Today we are reviewing an up-and-coming brand: Tip Top Crop.

Trying out one of their most popular strains: Z-Lato.

Purchased at Quality Roots for $30.

I also got a chance to get with the brand for a little interview to learn more about them.

Be sure to check that out below.

Tip Top Crop

Tip Top Crop is a brand newer to the scene.

They have an active Instagram page as well as a website.

Here is a quick bio from their website:

We Are Tip Top Crop

Tip Top Crop was founded on the belief that everyone should have access to the cleanest and highest quality cannabis. All of Tip Top Crop flower is grown in a world-class, custom-designed facility in Hazel Park, Michigan. Designed with the plants in mind, the facility is optimized like few others, with top-tier equipment, including LED lighting and an automated fertilization system.

We have a passion for the best genetics, and have collected our more than 40 strains from germinated seed varieties and verified clones from top breeders.

The Founding Team

Tip Top Crop was founded by Chris and Zack who were brought together by their passion for quality cannabis. Both liked finding new strains, tasting different flavors, nerding out on grow techniques, and sharing that high quality product with the public. Eventually, their friendship blossomed into a brand that would be focused on curating a unique, rotating menu for the Michigan market. Tip Top Crop is built on passion for the plant and a constant pursuit of the best cannabis strains in the world.

Interview

To learn even more about them, I linked up on Instagram.

The guys over at Tip Top Crop graciously agreed to answer a few questions:

Gas & Middies: Welcome! Can you start by telling us a little about yourself?
Tip Top Crop: My name is Chris and I am the owner and co-founder of Tip Top Crop with my partner Zach. I have been dealing in the cannabis space for about 20 years, and started growing in 2009 as my own patient. In 2010 I became a caregiver and started scaling my knowledge of growing this plant. Weed has been a part of my life since an early age. I was the “weed guy” at a young age in high school, my grandparents grew weed in their basement as I was growing up, and it has helped me through a severe snowmobile accident that almost left me paralyzed. I love this plant, the community, and the culture that surrounds it. I am so fortunate to be a part of this plants future as it emerges into the legal market.

Gas & Middies: What makes you guys different?
Tip Top Crop: This a little cliche but: We are a small batch facility, with our small team (which is run by the two owners Zach and Chris), we are able to have impeccable attention to detail when it comes to plant health. We are able to easily pivot our work flow for certain strains or certain problems that bigger facilities may not have. My partner and I personally package every jar that goes out of this facility. We take pride in knowing what goes into the jar and reaches the end customer. We understand what a good product is, we understand that weed has a shelf life and should be delivered to the end user before its short expiration. We are able to execute all these small details while having boots on the ground in the Michigan community and understanding what people want from a strain/thc/flavor perspective. On the whole, we are smokers first. We grow to provide the best weed for ourself, and in turn be able to share that with the public. From a strains perspective, we understand that we need to have unique strains but also harbor the latest, greatest, best strains from around the world. Being tapped into a national market, we have access to, and opportunity to try flavors from all across the country. The strain game is bigger than people realize, and there is a lot of BS out there. Not every strain is good. We feel we know how to pick the best.

Gas & Middies: Any details about your grow?
Tip Top Crop: Our facility is located just north of Detroit. We bought a a dilapidated building in which Zack and I personally demo’d, designed, and contracted the proper trades to meet our design requirements. The equipment, design, and processes we have implemented is equivalent to some the highest tech grows. Everything in our facility can be operated and monitored remotely (however, somebody is there every day). We utilize drain to waste coco system and are licensed to have 1500 plants in our facility. I can go on and on in this category, almost would require a separate interview haha.

Gas & Middies: Do you target taste when picking strains?
Tip Top Crop: There are a variety of things we target when picking strains, but yes taste is definitely in the top 5. We believe weed is nothing without taste or smell. Its a MUST for any product thats going in the Tip Top jars.

Gas & Middies: What are your top selling strains?
Tip Top Crop: Mind you, we have only been selling our jars to the market for 6 months. We released/tested a lot of different strains this year without really riding specific strains. That will change in 2024 as we bring the culmination of the best strains we ran. Id say our best sellers of 2023 were Z Lato, Cosmic Runtz, Bubble Bath, and Cap Junky.

Gas & Middies: Would you say you have a signature/trademark strain?
Tip Top Crop: Given we have won two awards this year with the Z Lato, I’d have to say thats our signature strain. However, we have been working hard to bring some new strains that we personally pheno hunted to the market. I dont think most users understand the time, energy, money, and resources that go into finding a strain. And if you are a picky smoker, often you dont find that true “winner.” I’m really excited to bring a few of these new strains to market that we have a lot of time into this year.

Gas & Middies: With your grow being in Hazel Park, do you have connections with the dispos around there?
Tip Top Crop: We work with Breeze hazel park whcih have been good customers of ours.

Gas & Middies: What’s it mean to be a small batch?
Tip Top Crop: Small batch is a catch word. Ultimately, small batch should be something that gets the end user quick. Small enough that the customer can get a fresh product. As growers, we know thats when the weed is best. Being able to pay attention to detail on post-harvest processes (trim, cure, package, etc) can be extremely difficult on scale. Obviously all of these items are more achievable in a smaller scale.

