Budsapalooza '25: Pre-Roll sampler reviews

The highlight of every Budsapalooza event is getting to discover, connect with and sample brands and products that are either new to the Valley or new to you as a consumer. For those who took the chance to stock up on new products but don't know where to start, the Desert Sounds Magazine team is here to help with our in-depth reviews of the products we managed to get our hands on.

This is your one-stop shop (mostly) for where to start with your Budsapalooza pre-roll haul. (This review list will be updated as we continue to go through our stash.)

Cigaweeds Loosie’s “Premium Flower”:

Appearance – "Premium Flower” label, but no strain information on packaging–just that it's made with RAW papers. Poorly packed near the filter, very loose and the filter is too chunky to shift up through the paper to close the gap.

Taste – The initial dry pull taste was average mid-grade weedy taste. The taste is moderately harsh, and doesn't specifically taste like anything but mid-grade weed. Not "premium" tasting or feeling from the high. Notably not chemically at least, but doesn't seem to be high quality bud in comparison to other brands at Budsapalooza or in general that I've tested. Got considerably harsher as we went down the joint as the resin built up.

Experience – The high took a few minutes to really kick in, but again was not much special, albeit not bad.

Rating - 🌵🌵

If this was cheap enough in a store I might consider it, but only if my first picks are out. I probably would not recommend it to somebody else without a disclaimer that it isn't anything special.

IO Extracts’ “Yellow Zushi”:

Appearance – Very well packaged, with the plastic tube inside being sealed additionally, which was an unnecessary but nice touch. Nothing extremely notable in the smell aside from a slightly citrus hint to it.

Taste – Doesn't really have much flavor aside from the usual weed taste, but even that taste is fairly muted and it's a pretty neutral taste, I can just feel the smoke's heat. Notably, however, it is not very harsh, and you can see the THCA infusion melting along underneath the cherry immediately and consistently throughout the roll. By the end of the roll, it was still yet to actually be harsh even though the oil had turned to a DARK amber.

Experience – It provided a noticeable but enjoyable high. Our editor, however, said that this joint had taken her out in a way that–what I am assuming–is what Rick Sanchez meant when he said "Riggity Riggity Wrecked!"

Rating – 🌵🌵🌵🌵

Peoples Cannabis Co.’s “Pink Gorilla”:

Appearance – Smells super dank even though it's a plain flower preroll. Unfortunately, that's about where the positive notes end. It’s rolled a little bit tight, making it a bit difficult to pull.

Taste – Unfortunately, it tasted a little funky. After a few pulls, it was burning a little better, but at the cost of getting harsher the further it burned down and canoeing the whole way.

Experience – Doesn't feel like a terrible high, but the flavor is a bit concerning. Hopefully, the tightness is not a consistent issue, but I personally wouldn't go out of my way to get more and find out.

Rating – 🌵🌵