sparksandrecreation.ca
Overall rating out of 10:
8/10
Ordering & Pricing:
This pack was arranged via email, so I cannot comment on the web order process, but I do visit each site prior to reviewing and can at least say that the website is well organized, clean and fast. In addition to the THC products (flowers and concentrates), they have a good collection of creams and balms, as well as some CBD products. Flower is priced between $150 at the low end, to $200 at the high end, with many of the strains ringing it at the $150oz price point.
Communication & Packaging:
Communication:
I had a bit of trouble with emails from Sparks getting filtered into my spam folder via gmail, so just be careful of that if you are emailing them or making an order, be sure to check spam folders if it feels like you haven’t received a response. Other than that issue, Sparks is professional and polite by email, and I had absolutely zero issues in that department.
Packaging:
Shipping packaging was good, no smells or obviousness. The branding is low key and attractive, though the small plastic containers I received flower samples in are really bad for product drying, pretty much all of my samples were bone dry after a week. I daresay mylar bags have better longevity with respect to humidity The vape pens and packaging are all high-end retail styles.
Products / Photos:
It’s obvious that the flower samples sent to me were not the prime examples of those cuts; I would expect that anyone buying the higher end strains from Sparks are likely to receive much larger buds than I did for the purpose of a sample review, so please bear that in mind when reading my comments about the smaller bud sizes. That said, if anyone orders a $200oz from these cats and receives nothing but popcorn, I want to hear about it.
Since all of these strains were dry by the time of writing this review, I’ll refrain from talking about cure and vapour quality (all vapour was slightly harsh due to drying).
Green Crack:
- Genetics: Skunk #1 x Afghani
- Nose/Flavour: Skunky and savoury, both nose and tongue.
- Trim/Size/Density: Trim was okay, nugs were small (<0.5g) and they were highly dense little green crack rocks.
- Lift/BuzZ: The buzz of this strain is built right into it’s moniker.
- Potency/Quality: Not the most potent green crack I’ve ever had and the buds are on the tiny side, but its a solid stone, and at $150oz, I’d say it’s a good value.
- Overall: 6.5/10
Mimosa:
- Genetics: Purple Punch x Clementine
- Nose/Flavour: I find the terp quality of Mimosa hard to describe, its sweet and rich and complex… definitely the champagne of cannabis terps.
- Trim//Size/Density: Trim is good, size is small (<0.5g), density is medium.
- Lift/Buzz: Great uplifting buzz: clear headed energy booster with a bonus happy stone. Excellent daytime use weed.
- Potency/Quality: It’s definitely nice mimosa. Sparks and Rec has it marked as a $200oz quad, and I wish I had seen some larger bud examples so I could better judge that. In terms of aesthetics, it’s probably close to quad with all that snowiness, but I think I’ll only go as high as a AAA+, as I think most mimosa fans won’t find this to be quad potency, and everyone will desire larger buds. This is more of a looker and less of a performer in my opinion--the popstar of strains, if you will.
- Overall: 8/10
Dosi Pie
- Genetics: Dos-Si-Dos x Cherry Pie
- Flavour/Nose: Nose is sort of a skunky/spicy type deal, but I find the taste quite earthy/musty.
- Trim//Size/Density: Trim is good, size was popcorn (>0.5g but <1g), density is medium-high.
- Lift/Buzz: Loved the buzz on this one, it’s very spacey and psychoactive, and sort of reminds me of a good girl scout cookies buzz. Fun for activities.
- Potency/Quality: Sparks puts this one at AAAA, and I’d say they are maybe a bit high. If I purchased this cut, and it came as larger buds, was properly cured and sticky, then I would agree that it is a quad. It’s terpy, it has a potent, long-lasting stone, and it has good aesthetic appeal, but as far as what I received, again, primarily due to the small bud size, I will go only as high as AAA+ to AAAA-.
