a big fan of Runtz. I’ve officially joined the millions of pot smokers that have fallen in love with this strain. So far I’ve reviewed Strawberry Runtz and White Runtz – and both strains were amazing. I smoked Strawberry Runtz for about half a month after reviewing the herb, and it was consistently the best smoke I’ve had… and that got me very curious to review the strain that started this craze.

Runtz is a cross of Gelato and Zkittles, and has a reputation of being an incredibly tasty strain. It has been climbing in popularity since it was introduced in 2017, being hyped by several rappers including Yung LB, who is one of the owners of the Runtz brand. The fact that Runtz is an amazing strain led to it being crowned as Leafly’s top strain of 2020 – an honor I believe it rightly deserves.

My local delivery service got some about a month ago and that herb sold out so fast… but I was lucky to get my hands on some, and it was some of the best cannabis I’ve had since the Strawberry Runtz – fantastic taste and high!

Last week, while I was herb shopping at Desert’s Finest in Desert Hot Springs, I noticed this jar of Runtz from Madame Munchie…

the jar was on sale for $30, and I couldn’t pass it up. I must note here that Madame Munchie is an award winning edibles company that has decided to get into selling flowers.

Look and Smell

Madame Munchie’s flowers came packaged in a pretty standard jar with a label proclaiming this as “2020 strain of the year”, with Runtz written in a graffiti font. The THC label says this herb has 21.756% THC and a total of 26.663% cannabinoids. Not bad!

There was a small tamper-proof seal on the side of the jar which I opened and twisted off the lid. The lid didn’t seem very tight and I was surprised that there was no inner induction seal on the jar. No seal means this jar has been leaking moisture since it was packaged in January. Sure enough, the nugs were rather dry when I poured them out on the tray.

I have to say that dry herb is a pet-peeve of mine, and when I come across it in a review it really disappoints me. I bet when this herb was first packaged it was fire. The nugs still had an inner sweetness and stickiness when I cut them up that hinted how great this herb might have been. As a side note – I put a Boost humidity pack in the jar, and overnight it regained a lot of aroma – and the herb was much better.

Despite the dryness, the herb still had a very pleasant aroma that smelled a lot like artificial grape candy. The grape smell rested on a bed of earthy and diesel, gassy tones. I liked those aromas, and quickly loaded it up in my bong so I could take this Runtz for a run.

Taste and Effects

The immediate flavor from my first hit was pure artificial grape. Nothing but grape, and then a lot of coughing. I quickly took a second hit when I stopped coughing to get more of that great flavor. The second hit was full of more of that grape taste, with earthy and gassy flavors on the exhale. And when I exhaled I coughed like crazy again – and I did that on every single hit during the video review! I believe that was a bit of harshness from the herb being dry. (Note – once I refreshed the herb with a humidity pack, the coughing went away completely.) I took about four or five hits, and waited for the effects to kick in.

I did not have to wait long because the effects started to saturate my body after about three-four minutes, and the herb hit powerfully with a serious case of cottonmouth. The high was powerful, but not overwhelming – and it made my body comfortable in that way where everything feels like it’s slipped into the right place. The herb made me lidded from the inside, like I had a bandanna around my forehead, pulled low over the top of my eyes – Suicidal Tendencies-style. The vibe was laid-back, confident, and cool…

Some herbs make me feel “cool” when I smoke them. A true OG Kush will do that to me, and this strain had endless amounts of coolness. The herb just makes me feel like I’m on top of the world… it brims with confidence, and makes one feel like a million bucks! This is the kind of herb I like to smoke before going to an event because it had no-anxiety and a ton of moxie.

The powerful rush of the herb lasted for about fifteen minutes, and then I entered a serious chill zone – cerebral, contemplative and thoughtful, but not withdrawn into myself – I actually found this to be a good socializing herb.

The Wrap Up

This one was a winner – when it came to the effects. The Runtz experience is one I want to have again and again! But you might have noticed that this brand just got a four star rating. The dryness of the herb brought the score down… and I’m sure that’s why it was on sale for just $30. Note to reviewer – check the date on the side of the jar before you purchase.

As I mentioned, once I refreshed the herb with a humidity pack, the herb smelled and tasted better, the harshness of the smoke went away and because of these things the high was just that much better. This is why I always make sure I have humidity packs on hand!

Runtz is still very high on my shopping list, and I’m sure we’ll revisit this strain again before the year is up. I don’t feel like I’ve really had the penultimate Runtz reviewing experience yet.

One last note – I made sure to have water on hand every time I smoked this strain because of the cottonmouth. Water and Runtz – a match made in heaven!

Until next week, best of health.