Why We Should Smell Weed Before We Buy It

Before I trained my nose to sniff out the dominant terpenes in cannabis, buying weed was a blurry, opaque mess. The overwhelming amount of choice, coupled with the fact that the flower branding offers no indication of how a strain will actually affect you, made the whole process seem like a shot in the dark, an expensive guessing game that I guess myself often felt dejected when I wanted to go upstairs and vice versa.

Even as a cannabis journalist who knew a lot more about weed than the average user, it was virtually impossible to know how I would feel about a particular cut. Not only are new wild name strains being created that no one has ever heard of, but there is tremendous variation when it comes to the high, even within the same strains grown by different farms.

Depending on the chemovar of the nuggets themselves, a bowl of OG Kush can make you productive or stick you to the couch. It all comes down to the specific chemical expression of that flower, which means what cannabinoids are present and, perhaps more importantly, which terpenes are dominant.

Although it is known that THC percentage is not the only quality indicator to look for when buying flowers, people still need to understand the importance of terpenes and how easy it is to train your nose to find those in your bloom Identifying existing ones will help determine its peak.

Pharmacies are businesses and the main concern is getting as many customers in and out as possible as quickly as possible. While educating consumers about the importance of things like terpenes should be important to them, they are simply not set up as educational centers.

It’s up to us and us alone, but boy is it worth it. Nothing has added to my understanding of cannabis more than taking the time to learn more about dominant terpenes, the effects they have, and how to sniff them out.

What are terpenes?

Terpenes are organic compounds that impart aroma and taste to a wide variety of organisms, but are associated with cannabis because of their high concentration in the plant.

Have you ever noticed that your fingers are sticky after handling nuggets? The sticky stuff is made from trichomes, which contain terpenes, as well as other compounds like cannabinoids. In addition to curating the scent and taste of different strains, the combination of the dominant terpenes in the flower or the terpene profile also helps determine their high.

Lemon, for example, is the terpene that makes lemons smell like lemons. It is also the terpene that makes cannabis smell like lemon or citrus fruits. Limonene has an uplifting effect, whether you smoke it in a strain like Sour Diesel or feel the splash of lemon peel. So if you smell any strain and a lemon slams you in the face, you know that this strain will at least have an uplifting effect if you consume it.

Understand terpenes

Understanding the sticky alchemy behind the compounds that make us feel good is by far the most important part of buying flowers. Until recently, brands have had a hard time labeling floral products without relying on THC percentages and imprecise indica / sativa labels.

The indication of dominant terpenes on the packaging can help consumers understand the effects of the product or strain. SC Labs, a leading testing facility, has begun providing terpene test data for brands using PhytoFacts, a graphical, color-coded representation of the product’s chemical profile.

Alex Dixon, co-founder of SC Labs, told Weedmaps, “What have we been doing at SC Labs over the past few years? [is that] We took all of our terpene data and started working with some data scientists to basically help us sort out all of the terpene data we tested. From these hundreds of thousands of strain names, we wanted to understand how everything is sorted by terpene content. We have found that it is actually much simpler than complex. “

He continued, “We test for over 42 different terpenes, but when you look at the best concentration of a terpene profile, those are the combined compounds that make up the odor, when you look at all the cannabis strains, it really boils down to five primary terpenes or primary smells. “

How to sniff out dominant terpenes

There is a common phrase in cannabis: “The nose knows”.

When it comes to using your nose to identify the high of a particular strain, it’s about getting to know these five primary terpenes, how they smell, and what they do.

Here’s what you need to know.

Fruity smelling grass

Gina Coleman / Weedmaps

• Probably dominant terpene: Myrcene
• Common flavors: Fruit, berries, sweet
• Effects: Relaxing, calming, couch-lock
• Myrcene-dominant varieties: Forbidden fruit, tropaya, grape monkey

If you smell a strain that really exudes fruity flavors, the terpene Myrcene is to blame. It is believed by stoners that myrcene has the calming, relaxing, and general negative effects associated with couch lock. A 2002 study on mice found that myrcene was also calming.