- Overall: 8.6/10
Blue Diamond:
- Genetics: BioQueen Genetics Proprietary (exact genetics unknown/unreleased)
- Flavour/Nose: Piney with a hint of varnish.
- Trim//Size/Density: Trim is good, size is popcornish (~1g), density is medium-high.
- Lift/Buzz: Daydreamy as all hell. I caught myself spacing out so many times that it just became funny after a while. In my opinion, this one would make a great anxiety reliever.
- Potency/Quality: Listed by Sparks as AAAA, and were I to receive large, well cured nugs in a purchase order, then I would agree and be satisfied. As is, AAA+..
- Overall: 8.2/10
Purple Duke Nukem::
- Genetics: Chernobyl x Chemmando x Something Purple?
- Nose/Flavour: Classic DN musty pine nose, and a super tasty creamy pine flavour. Seriously one of the best tasting and smoothest strains I’ve had in the past while.
- Trim//Size/Density: Trim is good, size is popcorn (>0.5g but <1g), density is medium.
- Lift/Buzz: I can definitely feel the caffeiney duke genetics, it makes my head race a bit, but there's more pronounced body buzz, so that must be where the purple comes in.
- Potency/Quality: Nice: It’s a looker, a smeller and a taster. IMO this one is a little nicer than the Blue Diamond, yet priced lower on Sparks website. Sparks lists this as quad, and again, if it were large buds or colas at a perfect cure, then yes, I’d say this is probably a quad, but as far as what I received, the bud size would immediately remove it from the running for that rating. I’m happy to call this a high trip and also say that at $175oz, it’s probably the best value among Sparks top-tier.
- Overall: 8.4/10
Watermelon Zkittles::
- Genetics: Watermelon x Zkittles (duh)
- Nose/Flavour: Terps for days, sweet and fruity on the nose and in the vape. This and the nukem were my favourites in terms of terps.
- Trim//Size/Density: Trim is good, size is popcorn (>0.5g but <1g), density is medium-high.
- Lift/Buzz: Indica dominant, highly sedative, maybe a tad couchlockey. Good night cap.
- Potency/Quality: Sparks doesn’t specify a rating but it is priced the same as the other “quads” in this review ($200oz). At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’ll say that if the buds were larger and the cure fresh, then it would be getting close to a true quad, but as is, AAA+ to AAAA-.
- Overall: 8.6/10
NOTE: before reading this section, know that I am not a Cart or CBD expert of any variety, so please take the following with a grain of salt:
Country Syrup Full Spectrum Honey Oil (CO2 Extracted) & B-650 Battery:
- Packaging: Fancy retail packaging; the battery and cart were packaged separately, and the cart box has a short break down of content percentages, though I’d like to see more detail within that breakdown (“other” should never be an acceptable ingredient listing). Comes with a usb charger.
- Flavour: The box lists the flavour as Sour Apple, with a terpene content of 3%. My lamentation is that these are not natural terpenes, and I am not a fan of food grade terpenes in my cannabis products. It tastes nice, I can’t completely complain, but its not natural tasting, and that bothers me.
- Viscosity: It has a very low viscosity, I can set it on the table for a minute and it completely slides sideways, pick it up and it falls back just as fast.
- Vapour Quality: Very smooth.
- Lift/Buzz/Potency: I find this cart has a nice smooth buzz.. It’s potent like doing dabs, but without the rocketship, so there’s none of that blasting upward or crashing down--smoother around the edges. It is certainly a hybrid buzz, maybe even a little sativa leaning, as I felt a bit of an anxiety after a few too many puffs.
- Performance: Smooth, battery is natively tuned to a really nice voltage/wattage/temp, and it seems to run forever.
- Form Factor/Carriability: I dig this style of pen. I know everybody is carrying them fancy click in magnetic deals, but I still dig the feel of a well built pen vape. It fits in most of my jacket pockets, its discreet and produces clouds quickly. Both the battery and cart feel very well made and the battery seems better quality than your average cheap chinese 510 batt, although it would have been nice to have a voltage control on this one. Despite having no voltage control, the hits are big and smooth, so I guess it hardly matters.
