America bites into apple season with Apple Fritter—September’s Leafly Highlight (2024)

You know what they say—an apple fritter a day keeps the anxiety at bay. That’s what they say, right? Well, they should.

It’s apple season, Leafly Nation. We got a stack of golden delicious in one bowl, and bowls of the Apple Fritter weed strain in another. We’re balancing the bustle of summer’s end with the tart, scrumptious flavor, and positive afternoon vibes of this lively hybrid.

Composed of a type of Sour Diesel (Sour Apple) and a type of Girl Scout Cookies (Animal Cookies)—this nine-year-old strain keeps gaining. It’s now a top ten hit in the US, from LA to Maine. Stores sell Fritter flower to prince and pauper alike in jars and joints, infused pre-rolls, and THC vape carts. The slightly-chill, hybrid effects go great with a brain break or some TV time. Watch “The Rings of Power” with your boo, or game with the crew.

Congrats, Apple Fritter—you are the Leafly HighLight strain of September.

Apple Fritter’s slow, totally organic, well-deserved rise to national stardom started in a garage in Sacramento, CA—only now do we see its full bloom. The hybrid has an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars from 295 reviews on Leafly, with the first reviews starting in 2020, when we added it to the database. Leafly reviewers get relaxed, tingly, and giggly on Fritter.

One said: “Super happy ‘build a fort’-type of high, followed with a really chill relaxed high towards the end. Felt artistically inspired.”

One in five smokers said it helped them with anxiety, while others use it for stress or dark moods.

“Calms me and gives me an IDGAF attitude (which is awesome for me because I’m always worried about everything). I love this strain!”

– Leafly reviewer

Maximum THC can make novice tokers dizzy and anxious, so start with a small slice.

“I’m an old-school Cali smoker all I can say is WOW,” said one reviewer.

How much does Apple Fritter cost?

Feast or famine—Apple Fritter delivers. Portlanders get their Fritter for as low as $4 a joint and $12 per gram dab. Out in Illinois or Massachusetts, expect to fork over much more: $50 for an eighth of low-grade popcorn bud in Chicago; $80 for a THC vape cart of Fritter in Boston.

Expand out and Apple Fritter crosses abound like: Alien Labs’ Atomic Apple (Fritter to Triangle Mints); Archive Seeds’ Fritter Licker (to Face-Off OG); Compound Genetics’ Grapple Pie #30 (to Grape Gasoline); and Your Highness’ Shady Apples (to Kush Mints #11).

Apple Fritter seeds

The independent Sacramento-area grower Lumpy made Apple Fritter in the wild west medical cannabis days of 2013 out of an Animal Cookies female to a reversed Sour Apple (male). Lumpy’s friend Shaun named her. They tried to keep her close, but good genes always escape.

“Apple Fritter was held tightly by a select few for a while, but eventually started making its way around to people all over the world,” Lumpy told Leafly.

Today, so many hot breeders work Fritter lines. Check out Clearwater Genetics and their Sour Diesel ‘Warheads’ project with the Fritter. Purple City Genetics’ Turnover ( Fritter x Watermelon Zkittlez) should bang. In-House Genetics’ Apple Jax (Fritter to Pancakes), and Bloom Seed Co’s Fritter Banger (Fritter to Grape Cream Cake) should also crush it.

Apple Fritter awards

Apple Fritter’s parents, the strain itself, and its progeny have taken home multiple Cannabis Cup trophies and other awards. Leafly honored Apple Fritter as a top strain to watch at the beginning and end of 2021. Today, it’s a top ten strain nationwide, all without a big rapper, or a multi-million dollar marketing budget. Great ganja sells itself.

Apple Fritter terpenes

Lab samples labeled Apple Fritter average high in the basic pot aroma molecule caryophyllene. But check out the limonene and pinene dominance. Those three together likely layer the tart apple over the buttery dankness we love.

Other highlights this September

Hey, who ate all the Fritter? We’re not mad at you. It’s time to branch out, anyway.

Apple Tartz

Leafly Nation, Fritter x 2020 Leafly Strain of the Year Runtz just makes sense in 2022. The captains at Clearwater Genetics have blessed us with super-trendy, well-executed Apple Tartz for the fall. It’s tart, fruity, creamy, gassy, and dark for that evening treat. We made it a Strain of Summer 2022, and we should see tons of it this fall.

Sour Diesel

Explore the sour dad side of the Apple family line with the famous parent Sour Diesel. This mythical, legendary, massively popular hybrid sativa has more energy, but less sweetness. Sour D flowers run smaller, greener, and sourer than the child.

Animal Mints

Keep it in the family. Apple Fritter’s mom, Animal Cookies, marries a minty dad (SinMint Cookies) to make Fritter’s half-sister, Animal Mints. Top breeder Seed Junky Genetics’ extremely influential cross continues to recode the weed world through seven-plus generations of elite progeny, including Kush Mints and Animal Face. This line’s ferociously high THC levels almost guarantee the munchies, so leave some healthy snacks out for your future stoned self. Or don’t!

That’s it for Leafly HighLight for September. Did you like them apples? See you in October for our next hit cannabis strain appreciation.