Some people know about the blue door on Hollywood Blvd, which on certain Thursday nights leads to the elite “Hollywood Strain Release Party” put on by weed brand Doja Exclusive. Directions to the blue door are given furtively through social media to weed insiders who like to keep up with the best brands in the game. Doja Exclusive is a much-respected indie brand with one of the best reputations in LA for amazing weed.
The Strain Release Party event is used to preview brand new strains, such as the recent one put on for the release of Doja’s Permanent Marker strain. Sometimes the event highlights strains by friends and fellow breeders of Doja’s. And sometimes, like last week, it’s a way to offer some special, select flower that is grown locally and hand-picked for bagging by the Doja team themselves.
Attendees to the weekly event show up to shake hands with Doja Pak and the Doja team and to get a puff of the limited drop of the latest strain. It’s a chance for enthusiasts to cop the best version of the product straight from the grower.
In the case of their most recent event last Thursday, Doja Exclusive relaunched two of their most iconic strains via freshly grown batches of the original genetics. Those strains were RS11 and Zoap. The crew also debuted several new strains in collaboration with Seed Junky’s JBeezy that they are testing out for release.
Doja.Ek says that the re-release of the iconic RS11 and Zoap strains was due to the demand in the market for the real thing.
“With a lot of unverified batches of RS11 and Zoap being released, we wanted the people to get a blast from the past. We wanted to remind them why we all fell in love with these genetics,” Ek said.
“These batches were QCed by Doja Pak and the Doja Gang and we felt it was perfect to have a re-release of these strains at our Hollywood Premier,” he said.
RS-11 was originally released in mid 2018 to much acclaim. Zoap was discovered a year or so later in 2019. Zoap took home awards at this year’s Zalympics in DTLA.
With a lot of unverified batches of RS11 and Zoap being released, we wanted the people to get a blast from the past. We wanted to remind them why we all fell in love with these genetics
-Doja.Ek
“Zoap is reminiscent of RS11 except for its old school detergent-like profile it has,” Ek said. “I’m talking about that old school Latino blue powdered type of detergent, nose and flavor,” he said.
“DEO did his thing in selecting this genetic. It was the best thing to follow up RS11, hands down,” EK said. Zoap was originally a collaboration between Doja Exclusive and DEO Farms.
Unique tester strains were also a hit at last week’s event, according to Ek.
“The testers we released with Seed Junky went extremely well. Permanent Marker is making its wave and Scratch & Sniff x Z Animal and Permanent Marker x Z Animal have been favorites so far and have been received well by our community,” Ek said.
It gives people a chance to mingle and network with other folks that share the same common interest, the best cannabis in the world. We want them to be able to connect and share their opinions about the drops we have coming. Without their feedback, this would all mean nothing
-Doja.Ek
“The Midnight Mistress and Sweet Retreat by Fiya Farma were two genetics that received incredible feedback. People lined up for that one all night and it was unfortunate we only had a select amount of those,” Ek said.
“We can’t wait to bring more to the public eye,” he said.
The Strain Release events have been a huge success since the Doja gang started them a few months ago. Ek says that the events are a way to connect with fans and show love.
“We are doing our part in giving back to the community we have built. We have strong supporters that believe in our brand and the hard work we are putting in. We want them to see that the work that’s being put in is for them,” Ek said.
He said that with the events Doja is helping to create a community and a culture around their brand.
“We want them to come out and bring their friends to show them this culture of cannabis–a new culture that’s much more than just about linking up and getting high,” he said.
“It gives people a chance to mingle and network with other folks that share the same common interest, the best cannabis in the world. We want them to be able to connect and share their opinions about the drops we have coming. Without their feedback, this would all mean nothing,” Ek said.
The Strain Release event happens most Thursdays in Hollywood. Follow Doja Exclusive’s Telegram for more information.