“Myrcene is the fruit terpe,” said Dixon. “It’s the terpene that is in hops and mango. For beer people, think of IPA. ”

“Myrcene, along with THC, is what really creates the relaxing couch-lock effect,” said Dixon. “Everyone used to think of the indica effect, but in reality it’s just the presence of myrcene.”

Spicy and herbaceous smelling grass

• Probably dominant terpene: Caryophylls
• Common flavors: Black pepper, spicy, earthy
• Effects: Relief, comfort, relaxation, drowsiness
• Caryophyllene-dominant strains: GSC, GG4, Chemdog

Caryophyllene is one of the primary terpenes in black pepper and clove. It gives cannabis strains a spicy, earthy note. High caryophyllene strains include GSC, Gorilla Glue, and Chemdog. The effects of caryophyllene also exist on the relaxing end of the spectrum, but in a decidedly calming way, perfect for after something that sucks or before bed.

Citrus smelling grass

Gina Coleman / Weedmaps

• Probably dominant terpene: Limes
• Common flavors: Citrus, lemons
• Effects: Uplifting, attentive, energized
• Lime dominant varieties: Sour Diesel, Lemon Diesel, OG Kush (and other OGs), Super Lemon Haze, Durban Poison

Limes are found in lemons and all citrus fruits, with a concentration in the citrus peel. This is an uplifting terpene that is exciting, energizing, and great when you’re feeling down or dealing with shit – it’s usually found in strains classically known as sativas.

Piney smelling grass

Gina Coleman / Weedmaps

• Probably dominant terpene: Pinene
• Common flavors: Pine, earth
• Effects: Concentrated, sublime
• Pinene-dominant varieties: Green Crack, Strawberry Cough, Jack Herer, Blue Dream, Lemon Jack

Pinene is a rare terpene that can be identified by the actual smell of pine trees. When combined with THC, it has an uplifting, focused effect. “There is also research showing that pinene with THC helps reduce the negative memory impairments that THC can cause in the short term,” added Dixon.

Sweet, musky smelling grass

Gina Coleman / Weedmaps

• Probably dominant terpene: Terpinoles
• Common flavors: Cumin, lilac, nutmeg, patchouli
• Effects: Energetic, creative, cerebral
• Terpinolene dominant strains: XJ-13, train wreck, ghost train haze, Jack Herer

“Terpinolene is one of my favorite terpenes,” said Dixon. “It’s what everyone has always called the sativa smell and can be found in lilac, the smell of patchouli, and a little pine tinge.”

He continued, “Along with THC, terpinolene is really energizing, cerebral and artistically inspiring. It can be too much for new users. Even many regular users do not like to smoke high terpinolene strains because they are too cerebral. ”

Terpenes and the entourage effect

To illustrate how this set of primary terpenes – known as the entourage effect – work together to create some of our favorite strains, let’s take a look at one of the most iconic strains of all time: OG Kush.

“OG is interesting because there are three terpenes that are codominant,” said Dixon. “It’s not like a terpene dominates OG. So OG is a really perfect example of a hybrid because you have a terpene like limonene in it, which is uplifting, then you have a terpene like caryophyllene in equal amounts and / or myrcene, both of which are on the relaxing, calming side. ”

If a certain OG strain is high in limes and smells more like citrus it will be uplifting, while if it smells fruity you know it is high in myrcene and more on the relaxing end of the spectrum.

By training your nose to recognize these key smells and becoming familiar with their respective effects, you can know exactly which flower to buy and how / when to use it.

“I think the future of cannabis is to celebrate the diversity of what it offers and be raised as a community. Not only are we promoting strain names that are the hype of the day, but we’re also helping empower people’s noses, ”said Dixon. “Because the nose knows! And what you like may not be what I like. People deserve to know about this personalized approach and have more control over their cannabis use. “

Featured image by Gina Coleman / Weedmaps