Gas & Middies: How much we talking a batch?
Tip Top Crop: We do about 30-40lbs every 3 weeks.

Gas & Middies: How’d you land on your jars with the woodgrain tops?
Tip Top Crop: Man, we have worked with a variety of people to get the jars where they are. Behind the scenes, we have a small team of friends helped us build the brand, and make design choices such as the wood tops.

Gas & Middies: Is there a difference between the white and blue jars?
Tip Top Crop: No difference. Just two different looks.

Gas & Middies: With the variety of strains you grow, how do you decide what to bring to market?
Tip Top Crop: Sort of explained above, but ultimately we have to find a balance between what we like, what our peers like, and what the market is demanding. If the market is demanding high THC %, then were not going to release strains that are low testing (despite what our personal beliefs are). The checklist starts with these: smell, taste, bag appeal (color, trichome coverage, leaf coverage, color and length of hairs, etc), smokability (smoothness, smell to taste translation), THC % ( 😔).

Gas & Middies: Congrats on the Bring Your Best Bag win! Are you participating in the Zalympix next year?
Tip Top Crop: Yes we will be at Zalympix next year for sure. We are looking forward to it.

Gas & Middies: What awards has Z Lato won?
Tip Top Crop: Bring Your Best Bag - Budtenders Champ, Top Shelf Showdown - Buyers Sesh 1st place.

Gas & Middies: Do you plan on getting into the concentrate space?
Tip Top Crop: We have some collaborations in the works but no intent of making concentrates ourselves in the near future.

Gas & Middies: Any drops to look out for in the future?
Tip Top Crop: Look out for the Space Guavaz hash that we collaborated with Fifth Age on. Holy shit! We also just dropped a new hand roll line, which should be hitting stores mid December. We collaborated with the homie @austin.flowers to do the rolls. The Z Lato is truly an amazing strain, something that you just keep coming back for. We hunted from seed and chose keepers for a few that we are very excited to bring out: Count Chunkula, project 4516, Mike Larry x Sunset Sherbert (jungle boys), space guavaz, and unnamed strain (AK47xAfghani) x Davinci Og bx2. On top we have brought in a few top cuts from biggest breeders in the country that people should be on the lookout for: Zereal Milk, Blue Zushi, Sashimi, RS11 x Zoap, and Amaretto Sour. We sometimes “rename” our strains on the jar itself, but we always give credit the breeder, pheno hunter, and the true lineage on our website.

Gas & Middies: Thanks for doing the interview. Any final words?
Tip Top Crop: Go check out the website TipTopCrop.com for new strains and drops coming. Sign up for the mailing list to see when stuff is coming. Quantities are limited and have been selling out really quickly. And obivously a big thank you to my partner, team, and supporters. We couldn’t be where we are without the amazing people that have surrounded and supported us through this adventure.

Z Lato

As soon as you open this jar, sweet candy aroma fills the air and entices your senses. If the smell doesnt get you mouth drooling then the taste surely will. This strain offers a nice balance of euphoria and creativity making it great for social gatherings or artistic pursuits. The buds are dense and coated in layers of trichomes. Suitable for both experienced and new users. - Tip Top Crop - Strains

• Cross: Bacio Gelato x Skittlez
• Breeder: Unkown
• Notable Active Terpenes: Limonene, Linalool, Mycerene
• THC: 26%

Stats

• THC: 22.37%
• CBD: 0.0%
• THCA: 0.0%
• Total Cannabinoids: 26.14%
• Produced By: TTC Grow LLC (AU-G-B-000232)
• Harvest Date: 9/14/23
• Tested by: Infinite Chemical
• Test Date: 10/4/23

Terps

• Dominate Terpenes:
  • D-Limonene
  • Linalool
  • Mycerene

Review

👁️ Look

• Girthy, thick but squishy nugs.
• Great trichome coverage.
• Breaks down into angel feathers.

👃 Smell

• Sour, earthy candy.

👅 Taste

• Inhale sweet candy.
• Exhale creamy, candy gas.
• Flavor coasts your mouth.
• Taste throughout.

Rating

Z-Lato is like the Italian cousin to Runtz.

Both sharing a Zkittlez lineage as well as some Gelato heritage.

She even looks like Runtz. With noticeably bigger & thicker nugs than you’d expect.

Smelling similar as well, there is a more earthiness to this.

The differences widen after first puff.

The familiar fruity candy taste is there, however it’s accompanied by some gas.

Coating your mouth in fruity flavor, it’s balanced out by the gassiness mentioned before.

Z-Lato brings the flavor.

From first puff to last puff, it’s there.

Tip Top Crop was able to take a tried-and-true strain and turn it on it’s head by mixing in the Bacio Gelato to upgrade it.

If you like Runtz, you’ll love this. Because it’s candy and:

Gas ⛽

Outro

Tip Top Crop hit the ground running.

In addition to this, check out their Cosmic Runtz & Rude Boi OG for droolworthy terps.

I want to thank Chris over at Tip Top Crop for taking the time to do the interview.

What’s everyone’s favorite Tip Top Crop strains?

What do you guys think?

Stay 😶‍🌫️