Veritas Tart Pops #3 Flower Strain Review

When the problem is a need for some real indica-leaning flower, Veritas’ Tart Pops #3 is the solution. These buds had more than meets the eye with the wonderful qualities that emerged once broken up in a grinder. This strain is a mild smoke but a heavy hitter in the effects department, inducing couch-lock, munchies, and lifting stress like a true indica does.

Looking at just the outside of this flower, it had an overall dark green hue woven together with purple calyxes and caramel colored pistils. Lightly sprinkled across all nugs, the trichomes were sparkly and gold, especially when shining a light on them. I wouldn’t use the word “frosty” to describe the trichome coverage here, but they were definitely present and visible to the naked eye. 

These Tart Pops #3 nugs, which came in a black Veritas branded jar, were not dry or crispy by any means. Without having a humidity gauge, I could tell by the just right, “Goldilocks” density that it was grown, handled, and cured with care. Ultimately what got my undivided attention though, was the gorgeous purple hue that dominated the overall color after breaking a few nugs down with my grinder. It was as if breaking it down and exposing the bud to more oxygen turned it purple, sort of like how coconut water turns pink with oxidation. While I know this is not the case with this flower, it was surely an entertaining high thought.

While the aroma of the jar we received was on the mild side, it still had a very fresh and pleasant essence. Given the parentage of this strain, I expected to be smacked in the face with a pretty dank wave upon opening the jar, however that wave I was expecting didn’t emerge until after I had broken up the flower with my grinder. When I unscrewed it after breaking up 3 medium-small sized nugs, not only was the purple impressive, but the sweet skunkiness that met my nostrils was exactly what I was hoping for. While I didn’t capture much of the Tangie Zkittles orangey-candy aroma notes, I certainly picked up on the earthiness from the Skunk and the sweetness of the Purple punch.

As previously mentioned, I ground this flower up before burning it. This time, I decided to use my approximately 3 inch long glass chillum, which was freshly cleaned for this purpose. I packed the chillum full of ground flower, which was pretty much entirely purple, and lit it. It burned incredibly clean with some nice white smoke, leaving a light gray ash behind. 

It was difficult for me to grasp much of a flavor from this flower other than smoky, earthy notes and some slight skunkiness with hints of black pepper. Nonetheless, the overall mouthfeel was outstanding in that the smoke was milky smooth and very mild on the throat. I was left with a bit of a skunky aftertaste which was expected and paired accordingly with the skunk notes. 

It’s strains like these that sway me to believe there’s actually some validity to the indica-hybrid-sativa spectrum. Talk about a textbook indica! Before I could even set the chillum down after the first hit I was blanketed with a sense of stress relief. This started in my neck and shoulders, where I felt my muscles release tension slowly allowing my arms to relax. What was interesting to me about this one, especially compared to the Veritas Strawberries N Cream I reviewed, were the linalool test results on each and how that made an impact on the effects for me. The Tart Pops #3 came in at 0.11% linalool while the Strawberries N Cream tested at 0.02%. With linalool, which is also found in lavender, being a terpene that induces calmness and relaxation, this small percentage difference was noticeable.

I smoked this flower around 5:30 PM on a weeknight, which was my first consumption of the day. I ate an early dinner prior so that the urgent munchies wouldn’t come pounding on the door. I’m glad I did, because I didn’t feel very motivated after smoking this. I’d definitely recommend this one as a night cap or maybe even a pre-flight relaxer. Whenever you choose to consume it, choose wisely because it WILL stone you out.