Leafly combines smoking fat doinks with deep data dives to arrive at an unassailable pick for Leafly Strain of the Year each year. Few share our perch over 9,000 strains in the Leafly database, 8,000 store menus, and more than 10,000 news articles. We also have literal file cabinets full of new weed and we crisscross the world comparing strain trends with actual samples and vice versa.
Our goal? Amplify a virtuous cycle. Catch a strain on its ramp to exponential growth, and huck it into the stratosphere.
We also aim at something new and zeitgeisty. We love the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—but, sorry, Super Lemon Haze. We strive for Billboard’s Album of the Year, the Grammy Artist of the Year, and Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year—only cooler. We pick Leafly Strain of the Year.
Our research includes tracking the changes in a strain’s menu availability, search traffic, and orders year over year across the nation. We also try to pick something new that’s dominating the strain conversation and is legit tasty. Past Leafly Strain of the Year winners include Gelato, Runtz, Wedding Cake, Jealousy, and Permanent Marker. And we still stand by Dosidos. (Dosidos is tight!) Advertisers cannot influence a Leafly Strain of the Year pick.
Advertisers cannot influence a Leafly Strain of the Year pick.
The impact of Leafly Strain of the Year
Each year we try to strap a jetpack onto an already high-flying new strain. And we have a pretty good track record for it.
How did Leafly Strain of the Year 2023 Permanent Marker do?
Permanent Marker killed it in 2023! It became a top 10 strain nationally and stayed there through the end of the year.
We really captured lightning in a bottle with that pick, and a big reason it couldn’t be Leafly Strain of the Year 2024 is because it already won in 2023.
Permanent Marker is now in over 2,300 dispensaries on Leafly. It’s ranked No. 139 in menu availability. It’s ranked 6th for traffic to its strain page. Budtenders nationally favored it heavily in the Budtenders’ Choice 2024 survey responses. We’ve seen phenomenal Permanent Marker all year long, as well as new crosses of it.
How did Leafly Strain of the Year 2022 Jealousy do?
Jealousy did numbers in 2023 after we made it Leafly Strain of the Year 2022.
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Showing you dispensaries nearAnyway, Jealousy became the 24th most trafficked strain (by page views) on Leafly in October 2023, up from #98 in traffic one year ago.
Jealousy increased 100% in stores year over year from 1,313 stores in Oct. 2022 to 2,553 in Oct. 2023. It’s now the #93 most menu-available strain in the US, up from #319 a year ago.
Jealousy or its hybrids also took home at least four awards in cannabis contests in 2023.
For orders, Jealousy is the 48th most-ordered strain in the US now, up from #339 one year ago.
Leafly Reviews per month on the Jealousy Strain Detail Page jumped up 9X from a year ago.
Lastly, Jealousy or its hybrids also took home at least four awards in cannabis contests in 2023. Shout out some brands growing epic Jealousy in the comments.
Thank you to all the phenomenal breeders, growers, stores, budtenders, and smokers powering this golden age of cannabis.
For all the runner’s up and overlooked talent, remember what The Boss says:
“You can’t start a fire sittin’ ‘round cryin’ over a broken heart.”
Stay hungry, weed creators. We can’t wait to smoke the transcendent new things ripening in those grow rooms.
