Meet the daddy of Granddaddy Purple

Granddaddy Purple is a living legend. Personally, it was the strain that defined my transition into adulthood, from going non-verbal before first-period calculus to unwinding after long workdays. More than two decades after its release, GDP maintains its aspirational role, celebrated for its striking violet hues, candy-grape aroma, and deeply relaxing effects.

I sat down with creator Ken Estes during a torrential downpour at Mary Jane Berlin to talk about the origins of Granddaddy Purple, and how a magical Native American cultivar became one of the most influential strains in modern cannabis history.

Granddaddy Purple

Popularized in 2003 by Ken Estes, Granddaddy Purple (or GDP) is a famous indica cross of Mendo Purps, Skunk, and Afghanistan. Other people claim it is Big Bud x Purple Urkle. Either way, this California staple inherits a complex grape and berry aroma from its Purps and Ghani heritage. Its potent effects are clearly detectable in both mind and body, delivering a fusion of cerebral euphoria and physical relaxation. While your thoughts may float in a dreamy buzz, your body is more likely to find itself fixed in one spot for the duration of GDP’s effects.

Leafly: Tell me how you first got into cannabis.

Ken Estes: I first got into cannabis a long time ago, in 1976. I had been injured in a motorcycle accident and was left paralyzed. Before that, I had never really used cannabis. A lot of my friends smoked in high school, but I didn’t.

After the accident, I spent about six months on prescription pills. Nobody talked about cannabis as medicine back then. I was in rehab with a lot of Vietnam veterans, guys in wheelchairs, missing limbs, really traumatized by the war. One day they called me over and said, “Try some marijuana.”

At first I was hesitant. But then I thought, I’m already taking all these pills, what’s stopping me now?

So I smoked it. It changed my life that very night. I slept through the night for the first time. I woke up hungry and actually wanted to eat. That’s when I realized cannabis was medicine. It gave me an appetite. It helped me sleep. Those things are incredibly important when you’re recovering.

That all started in 1976. I’ve been arguing with people that cannabis is medicine ever since.

How did you get into breeding?

I started growing almost immediately after that. Back then, people were giving me Skunk, Panama Red, Thai Stick, all those legendary strains. I fell in love with cannabis.

I’d save the seeds and grow my own versions. From around 1977 on, I wanted to control the genetics myself. 

Not all cannabis is medicinal. I’ve smoked plenty that doesn’t do much for me. But every once in a while I’d find something that really worked, and it would make me think, Wow. I’d start singing, whistling, feeling genuinely happy. That’s what I was always chasing.

Tell me the story of Granddaddy Purple. How did it come about?

I’d been hauling weed for years, working the movement. I’m an activist. Then I got lucky. One day, a guy whose house I’d helped save told me he wanted to show me something special.

It was called Purple Medicine, but it wasn’t grown commercially because it only yielded about a pound per light. The Indians had it, the Pomo, up in Humboldt. So I drove up to see it.

The first pound I picked up looked like Velcro. Every bud was stuck together. It looked like a bowling ball. You could’ve turned the bag upside down and that bowling ball would’ve rolled right out without losing a single nug.

Granddaddy Purple is typically pulled off the shelf for consumers looking to combat pain, stress, insomnia, appetite loss, and muscle spasms.

Right away I thought, Man, this is like the grandpa of all weed… Then I caught myself and said, No…it’s like the Granddaddy.

That’s where the name came from. Granddaddy Purple. Then I brought it down to Oakland. Within a month, we had lines around the corner.

Did you alter it or cross it with anything, or was that the original cut?

Over the next two years, I made a big decision. I tore out all my other strains and focused exclusively on the purple. That’s what really built Granddaddy Purple. I dedicated everything to it.

Now it’s everywhere. It’s in movies. In Pineapple Express, there’s a scene where one of the guards mentions “Granddaddy Purp.” On Weeds, one of the early episodes has “Granddaddy Purp” written on the menu. It just kept growing in popularity somehow.

To this day, I still believe it’s one of the best strains I’ve ever smoked.

Medicinally… it’s just wow.

What year was that?

2003.

That makes sense. I was in high school around then, and everyone was smoking it.

I’m always surprised how many people tell me that. I thought it was mostly going to medical patients, but then I hear all these younger people say, “That was the weed we smoked in high school.”

Were you in Humboldt then?

I was based in the Bay Area. I launched Granddaddy Purple in Oakland, on Telegraph Avenue.

Is there anything else you’d like people to know?

We persevered. People tried to stop us, but we kept going. I think people are going to like this story. I’d do it all over again if I had to. I took a big hit, though. I used to live in mansions. I was making millions. Then the federal government took it all.

You got raided?

Three times in four years. 2005, 2007, 2008. 

Did you have to go to jail?

No. I eventually won my federal case, but while you have a federal case hanging over your head, nobody wants to work with you. Everybody’s afraid. For about ten years I couldn’t really do anything. Then I finally won my case in 2018.

Right after that, the pandemic hit, so now I’m relaunching. The world needs this medicine again. I smoke a lot of cannabis today, and honestly, it’s not as good as mine.  People say cannabis is stronger and better now. But no, it’s not.

I hear people say all the time that they don’t like cannabis anymore because it makes them anxious.

Exactly. It’s not the same cannabis. Cannabis is medicine, and if you do it right, they’ll love it. 

It’s our responsibility to show people that. Instead of handing someone a giant joint and saying, “Smoke this,” maybe tell them to take one hit. Help them find what works for them.

Once someone finds the right strain, they’ll have that same moment I had.

They’ll say, “Oh, wow.” Just like I did.