Gelato: Cultivar Profile With Sources, Lineage Claims and Lab Data Limits

Gelato is the name of a cannabis cultivar (commonly called a strain), and it is also sold under several related numbers and nicknames. This page keeps documented facts apart from reported and marketed claims. It is information only. For how these pages work, see how cultivar profiles work.

Evidence labels used here: marketing claim means a statement from sellers or media without independent testing; insufficient evidence means too little to judge; Proper evidence not found means we looked and found nothing usable.

Identity, aliases and name conflicts

Gelato is reported to be a cross of Sunset Sherbet and Thin Mint, a Girl Scout Cookies phenotype (a plant variant).[1][2] Two sources agree on those parents, but both are secondary sources and neither shows breeding records. See also the Girl Scout Cookies profile.

Breeder attribution is reported. A cannabis news site credits a partnership between a company called Cookies and Bay Area growers called Sherbinskis, and quotes breeder Mr. Sherbinski from a 2017 interview.[1] Because this is a news report and not a breeder document, confidence is "reported."

Names conflict. The news site says the phenotype called Gelato #33 is popularly known as "Larry Bird," an homage to a basketball jersey number.[1] A strain encyclopedia instead lists "Larry Bird" and "Gelato #42" together as other names for Gelato.[2] So a number or nickname may point to different plants depending on who is using it. Read more at cultivar names, aliases and naming conflicts.

Classification

The strain encyclopedia calls Gelato an evenly balanced hybrid.[2] That is a retail label. Large chemistry work on tested products found that commercial labels such as indica, hybrid and sativa do not consistently align with measured chemistry.[3] See why indica and sativa labels do not reliably predict effects.

Cannabinoid dominance: in the one laboratory dataset below, every cultivar was a high-THC sample set (more than 10 percent THC by a lab method; individual results not shown), so Gelato samples there were THC-dominant.[4] This does not tell you about any other batch.

Appearance

A strain encyclopedia, citing growers, describes dark purple buds with orange hairs and a coating of resin crystals.[2] This is a general, attributed description; appearance varies.

Aroma and measured terpenes

Reported taste and aroma: sweet, fruity and creamy.[2]

Measured data come from one dataset. A California testing laboratory analyzed samples that a single medical dispensary submitted between February 2015 and February 2016, using gas chromatography, and recorded the cultivar name the client supplied.[4] For five samples labeled Gelato (milligrams per gram, mean plus or minus standard deviation), limonene was largest at 9.1 plus or minus 1.6, followed by linalool at 3.1 plus or minus 0.9, beta-caryophyllene at 2.1 plus or minus 1.4, myrcene at 1.8 plus or minus 0.6, beta-pinene at 1.6 plus or minus 0.2 and humulene at 1.1 plus or minus 0.3.[4] The authors reported that Gelato was dominated by limonene with comparatively low myrcene, and tended to have the highest linalool among the cultivars they tested.[4]

Five samples from several producers is a small set, and it is from 2015 to 2016. Gelato products sold now may be different plants under the same name. See limonene and linalool.

Potency

Verified batch data was not available, and composition varies. The terpene paper reports terpenes and only a threshold for THC, and the other source we read is descriptive. Seller pages give THC percentages, but they are not independent laboratory results for a stated batch, so none are repeated here. Learn how to check a real report at how to read a cannabis COA.

Reported experiences

Consumers quoted by a strain encyclopedia say effects come on quickly and include relaxation with mental stimulation.[2] This is anecdote. It is not controlled research and not a promise of any effect.

Research

Proper evidence not found for clinical research on Gelato by name. We searched a biomedical literature index for the name with cannabis and trial terms and found nothing. Pages on THC and terpenes in cannabis cover general science without validating this cultivar.

Safety

Cannabis can cause altered time perception and impaired thinking, memory and movement. Anxiety, panic or hallucinations are more likely with large amounts, strong products or little experience.[5] The strain encyclopedia itself cautions that newer consumers may want to approach Gelato carefully.[2] See impairment and driving and when to seek urgent help. In the US, call 911 in an emergency or Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222. Laws differ and change; see cannabis laws by country. This is not legal or medical advice.