Kushes are a family of cannabis phenotypes that were originally cultivated in California from seeds obtained at a Grateful Dead concert, believed to be related to Chemdog and Hindu Kush varieties. Kushes are some of the most popular cannabis cultivars and are known around the world.

“I love anything with Kush in it—they make me want to curl up and take a nap.”

What is Kush weed?

Like the Chemdog it is believed to be related to, OG Kush came from a bag seed from some bud bought at a Grateful Dead concert sometime in the early 1990s, though its true origins are shrouded in mystery. 

Leafly reports that “OG Kush was first cultivated in Florida, in the early ‘90s when a strain from Northern California was crossed with a Hindu Kush plant from Amsterdam” and then was brought back to Los Angeles by Matt “Bubba” Berger. 

Seed company Dinafem tells this story about the origin of the “OG” in OG Kush:

The first buds which resulted from this mix started circulating through the LA counties in 1995, and one person told Putz after tasting it that its flavor could only come from a mountain-grown Kush. Putz laughed and answered ‘this Kush is ocean-grown, bro.’ The name stuck and the strain has been known ever since as OG Kush. By the end of 1996, Putz sold part of his seeds to several growers in the San Fernando Valley, where we can find its current phenotype.

So while some sources still maintain the OG stands for “original gangsta,” there is little evidence for that, whereas there is evidence to substantiate the “ocean grown” moniker. 

Whatever the origin of OG Kush, it has become one of the most popular strains and families of phenotypes in the world. Kushes aren’t just popular for smoking, they are beloved by breeders as well, and Kush is one of the strains crossed together to breed Cookies and many other cannabis strains.