Jealousy is a hybrid from Seed Junky Genetics, the breeder run by co-founders JBeezy and Wes out of a commercial facility in Northridge, California. It crosses Sherbet Bx1 with Gelato 41, and in 2022 Leafly named it Strain of the Year.
The strain reached stores in 2019 through The Minntz, a collaboration between Cookies and Seed Junky. In a little over two years it became a top 100 strain on Leafly, out of more than 6,000 in the database.
Sherb Bx1 meets the Gel Bern cut
Both parents come out of California's Cookies-era dessert genetics. JBeezy refined Sunset Sherbet by breeding it with itself and Animal Cookies. The result was Sherb Bx1, with "bx" standing for backcross.
In 2018 he crossed that line with the Gel Bern cut, a specific Gelato #41 phenotype that Leafly traces to Jigga, the main breeder at Cookies. Gelato #41 itself comes from Sunset Sherbet and Thin Mint Cookies, so the Sherbet family sits on both sides of the cross.
Berner gave the strain its name. He told Leafly he called it Jealousy because he knew people were going to be jealous when they saw that pheno.
From The Minntz to 1,500 stores
Jealousy flew off the shelves in Southern California first. From 2021 to 2022 it went from about 90 stores listed on Leafly to more than 1,500. By then it was sold as flower, pre-rolls, seeds, clones and cartridges in markets from California to New York.
Demand spilled into the genetics trade. Seed vendors sold out Jealousy packs at $750, and authentic clones went for $500 per cutting, drawing hundreds of buyers who waited for hours. In 2021 Seed Junky released Jealousy Bx1, a refined backcross of the original.
Leafly picks its Strain of the Year from year-over-year growth in page views, menu availability and orders, along with pedigree and breeder reputation. Advertisers cannot buy the title. Jealousy followed Gelato in 2018, Wedding Cake in 2019, Runtz in 2020 and Dosidos in 2021.
Dark buds and a two-sided high
Well-grown Jealousy is dense, heavy and bulbous. The buds run dark purple toward black over bright green, with electric orange hairs and a thick frost of trichomes. Leafly lists caryophyllene as the dominant terpene, followed by limonene and myrcene.
Growers rate it hard to cultivate. Plants stay short to medium in height, especially in soil, give a medium yield and flower in 8–9 weeks. Lab tests on some batches have topped out at 30% THC.
Leafly describes the effect as mentally relaxed but physically energetic. Reviewers also call it giggly, talkative, creative and focused. The flavor leans earthy and funky, with pepper and plum.
Cup placements and the next generation
Seed Junky holds breeder credit, and many licensed growers have run the cut. Leafly's 2022 feature named No Till Kings in Long Beach, LitHouse, Seven Leaves, CaliSelect and Truleaf among them. In July 2022, LitHouse's Jealousy took second place in the High Times Cannabis Cup People's Choice SoCal.
The strain made its way into hash as well. In 2022 a Jealousy × Banana Cream Cake entry took second place in the ice water hash category at The Emerald Cup.
Seed Junky kept breeding forward from it. Purple Octane is (Biscotti × Sherb Bx1) × Jealousy F2, and Permanent Marker comes from the same Biscotti × Sherb Bx1 line crossed with a later Jealousy generation. Pacman and The Glove both pair Gary Payton with Jealousy.