Under the previous rules, DC medical marijuana patients had to choose a single dispensary to work with when they got their cards, so the Gentleman was unable to visit Capital City Care until reciprocity kicked in. CCC is vertically integrated, though, and their flowers can be found in the other shops, so I've had several strains from Cap City (and their sister corp, Apelles, too). I liked 'em ok, but none made their way into my regular rotation, which were mostly grown by Abatin or Liberty. I wanted to see what the flowers would look like a year-plus later direct from the source, so the last time I found myself stuck in traffic on North Capitol St with time to spare, I took a Gentleman's Detour and picked up some truly magnificent Chocolope. This was the first time I experimented with the new reciprocity law that allows me as a Maryland medical cannabis patient to visit any of the DC dispensaries (the single dispensary restriction on DC patients has also been lifted). It was just as easy as visiting any Maryland dispensary, which was particularly impressive since I haven't gotten around to getting a physical card yet, though I think there's some significant benefit to having one. I just carry around the print-out of my certification that Allegany gave me and produce it upon request, no issues. Cap City got me logged in and sent me off to the budtender in their cozy back room in short order. The selection of products these days still leans heavily toward their in-house products, but they've diversified their offerings to include concentrates, tinctures, vape cartridges, etc and have more strains to offer between Cap City and Apelles.
Caption: Glueberry
See, DC still caps the output for each medical marijuana grower to 1,000 plants, which is pretty small for a professional grow operation. My professional guess is that they grew Apelles as a distinctly separate but related entity to get around this restriction. I mean, it would have been cool if they let some other organization have a shot at a license, but it's clever, and allows them greater control of quality and cost, so respect. I've heard it argued that the plant count limit should be raised, but I've also heard of surplus product just sitting around at the cultivators unsold. It's a question of patient participation in the program, which is really low- the latest DOH report says there's only 5500 patients enrolled- which isn't enough to grow economically, while the high costs prohibit more patients from signing up. It's an interesting conundrum for the Freakonomics crowd in its current state, but easily solved once Congress stops screwing DC out of the industry its citizens voted for and the medical dispensaries are all handed recreational sales licenses. Alright, since everything at Capital City Care is pre-packaged, there was no opportunity to smell anything before I purchased. I'd have to rely on the budtender's recommendations, so I let her know that I was looking for flowers with an amazing scent profile, no pressure. The Chocolope she pointed out definitely met the Gentleman's lofty expectations. My batch smelled more like Skunkalope- a rich, sour funk with a distinct cantaloupe aroma just beneath it. It is sublime. The cantaloupe really comes through in the flavor of this exceptionally smooth smoke. The buds themselves have terrific bag appeal. My eighth was mostly three well-manicured, light green nugs sprouting bright orange hairs and glittering with trichomes like giant, smokable emeralds, harvested by adorably burnt-out elves, presumably with funny hats, singing songs as they fill their baskets with beautiful
Giggle Berries for you and for me...
Caption: Chocolope
Uhh, right, so as you can tell, Cap City's Chocolope puts me in a great mood. This sativa exhibits a pronounced body high. I don't feel restless or jacked up. Instead, my stamina bar has quietly refilled and my Special Moves are available again, should I require them. Wunderbar! Chocolope also features a classic Haze effect that prevents anxiety by short-circuiting focus and memory. You might forget where you put your keys, but you also might forget for a few minutes that the President is a treasonous flesh muppet instigating nuclear war on Twitter to distract us from the guys actively engaged in cyber-warfare maneuvers against our republic, so it's a net positive. Anyway, it might not be the best for filling out your TPS reports, but if you can sneak past Lumbergh, you'll find Chocolope an excellent strain for socializing, perhaps at your favorite flair-encouraged chain restaurant, or with a nice waitress that also loves kung fu. Who knows? It's summer, baby, get out and enjoy the country before it becomes a radioactive, mutant-infested wasteland! Just keep the PIP Boy in the dash, yeah?
Caption: When the packaging looks better than what's in it...
Capital City Care's Chocolope earns the Gentleman's highest recommendation. In fact, I actually used these flowers as an example of superb quality at one of my consulting gigs recently. They really are that good. The Glueberry gram I got for free with my purchase was also quite nice. The pull-snap rosin came up 50/50- the Ghost Train Haze they had on sale was decent, but the Cannalope Haze was rough, so these need some further work, and demonstrate the need for display jars. Even sight unseen, though, I wouldn't hesitate to stop by and grab another batch of flowers to try out.