Today we're gonna look at UKU, a recently-launched vape cartridge brand in Maryland! In Estonian mythology, Uku is the god of sky, weather, crops, and harvest. But we don't indulge any damn heathenry here at GTHQ! Estonia is across from Finland, if you're curious like I was. Next to Latvia. Which is not Latveria, the country ruled by Dr. Doom, because that's not a real thing. Apparently.
PLEASE BE ADVISED: Recent news reports suggest there is a risk of severe lung damage associated with vaping. State health authorities are investigating. VAPE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Who is UKU?
UKU currently operates in Cali, Massachusetts, & Oregon in addition to Maryland. Coming soon to Arizona & Nevada! Here in Maryland, the brand is licensed by HMS Health to produce CO2 oil vape cartridges.
That's cool! We reviewed a couple of HMS Health's flowers last year. TLDR one was really good, one rank of ammonia. So it goes, my friends.
UKU Vape Cartridge Hardware
The hardware is pretty classy. I don't think I've seen this open plastic tip before but I dig it. And it's got the clear window with the UKU logo printed on, which is great in this era of fake cartridges.
I haven't experienced any issues with leakage over the past week. And I have dropped it. Pretty hard this one time.
The UKU Cherry AK Vape Cartridge draws easily. If you go hard at it, you can choke yourself out on a longer pull, so take it easy, baby.
Cherry AK Vape Cart Flavor
UKU's Cherry AK Vape Cart is a smooth hit, but it slightly irritates the back of my throat my throat when its done. The lab results list strong terpene levels which seem suspect considering the flavor is overwhelmingly raw and earthy.
I definitely wasn't expecting full on cherry and prefer natural terps to artificial. The flavor of the UKU's Cherry AK Vape Cart, however, is lackluster. It's decent, but it's not CO2 oil up to its potential.
UKU Cherry AK Vape Potency & Effects
CO2 oil is my preferred vape over distillate because, done well, you'll find a rich terpene profile and a more organic high. Distillate can be more potent but good CO2 oil is typically sufficient. At least for daytime, run of the mill, non-Crisis on Infinite Earths sorta days.
UKU's Cherry AK Vape has good potency. It's not dab-level woah, but I put it through, ahem, extensive testing last night and it'll sneak up on you if you hit it, like, twenty times in a row. I had my favorite shirt on and was all ready to go out and then I got very, very tired.
Again, I have to question the accuracy of the results at 88.04% THC. Seems kinda high for what it delivers, especially considering inflated results have been an issue with HMS Health in the past.
I took a more moderate ten pulls of my UKU this morning cuz I didn't want to end up back in bed. Ten was more than enough to quell my anxiety. My mood was downright jovial, in fact. It wasn't very head-heavy, but it didn't leave me much brainpower to work with.
Ah, well. That's what coffee's for!
The UKU Cherry AK Vape is probably best reserved for the evening, maybe for a workout, maybe for a playful snuggle. I'm not your mother, baby, I don't care what you do!
Gentleman, ehh...It's Alright
I'm really on the fence with the UKU Cherry AK Vape Cartridge from HMS Health. It's decent. The flavor is ok but CO2 can be so much better. The hardware is impressive. That throat irritation, though slight, is a big knock against.
I will say that I love the UKU branding! Their logo is quite slick and I love the hat I got from my their rep's visit to Curaleaf, I mean, I really love it. I got a little mud on it in and I still rock it around. But it would be the very height of lunacy to factor that into the grade.
I think there is a lot of room for improvement with the UKU Cherry AK Vape Cartridge, especially at an asking price of $70 for a half-gram cart. But I've had worse for sure. For the third time this week, I gotta give an average grade. So it goes, youngling, so it goes.