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Compound Genetics went into 2022 riding on a high and just kept on sailing along. Massive seed drops and a variety of people taking home trophies all over North America with their gear are seemingly commonplace for them at this point, but it’s still impressive.

We’ve had a front-row seat to their breeding efforts since the move to San Francisco a few years ago and then the eventual partnership with Node Labs where they phenohunt and stress test the new gear to make sure it’s commercially viable. From that work we’ve seen names like Jokerz, Red Bullz, and Pave explode onto the scene.

It’s fair to say Pink Certz was a bit of a dark horse from Compound Genetics going into 2022. Strains like Jokerz, Red Bullz, Apples & Bananas, and Pave were capturing a lot of the spotlight, all deserving heat in their own right. Nevertheless, it may be fair to say Compound’s pairing of Grape Gas and The Menthol had one of the biggest 2022s of the pack. 

Why? Pink Certz would break into Compound’s most elite ranks with a victory at The Transbay Challenge III in San Francisco. Our own Jon Cappetta and Ellen Holland were among the judges that day as Pink Certz took down some of the biggest names in California cannabis to come out as the top dog.

When we asked the team at Sense how many seeds they had to dive through to find their magic pheno loaded with grape and fuel notes, CEO Steve Griffith replied with a laugh. 

“We got one pack, so it was 13 seeds,” Griffith said. “We were pheno hunting toward the end of 2021. And it’s actually funny because we weren’t initially… it was kind of one of those strains that we weren’t even sure we were going to keep it.”

It was a bit of a finicky grower, but so is a lot of heat. The Sense team wasn’t going to let that stop them from providing the galaxy with new and exotic terps.

“Frankly when we went to go into the Transbay we had such a hard time deciding because we trimmed up what we wanted to enter and then we’re like, ‘Oh, let’s check out some of these Pink Certz and put the jars side by side,’” Griffith said of Pink Certz winning the head-to-head battle with Sense’s other potential entry. “We literally showed up to the event with both jars in hand and in the final minutes were just like fuck it. We’re gonna drop it.”

So why did Griffith go with that phenotype in the first place? He loves grape candy. He thinks their pheno of Pink Certz has heavier grape terps than any version of its Grape Gas parent. But there are certainly still plenty of fuel notes.

One of the things that helped contribute to Pink Certz hype levels in 2022 is there isn’t that much to go around. Sense is a small batch grower and only produces about 100 pounds of it every month. The process of getting your hands on it has only added to the mystique.

Much of the time the cuts people find from Compound gear are measured against what they have in the house from their hunts at Node Labs or with cultivation partners. With most of their biggest hitters they found the best version. I think it’s fair to say in the case of Pink Certz, Sense took top honors.

by JIMI DEVINE

We held our interview with Roskam in the Compound Genetics booth at Hall of Flowers while he and Green House CEO Joa Helms met with American fans. Roskam explained that Green House has some future plans lined up with Compound Genetics.

“We’re going to use some of our genetics with their genetics,” Roskam said. “So we’re looking at crossing the famous Exodus Cheese and some other things that we can’t speak about right now.”

Christopher Lynch, founder of Compound Genetics, told High Times he is excited to work with Roskam.

“Our connection with Arjan is in a league of its own,” Lynch said. “His knowledge of cannabis, worldwide experiences with the plant, and professional demeanor is truly impressive. I’m beyond excited for the Green House Seed Co. x Compound Genetics collaboration.”