Catalogue entry · lab-tested · every claim cited
Gelato is a hybrid of Sunset Sherbert and Thin Mint GSC bred around 2014 by Mario “Mr. Sherbinski” Guzman with Jai “Jigga” Chang and the Cookie Fam in San Francisco.1,2,3 The name covers a family of numbered cuts, of which Gelato #33 (“Larry Bird”) and Gelato #41 (“Bacio”) are the best known, and it is not the same strain as Lemon Cherry Gelato, Black Cherry Gelato or Gelato Cake.4,5,6,7 It tests at a median total THC of 21.58% across 1,792 state lab tests of Gelato flower, with the middle half of results between 18.91% and 24.70%.8 CBD is negligible: 3 of 1,088 tests that reported CBD reached 1%.8
Gelato is a hybrid of Sunset Sherbert and Thin Mint GSC. How it was bred, the numbered cuts (33, 41, 45), the disputed #42, and which strains descend from it.
Plate IIGelato flower tests at 21.58% median THC (18.91%–24.70%) across 1,792 state lab results, with β-caryophyllene as the top terpene and almost no CBD.
Plate IIILeafly’s top effects for Gelato are relaxed, aroused and euphoric, rated mostly calming; AllBud and Weedmaps add creativity. Downsides: dry mouth, anxiety.
Plate IVGelato flowers in 8–9 weeks (Leafly) or 65–70 days (Barney’s Farm). Breeder specs, yields and heights side by side, and why sources disagree on difficulty.
Plate VGelato flower was listed by at least 202 stores near Los Angeles on Weedmaps on Oct 4, 2026. Store counts and eighth prices for 27 US markets.
Plate VIHow a Cookie Fam cross from San Francisco, bred around 2014, became Leafly’s first Strain of the Year, a top-five seller and the parent of Runtz. With sources.
A hybrid, and sources disagree on the lean. Leafly calls it evenly balanced and rates its effects mostly calming; AllBud lists 55% indica / 45% sativa; Barney’s Farm’s seed version is 60/40 indica and FastBuds’ autoflower 55% sativa. Its parents are an indica-dominant Sunset Sherbert and a GSC phenotype.1,9,10,15,16,17
Mid-to-high. The median total THC across 1,792 state lab tests was 21.58%, and 22.9% of tests reached 25% or more. In every year with at least 100 tests (2019–2023) the yearly median stayed between 21.25% and 22.14%.8 Leafly lists 21%, AllBud 20% and Weedmaps 18–26%.1,9,14
They are numbered phenotypes selected from the same cross. Sherbinski says the seeds produced Gelato #25, #33, #41, #45, #47 and #49; #33 is nicknamed Larry Bird and #41 is sold as Bacio Gelato, which Leafly calls one of the most potent in the lineup.4,18,19 Our strict name matching treats a bare number as a lot code, so products labelled Gelato 33 (531 tests) and Gelato 41 (215) sit inside the 1,792 tests on this site; Gelato 45 is counted as its own strain and left out.8
No. Leafly lists Lemon Cherry Gelato as a separate hybrid bred by Backpack Boyz with “several alleged origins”, possibly Gelato bagseed or a Runtz type; High Times calls it a Gelato phenotype out of #33. Black Cherry Gelato (Acai Berry Gelato × Black Cherry Funk) and Gelato Cake (Gelato #33 × Wedding Cake) are also different strains; Black Cherry Gelato has its own guide in this network, at blackcherrygelato.com.3,5,6,7,20
Mario “Mr. Sherbinski” Guzman, with Jai “Jigga” Chang and the Cookie Fam, in San Francisco around 2014; High Times credited “Sherbinski415 and Jigga415” in 2016. Guzman began growing in a garage in the city’s Sunset District in the early 2000s, and his company Sherbinskis calls itself home of the original Gelato.2,11,12,13
Sweet, by every account; the rest depends on who is asked. Leafly’s flavor tags are sweet, flowery and pepper, while its description calls Gelato sweet with fruity and creamy flavors and aromas; AllBud lists berry, citrus, lavender, sweet and woody; on Weedmaps 38% of flavor reports say berry, 31% diesel and 30% earthy.1,9,14
Full lab data: by year, by state, terpenes and the downloadable dataset →
Gelato was Leafly’s first Strain of the Year, in December 2018, when visitors spent nearly 435,000 hours on its strain page in a single month; High Times had ranked it #10 among the strains of 2016 two years earlier.12,21,22 Headset’s March 2020 report put it fourth in 2019 sales across US and Canadian markets, behind Blue Dream, Wedding Cake and Purple Punch, and in the top five of every inhalable category.23
It is still there. In California it was the #3 flower strain in both 2024 and 2025, with $16 million in January–November sales each year, and in 2024 it and Blue Dream were the only strains in the top 10 for flower, pre-rolls and vapes at once.24,25 It ranked #6 in Leafly dispensary orders nationwide in 2025, and in September 2026 it was the top-selling strain in New Mexico.26,27 GreenState counted mentions in more than 200 rap songs by 2019.13
| Market | Stores | Menu items | Median eighth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles, CA | 202 | 480 | — |
| New York, NY | 125 | 311 | $40.00 (n=204) |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 85 | 189 | — |
| Detroit, MI | 78 | 182 | — |
| Chicago, IL | 40 | 107 | $45.00 (n=38) |
| Newark, NJ | 39 | 63 | $43.75 (n=33) |
Stores within 50 miles listing Gelato flower on Weedmaps, Oct 4, 2026.28
In Germany, where it is a prescription medicine, weed.de lists 5 pharmacy products made from Gelato; in-stock flower starts at €3.69 a gram.32
Gelato
Which cut is which? Who bred it, and when? The full genetics page →
The Gelato universe
If Gelato is your strain, you give everything a number before you give it a name, and you lay the evening down one avenue at a time. Meet the Fog Scooper.
