Oriental Express

Oriental Express is a potent Sativa hybrid with some prestigious genetics. It is the product of Trainwreck – which itself is a cross of Mexican, Thai, and Afghani landraces – and a pure Thai landrace, created by breeder Billy Goat Seeds. These diverse and solid building blocks make for a strain with a complex flavor profile and nuanced effects. Oriental Express should not be confused with Orient Express, a Sativa hybrid from Ace Seeds that is also crossed from Asian landraces. 

Flowers of Oriental Express have a characteristic Sativa look, with spring green leaves in a loose, fluffy bud structure. The smell of the dried buds is similar to that of Trainwreck, a sweet and earthy combination of lemon and pine. The skunkiness of the Thai parent adds a pungent kick, making the overall scent more funky than herbal. When smoked, too, this strain has a pungent, cough-inducing taste more typical of an Indica. Notes of earth and dirt can be detected when exhaling.

The mostly cerebral high of this strain creeps on slowly. Users describe little sense of heaviness or body stone and instead experience an energizing head rush. Although similar to the clearheaded high of Thai, Oriental Express feels even more supercharged, with the potential for a disorienting sensation of “mindrace” – frantic, speedy thoughts that the user may not be able to control. Under the right circumstances though, the cerebral focus of this strain can be beneficial for attention deficit disorders. Oriental Express is a strain made for daytime use, with its powerful, mobilizing effects.

Although Oriental Express has a long time to maturity – 9 to 10 weeks indoors and a late October harvest outdoors – the yield of buds can almost triple during flowering. As such, it is recommended that growers top off plants during the vegetative cycle so that as much light can reach the lower branches as possible.

Although this strain’s name alludes only to its Asian ancestry (of which it has a double dose, with Thai landraces in both parental lines), Oriental Express is an amalgamation of many different commercially viable landraces. These stable and varied genetics make for a potent experience – they also make Oriental Express valuable as a parent strain for further crossbreeding.