Diamond Distillates Pen: Birthday Cake Kush:
- Packaging: This pen comes in a fancy little magnetic box with a charger. One thing I really don’t like is not seeing a breakdown of the cart contents on the packaging, it states that it is 92.9% and solvent free, but beyond that is anybody’s guess. In the age of vape scares and dangerous thinning agents, an ingredients breakdown is a MUST.
- Flavour: I still get a falsely sweet flavour from this pen that I suspect is a cheap food grade terp to improve its flavour profile, and while it is a little more subtle than the country syrup pen, it's still there, it’s not my thing, and I’d rather see manufacturers stop adding it.
- Viscosity: This cart is fully viscous, you can leave it upside down for 5 minutes and it doesn’t move, that said, I haven’t had any clogging issues.
- Vapour Quality: Very smooth.
- Lift/Buzz/Potency: This one IS a rocketship. The first time I ripped this pen, it ripped my face off and I didn’t know who I was for about 45 seconds. It’s seriously potent at first, but it does taper back pretty good after 15 minutes or so.
- Performance: Great; the variable voltage on the bottom of the pen seems to work well, and I can get big clouds or modest puffs. Battery life seems more than adequate for all day use out at an event.
- Form Factor/Carriability: Slightly lighter and more narrow than the country syrup pen. That fact might appeal to some-I prefer the build quality and feel of the CS pen, even though it’s slightly larger/heavier. I do prefer having the variable voltage over not, however.
Focus CBD Disposable Vape Pen: Fuji Apple Strawberry::
- Packaging: Retail quality; magnetic box, shiny gold lettering-fancy fancy.
- Flavour: Fuji Apple Strawberry, I guess? Honestly, the box states that the flavours are “all natural organic cannabis terpenes,” but in 20 years, I have yet to try any fuji apple strawberry cannabis strains, let alone ones that taste this ridiculously sweet. So, I’ll just go ahead and call that out as bullshit. The flavour is nice, but it’s falsely sweet imo. To me it tastes how nic vapes smell.
- Viscosity: Low, moves around inside the cart as I spin it.
- Vapour Quality: Smooth.
- Feels: I’m not a regular CBD user, and I don’t completely understand the entourage effect that occurs between THC and CBD, but I feel like the CBD isolate somehow enhances my THC stone. Used alone, the CBD pen gives me a nice relaxed feeling, but used in conjunction with THC, I get more pronounced effects from the strains I’m vaping on.
- Performance: Fantastic. Pick it up, give it a pull, put it down.. The inhalation activator works really well.
- Form Factor/Carriability: Compact; about 3.5” tall, which is a good inch and a half shorter than most vape pens. Very sturdy and well built. I love the feel of this little pen, I wish I had ten just like it for THC.
Focus CBD Tincture: 1000mg::
- Viscosity: Like a thin cough syrup.
- Taste: Has a very faint taste of the coconut MCT oil.
- Effects: Hopefully something…. Anything.
Incentive for Customers:
There are a few strains listed as on sale, but other than that, I could see no indication of incentives or referral programs on the immediate website.
Conclusions:
At the high end, sparks and rec has some nice bud on offer, and it is generally priced near where it should be. That said, a paying customer would certainly be expecting larger buds than I received above the $175 price range. With respect to their sample packaging, I might suggest switching to sealed mylar bags or include small humidity packs. The vape pens and extracts are fairly high quality, but are priced toward the higher end of the industry for what they are, and could use greater transparency in terms of ingredients listings. Overall, I didn’t receive anything from Sparks that I wouldn’t share with a friend, and that’s a good thing. It appears that they know how to choose good clean flower and price it accordingly, and that is half the battle won. Next test is the dreaded Reddit ranting, maniacal customer.
Thanks for hangin’ out, buds.
-bing