Our Toke NYC – Zizzle

When you crack open a Zizzle jar, the first thing that hits your senses is that great smell. It is the aroma of bud expertly cultivated by professionals who value natural flower terpenes. 

When you first walk into Terp Bros in Astoria, Queens. A big mock-up of the iconic waterproof Zizzle jar is front and center in the showroom, displaying strains like the WAP, the cross-over of Cheetah Piss and Project 4516, with a splash of Guavalicious, Big Apple Fritter, which is sour apple gelato crossed with apple fritter, and their classic award-winning Silver Haze strain, similar to the trainwreck strain. It has a little haze in it and a lemony touch. 

Zizzle offers organic and original, natural terpenes from the flower itself. The brand sticks to old-school single-source terpene growing styles and products. That adherence to traditional strains is what makes their pre-rolls, flowers, and extracts so popular in the New York cannabis market.

“Some brands today spray terps on the flower to add extra flavors and THC percentage to the bud,” according to David, the Inventory Manager at Terp Bros. “Zizzle says NO to smoking a sprayed pack; they’ve got a fire bud that tastes and smokes great without the additives.”

According to Zion Foss, the CEO of Zizzle Brands, expertise like this comes from years of trial and error. Born in Manhattan but raised in Queens, Zion’s career spans over 20 years. As a young man, Zion found his calling growing buds when such maneuvering could land you in jail. 

“I smoked my first joint at 11 and was slinging flower by 12”, said Zion Foss, the CEO of Zizzle Brands. “I came up in a time when you risked your life to get the knowledge and know-how of cultivating and selling bud.”

He moved to California to start growing when legalization hit the West Coast. Soon after, he moved to the East Coast and started a CBD-oriented operation in Pennsylvania. Now, back in New York City as a legacy grower, Zion built his empire by shaking up the legal marijuana scene. 

Trademarked as New York’s Original Cannabis Company, Zizzle offers tokers a line of flower strains, pre-rolls, and extracts for folks to unwind with. Sold in 80 stores throughout New York, with many accounts from Western Buffalo down to Eastern Long Island and Zion has plans to make Zizzle available in shops around the state.

Zion and his team cook up a mean Silver Haze flower, which has won an award at the Long Island Cannabis Coalition Cannabis Cup in 2023, the LICC Night with the Stars Strain Star competition. This was New York’s first legal licensed growers cup. 

Setting up an operation meant finding a place to put some seeds in the ground. But growing award-winning flower requires cultivation skills and the right setting. That’s why Zizzle bought a farm operation based in Liberty, NY, to ensure their crops have access to the best soil to nurture their buds. Zizzle is big on representing freedom, so much so that their slogan is “Live Free.” So it was a natural fit to cultivate outdoor buds in Liberty, NY. 

The brand is building out their distribution center in Brooklyn and Zizzle has plans on the horizon to build out an indoor cultivation center. 

“Zizzle is focused on flower, bringing in premium flower OG strains to the New York market, according to David. “But they continue to drop new strains, too. We just got a new Blackberry Pie strain from them, which has been a hit.”

When Zion gets ready to burn one down, he goes with an F1 phenotype Sour Diesel strain rolled up in a joint, a choice informed by a lifetime of working with ganja. The OG strain delivers a heady, clarified, uplifting strain that he can continue to put ideas on after a busy day in New York. 

“Expect some fresh resin, live rosin, infused pre-rolls, and edibles, all with the Zizzle stamp on them,” said Zion.

Kimberly, a budtender who has been with Terp Bros since they opened, noted that Zizzle is one of the original brands the store opened with. Zion and Jeremy Rivera of Terp Bros worked hand-in-hand, launching collaborative events to help get the word out about Zizzle and Astoria’s first legal cannabis dispensary. 

“It’s been great to see Zizzle grow as a brand alongside Terp Bros,” Kimberly said in front of the Zizzle display. “We all have to support each other, support legal, and our community grows stronger everyday.”