Bubba Kush kept coming up in discussions at the Phoenix Cannabis Awards Music Festival in May. The attendees, cannabis connoisseurs of sorts, spoke on the classic and popular strain, saying it destresses them and helps knock them out when feeling restless in bed; the nutty, earthy, slightly sweet taste and coffee-esque aroma add to the calming effect. That sounds great to us. Since Bubba Kush is a perennial favorite — it stems from the Bubble Gum and Kush strains and has been around since the 1990s — plenty of local dispensaries carry it, including Arizona Natural Selections, Sunnyside Cannabis, and Local Joint by Zen Leaf.

Runtz is a hybrid flower that relaxes adult rec consumers and med patients alike. Originally from California, the difficult-to-obtain strain is now available in metro Phoenix. Local concertgoers able to smoke the meld of Gelato and Zkittlez say it provides a euphoric vibe that supposedly elevates the music experience to another dimension. It not only smells like tropical candy, but it also leaves a sweet aftertaste. The Leafly app awarded Runtz as the Strain of the Year in 2020, and a year later, it took first place at the High Times Medical Cup in Michigan in the Recreational Hybrid Flower division. Runtz is available at local dispensaries such as The Flower Shop, Sunday Goods, GreenPharms, and The Mint Cannabis.

System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian dropped his new line of 22Red concentrates — Papago Punch, Shred 22, Portuguese Kush, and K9 — in metro Phoenix in June. The "top-shelf and rockstar-approved" live resin concentrates are created with starting material supplied by Sonoran Roots, a Tempe- and Mesa-based cultivator. Also known as dab or wax, Odadjian's concentrates are sold in 1-gram increments in red-and-black-topped jars at dispensaries throughout the Valley, including CuraLeaf, Nirvana Center, The Flower Shop, and more. Locals say the Portuguese Kush sauce is a slightly sativa-leaning strain that provides a euphoric high perfect for just kickin' it on the couch.

For an upgrade on the traditional fruity pot gummy, check out Angry Errl. The medicated candy is made and sold by the folks at The Mint Cannabis, which has three locations in the Valley. The gummies are a blend of pineapple, mango, orange, and watermelon flavors, and are tossed in a sugar and spice mix, bringing a mix of heat and tangy-sweet flavors. Each package sells for $14 and contains 10 gummies in a 100 mg pack. You also get a small pouch of the sweet-spicy sugar mix and a lollipop for dipping. If you like the Angry Errl heat, the company also sells a line of weed-infused hot sauces in varieties like mild and hot buffalo, chamoy, and Sriracha.

Back before marijuana was legal in Arizona, we experienced plenty of homemade weed-infused baked goods, and none of them were what you could call tasty. So treats by Amy & Al's Edibles are practically a revelation. Amy & Al's has been on the local cannabis scene for a while, which has given them plenty of time to hone their baking and infusing skills. The company makes cookies, brownies, and truffles in a variety of dosages, plus other treats such as hard candies, gummies, and cannabis-infused honey. We regularly pick up the bags of mini cookies in flavors including snickerdoodle, chocolate chip, and peanut butter. At 10mg each, one is just the right dose for us, and all taste great. The chocolate brownie is the standout, though — rich and moist, we can't even taste the cannabis in the 100mg bar. Amy & Al's home dispensary is White Mountain Health Center, but you can find their products at dispensaries all over town by checking the website.

Truly, we are living in a golden age of cannabis innovation. First, they put THC into beverages. And now, Sweet Dreams Vineyard has taken the alcohol out of typically alcoholic drinks and swapped it for THC. The Scottsdale-based company offers two products, Cannabernet and Marijuarita, that mimic the taste of wine and margaritas, respectively, but without the alcohol that some consumers don't want. Instead, the two items are each sold in two sizes — 6.3-ounce and 25.4-ounce bottles — and each bottle comes in strengths ranging from 10 to 100 mg for the small size and 25 to 100 mg for the large size. The blueberry and pomegranate flavors shine in the Cannabernet, and the tartness of a margarita is on full display in the Marijuarita (that one is best served over ice). Both varieties are a great way to have a drink and achieve a relaxed state of mind without the booze.

Imagine this: Whatever you're eating or drinking at the moment, it has the capacity to get you high. That's the purpose of Sprinkle THC, a powder that turns anything into an edible. Created in Scottsdale, Sprinkle THC products are flavorless and odorless and claim to be sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan, and keto-friendly. The basic product comes in boxes of 10 tear-open packets and is available in 10- and 25-mg dosages. Plus, there's a sleepytime version that adds 3 mg of melatonin to 10 mg of THC, a THC/CBD combo option, and a 1000-mg jar for users to measure out custom amounts. Whichever version you go with, Sprinkle does what it says: adds some THC goodness to our onion dip, strawberry smoothie, or what have you. You can find Sprinkle products at dispensaries such as Curaleaf, Harvest HOC, and Jars Cannabis.

Local artist Desi B. Glass makes space-age type glass rigs to consume wax, concentrate, or oil — a.k.a. cannabis concentrate. He utilizes propane and an oxygen torch to heat the glass and a kiln to anneal the pieces and keep the pieces warm between steps. He creates a Dab Bot rig, a 7-inch glass sculpture that resembles a robotic monkey. He also makes an Abduction rig, a glass diorama depicting an alien in a spaceship hovering above a glass cow floating in mid-air, it would seem. The glass work is so detailed and out of this world that it commands between $1,500 to $2,500 per piece, and Desi still can't keep them in stock.

Stoney Chicken makes Sherlocks, the calabash-style pipes known for their dramatic curves and made popular by depictions of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Stoney Chicken, who likes to keep his given name private, makes the funky pipes out of glass artistically formed via fire and a set of shaping tools. Stoney's last few Sherlocks, which take him about three hours each to create, resemble ornate woodgrain. Stoney then posts the Sherlock photos on Instagram, drawing hundreds of interested stoner fans. Some fans become artistic collaborators who adhere their glass sculptures to the Sherlock. Earlier this year, Stoney Chicken won a People's Choice Award at the World Series of Glass in Las Vegas. Want one of your own? It's best to message Stoney on social media, as he travels all over the U.S. to sell his Sherlocks for $60 to $120 depending on size, and double the price if a glass frog is attached. And the Sherlocks are by no means his only glass creations — check out his Instagram to see everything Stoney Chicken is capable of.

#MSW is the hashtag for Mary Jane SmokeWear, the local apparel company outfitting the 420 movement since 2009. MSW's mission, according to its website, is to spread peace, love, and cannabis via dope art and chill vibes. One of their latest T-shirt designs depicts two joints that form a cross; another is a tank top that reads #dopesquad. On the company's Instagram and Facebook pages, where they've garnered over 10,000 followers, a model sports the company's new headgear in bright tie-dye patterned colors; the text underneath the brand name reads "POTHEAD." Mary Jane Smokewear isn't just splashed all over the internet; at a recent Marijuana Industry Trade Association event in Phoenix, one guy rocked MSW's new Ganja Turtles tee, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles parody that pictures four turtles smoking up in a van.