Is Sherbet indica or sativa? Its genetics, names and family tree

The two parents

Girl Scout Cookies, which Leafly files as GSC and also calls Cookies, is an indica-dominant hybrid that the California breeder Jigga made from a sub-type of OG Kush and an intermediate strain called F1 Durban; Leafly names Thin Mint among its variations.⁴ In 2014 High Times profiled the Cookie Family, Jigga, Flux and Mr. Sherbinski, and wrote that they named all their strains after desserts, Sherbert among them.¹⁷

Pink Panties is an indica that Leafly describes as a cross of Burmese Kush and a Florida Kush backcross, with tart citrus and floral notes; Leafly’s genealogy says it was named for the pink pistils on its buds.^5,18 Sherbinski told High Times it never saw much production because it was not a great yielder indoors.¹⁹

An accident in a flowering room

Most accounts agree it was not planned. Sherbinski told High Times in 2018 that he “stuck a little male seedling into a blooming room with cookies in it, and it pollinated that”, and that the seeds from that Cookies × Pink Panties cross “would become the Sherbert.”¹⁹ Leafly’s genealogy dates it to 2012: the six-inch Pink Panties seedling was meant for study, matured into a male and pollinated the whole room of Girl Scout Cookies females before he noticed. Weedmaps calls the result a happy accident.^3,18

One account differs: Leafly’s own strain page says Mr. Sherbinski bred Sherbert intentionally, to inherit the lineage of Girl Scout Cookies.²

The name came after. Sherbinski told Leafly the berry, citrus, lemon, orange and lime flavors reminded him of Thrifty ice cream’s rainbow sherbet, an iconic California childhood flavor, and that he added the district it came from: Sunset Sherbert. GreenState gives the same two roots, San Francisco’s Sunset District and a favorite childhood confection.^18,20 His company spells it Sunset Sherbert.^21,22

How indica is it?

Every source calls Sherbet indica-dominant. AllBud gives 85% indica and 15% sativa under Sunset Sherbet, Sunset Sherbert, Sherbert and Sherbet alike; Pyramid Seeds’ seed version is also 85/15, and Crop King and ILGM call theirs indica-dominant.^{1,23,24,25,26,27,28} The effects are described as mixed: Leafly rates them mostly calming but writes of full-body effects “elevated by a jolt of cerebral energy”, and Leafly’s 2025 best-sellers list calls it a daytime, energizing pick (see effects).^2,29

The original cut versus seed versions

The original is a clone. Weedmaps says the clone-only Sherbet cut is available from Northern California’s Dark Heart Nursery, and SeedFinder notes that the original Sunset Sherbert was never available as feminized seeds.^3,7

Seeds sold under the name are other breeders’ versions. SeedFinder lists six entries under Sunset Sherbert, the original plus versions from Atlas Seed, Burning Bush Nurseries, Concrete Jungle Seeds, Divine Genetics and Helvetic Seeds, and four under Sunset Sherbet, from Dr. Blaze, Pyramid Seeds, Zamnesia and Linda Seeds.^38,39 Crop King lists its feminized seeds as Girl Scout Cookies × Pink Panties, and ILGM sells a version it calls the parent of Gelato.^27,28 Sherbinskis’ own 2022 seed line with Silent Seeds offered Polar Gelato, Pink Sunset and Acai Jelly, not Sunset Sherbert itself.²²

What our lab data adds

The name travels. Our strict matching excluded 3,357 results across all product types (2,134 of them flower) sold under near-miss names, led by "Sunset Sherbert × Purple Punch" (303 results) and "Blue Sherbert" (230).³⁰ Sunset Sherbert × Purple Punch is the pairing Leafly lists for Barney’s Farm’s Blue Sunset Sherbert.¹⁵ Blue Sherbert is a Blue Cookies × Sunset Sherbert cross by The Plug Genetics.¹⁴