APPEARANCE, AROMA, + TASTE:
APPEARANCE;
Mule Fuel that I purchased was only available 1/4 ounce “Small Buds”. This hardly mattered to me personally and I found that most of the “Small Buds” were of “normal” size; in fact, bigger than some of the buds we’d get in the late 1980’s.
The overall look is a frosty whitish light green replete with trichome crystals.
And at this level of quality the fact it was sold as “smalls” or “popcorn” buds or whatever mattered very little.
After decarboxylation (igniting with flame ahem) the ash of Mule Fuel can be seen to burn completely grey. This is indicative of a superior cure with little to no interference from left over nutrients etc. Maybe Fade actually flushes and cures their flower before rushing it out to Dispensaries?
Expect a neatly trimmed dense bud structure with a preceding aroma that rivals the original Grassroots’ Garlic Cookies. Wow.
AROMA;
Mule Fuel is VERY similar to the original Grassroots Garlic Cookies strain. It is an extremely pungent mix of French onion soup dipped in an odiferous petrochemical bath. It has a layer of skunk along with its deeper hashish kush aroma.
- Herbaceous lemon
- Garlic / garlic butter
- Lemon Balm
- Lipton Onion Soup Mix / wild onions/ chives
- Under layer of Skunk aroma
FLAVOR (INHALE / EXHALE):
INHALE;
- Slight taste of wild berries
- Deep lemon and herbal exhale
- Tinge of Chemical / Petroleum
EXHALE;
- Undercurrent of hashish
- A slightly nutty fruity flavor
PACKAGING:
I was pleased to see that Fade has made a point of keeping costs down for everyone involved by packaging their flower in a robust ziplock. There is some irony here since this may be some of the best herb I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing for quite some time now. Based on what I’ve seen make its way into a $60 jar I’d say FADE should be sold in a gilded hand carved box of Brazilian hardwood.
A CLOSER LOOK INSIDE:
Mule Fuel’s TERPO-CHEMICAL PROFILE:
The following is a breakdown of terpenes. Note the 1:1 ratio of Limonene and Caryophyllene (both 0.22% but feeling like it’s headed for 0.50% with higher ingestion. In micro to medium doses the Pinene leads the effect with the Myrcene acting as an accelerant here injecting more Fuel for the Mule. This high level of Pinene A can definitely transport you to another plane as time is diluted and a sense of detachment can overcome the novice. Tread carefully with Mule Fuel.
TOTAL TERPENE CONTENT: 2.59%
Beta-Myrcene: 1.69%
Alpha-Pinene: 0.42%
Limonene: 0.22%
Caryophyllene 0.22%
BetaPinene: 0.15%
Humulene: 0.08%
Borneol 0.02%
Fenchol: 0.03%
Terpineol 0.06%
Linalool: ND
Terpinolene: ND
TOP TERPENES: MYR, PIN, LIM=CAR
1. Beta- Myrcene: 1.69%
2. Alpha-Pinene: 0.42%
3. Limonene: 0.22% & Caryophyllene 0.22%
4. Beta-Pinene: 0.15%
Delta 9 THC: 0.59%
THCA: 31.31%
CBGA: 0.46% *
*This level of CBGA is definitely contributes to Mule Fuel’s ability to sedate in higher doses.
NOTE: It is worth mentioning that the diatonic terpene concentration of Myrcene and Pinene is one often seen with structural sativa strains such as Culta’s Poochie Love. Fade’s Mule Fuel delivers that same cerebral impact with an added layer of “stoney” physical euphoria. The combination is well suited to meditating and truly any activity or endeavor that may require, or can at least be enhanced by, your full attention.
CONCLUSION:
Mule Fuel, originally bred by PUG Genetics, presents a rather luxurious yet utilitarian cross of GMO Cookies X Mendo Montage with a robustly complex aroma and flavor preceding a very potent psychoactively stimulating and physically euphoric effect.
In micro to medium doses, Mule Fuel can transmit a cerebrally stimulating (and by extension, physically motivating) effect. This may come as a surprise for those expecting the “sludgy sedation often associated with the GMO Cookies lineage.
In my reviews of both Grassroots’ Garlic Cookies and Yuck Mouth I offer the same anecdotal report regarding this more subtle and often unappreciated cerebral effects of the GMO Cookies lineage.
THE LONG ROAD HOME (My Toke…)
Once in awhile a new strain will poke through the malaise of a greyed out landscape filled with endless Runtz and Cookies genetics. Usually it is an outlier in a Cultivators catalog. The first example that comes to mind is Strane’s Rambutan which dropped in to the market above 30% THC with an impressive overall terpene content percentage over 4%!
But, it wasn’t only the numbers that made Rambutan stand out amongst its peers; it was the sheer quality of the flower; its aroma, its density, and the cleanliness of the high overall.
I would say the same thing about FADE’s Mule Fuel which may be one of the most potent cannabis strains to grace Maryland dispensaries.
And, like Rambutan, Mule Fuel’s effects offer a very wide spectrum of possible effects with equal amounts of uplifting focused cerebral energy in micro to medium doses and enough sedation at higher doses to stop a rhino in its tracks.
A strain this powerful can be many things; meaning that it can provide a rich and varied spectrum of effects depending only on the dose ingested. So many times a strain like Mule Fuel’s (and Mule Fuel’s GMO parent as well) are relegated to the “sleepy strain” realm while the more cerebral effects tend to be ignored. This I believe is simply depends on the amount of Mule Fuel ingested.
FADE cannabis is a California cultivator who has recently made inroads to the Maryland market, notably with its STORY brand first, and now with products from what seems to be the parent company, FADE.
The 1/4 ounce of Mule Fuel was technically labeled “smalls” or “small buds” buds and there are many takers who tend to correlate this with low potency. There is of course no basis for this being true. In fact, for some of us, these “small buds” are what many are used to seeing in their bags.
Back in the late 1980s and on into the 2000’s, most of the commercial black market “weed” was broken down into smaller buds; most people didn’t think twice about it; after all it wasn’t marketed as “smalls” or “popcorn buds”, it was just….normal.
FADE’s small buds in this quarter of Mule Fuel actually weighed more than the 7 grams that should be in a quarter ounce. With the tare weight subtracted it actually came out to be closer to 7.5 grams which was a pleasant surprise.
Yes, there were times, especially when you’d be the one “cutting it up” and parcelling it out, that you’d run across large, even gargantuan cola-sized buds, which would usually get broken down anyway.
You quickly realize that larger buds have much larger stems and that all big buds are collections of smaller buds anyway.
I know that this indeed does matter to some consumers. And it is true that different bud sites may be more potent on others depending on And to be fair some cultivators’ version of small buds includes what many cultivators’ may disregard; the smaller “LARF” buds sprouting from lower on the plant. Some people have said that the slang term “LARF” means “Light And Really Fluffy” but I don’t believe this to be accurate and these buds of Mule Fuel were quite dense to begin with.
If these are FADE’s LARF buds I can only imagine how potent the larger budded eighths must be; I can say that the “Small Buds” of some of the strongest, most potent buds ever grown.
FADE seems to be breaking up larger more prominent colas into smaller more manageable buds. I say this because this is one of the most potent batches of buds I’ve ever smoked in spite of the notion that “small buds” being substandard when compared to larger buds.
Either way most would be fine with the logic of smaller buds being larger buds just broken down into smaller portions, if, and only if the buds in question weren’t just small and “LARF” to begin with.
This has been my favorite of the Fade strains that I’ve tried so far. The initial aroma, look, and ultimately the effects of this bud were very satisfying. For the money it really can’t be beat.
