A Brief History: It all started with the original Spice Blend. For years websites and manufacturers had been claiming they sold legal herbs that got you high. ‘Just like the real thing’ they would say. Wizard smoke, Blueberry Skunk, Mowie Wowie. The names sounded good but none of them delivered the kind of experience the maker claimed. And then came Spice.
A fluffy brown/green herb mixture with an extract sprayed onto the carrier herb. No real fan fair or excessive claims just a statement that read ‘Releases a pleasing aroma when burned’ The original blend had a few issues with how long it took to come on but it did actually give you a perspective change. You could get high from this legal herb! So the makers of Spice released ‘Spice Gold’ A similar product but considered to be a lot stronger. And they weren’t kidding.
The first time I tried Spice Gold I chugged back on 4 one hit cones and it slapped me fair between the eyes. Body tingles, a head high, euphoria, uncontrolled laughter, heavy eyes, a couch lock after a few hours and a solid sleep. The downside was a very strong residual mong hangover the next day that wasn’t that great. Still it worked and it was legal!
Other competitors caught on and the market began to become quite active with Dream, Space and other brands that had similar effects to Spice Gold. But just as quickly as they appeared someone in Germany discovered the extracts on these blends was some sort of analogue of THC, therefore could be isolated and legislated against. By this stage there were all sorts of blends available in NZ but Spice disappeared due to legality issues.
Now there are a range of new blends using new ingredients. None of the new blends contain any analogues of any illegal drugs. While they may not be quite as strong and long lasting as the original Spice Gold, they are completely legal and some can be quite enjoyable.
Ok so that the history, lets have a look at some of the blends on the market in NZ.
Name – Tropical Explosion
Appearance – Fluffy Light green in colour with small black (pepper like) bits. Didn’t really look very herbal more like green coloured lint.
Delivery – Smooth with a non descript taste. The best tasting of the Kronic blends.
Comment: - The high is very well balanced, with nice equal head and body buzz and decent duration. Has levels of both euphoria and warmth. IMO the best of the kronic blends with the best balanced high, duration and reasonable taste and cool smoke. One of my favourite blends
Rating 4.5 / 5
Name – Tai High
Appearance – Fine grind, brown in colour. Very consistant.
Delivery – Very Smooth with a pleasant herbal taste. This is the smoothest and best tasting of all the blends I have tried
Comment: - The high is very well balanced, with nice equal head and body buzz. Comes on quickly and has the warm and euphoria that some other blends lack. There was also a decent amount of product for 1 gram. The initial buzz lasts for 30 – 45 minutes and tapers slowly for the next 2 hours almost back to baseline. Personally I prefer a longer duration and found myself topping up regularly. But some poeple prefer the shorter duration so they can get on and do things once the high wears off. I have rated this blend slightly less because I would like to see this great high last longer without having to constantly top up but all and all one of the best on the market. .
Rating 4.25. / 5
Name – Green Puff: The Philosophers Stone
Appearance – Medium grind dark green herbal like mix with a strong chemical smell.
Delivery – A bit harsh but ok thru a water pipe. Does taste of some sort of chemical but I didn’t find it unpleasant.
Comment: A very strong blend concentrated more in the head than body. Some euphoria and quite a long duration. Initialy builds up quite quickly and peaks after 60 minutes but remains strong for a couple of hours before wearing off slowley. One of the longer duration highs of any of the blends I have tried. Only let down by the harshness and chemical taste.
Rating 4.25 / 5
Name – Rastas Ganja
Appearance – Medium grind green/brown herb like mix with a smell similar to Green Puff.
Delivery – A bit harsh but ok thru a water pipe. Does taste of some sort of chemical but I didn’t find it unpleasant.
Comment: - A very strong blend with a good head high and strong body stone. Comes on quite fast and the duration is good. Possibly not quite as strong as the Green Puff but better balanced IMO. A decent amount of product for a 1gram bag too which lasted me a couple of days.
Rating 4.25 / 5
Name – Aroma
Appearance –Light green herbal flecks with black pepper like speckles. Quite un-herb looking.
Delivery – Very harsh and tastes strongly of cloves. This blend seems to extract all the air from the lungs, sometimes resulting in a light head rush.
Comment: - Comes on fast initially in the head. Quite speedy for the first 30 minutes with some warmth and Euphoria but the buzz drops away quickly, too quickly IMO. Regular top ups are required which means more of that harsh foul tasting smoke.
Rating 2 / 5
Name – Space
Appearance – Fine grind, light brown herbs not unlike coffee grounds
Delivery – Smooth delivery with some decent taste. There are 4 different flavours. A great tasting blend!
Comment: - A nice rounded high that takes a little while to come on but has some warmth and euphoria with a medium length duration. Its not as strong as some of the others but its well balanced and mimics the real thing nicely. Let down by the amount of product in the bag. It just didn’t look like a whole gram to me.
Rating 3.5 / 5
Name – Kronic – Purple Haze
Appearance – Fluffy Light green in colour with small black (pepper like) bits.
Delivery – Harsh with a taste of cloves.
Comment: - While not as harsh as the original Kronic or Aroma its still raped my lungs of air and made me go bleh! Pity too because this blend gives a nice buzz. A duration that lasts for a good couple of hours before trailing off and 1.25 grams per bag means it lasts for a couple of days. While not as strong as Tropical Explosion or Green Puff this blend still rates really well. If only they could get rid of the shitty taste of cloves!
Rating 4 / 5
Name – Dream New Formula
Appearance – Medium grind of green herb like mixture. A chemical taste a bit like Green Puff but not as strong.
Delivery – A little harsh but I like the taste of Dream. Actually tastes like your smoking a herb and the residual smell backs that up.
Comment: - Dream has a similar high to Green Puff. A strong head high that build up for a good 60 minutes and begins to taper slowly after a couple of hours. A reasonably balanced high that can really kick butt if you have low tolerance. Certainly one of the stronger blends on the market but its easy to whip through a one gram bag. Less product than a 1 gram bag of Rastas ganja or Tai High.
Rating 4. / 5
There are a few others on the market that I have tried:
Purple Puff – His Royal Highness: I only rate this 3/5 due to the short lived duration. Its smooth to smoke and has a nice high but it just tapers off way to quickly.
Amsterdam Smoking mix – A very weird looking blend. Light flaky bits that give a small head high but not very strong at all. Disappointing. 1 / 5
Spice Gold V2 – This is the re-release of the original Spice Gold, but gone are the foil packs and it’s a replica of Aroma. Same clove taste. Harsh and short acting. 2 / 5
Illusion – Looks and Smells like Green Puff but I found the stone to be a heavy body buzz lacking in Euphoria. 1.25 gram bags is nice but it didn’t last long. 2 / 5
That’s about it. I will mention that the new age blends all seem to have cured the next day mong. There is only a small residual hangover then next day. No where near as groggy as the original Spice Gold and they all will get you high. The shorter duration blends would suit those who want to get a buzz on but but have stuff to do later. The stronger longer acting blends are for those who have plenty of time on their hands and want to be high for a while.
UPDATE: There are hundreds of reviews on all the best legal incense blends for New Zealand and Australia in the forum. Click this link to see them!
http://www.tripme.co.nz/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=12
Check out the very strong, very tasty new Tai High blends! Stronger, cheaper and better alternative to KRONIC!
