It can be an intimidating process to buy cannabis, especially if you are new to the scene. When buying cannabis flowers, you need to know what to look for to get the best out of your experience. From its appearance and scent to its feel and test results, we will go through the things you need to look for when buying cannabis buds for your enjoyment.
What Is The Quality Of My Flower?
There are several techniques to determine the quality of cannabis. Some cannabis strains are low quality because they do not produce a strong high, while other strains are low quality because they are obviously mouldy or past their prime. Nevertheless, there are some signature things to look out for when buying cannabis flowers to ensure that you are getting the quality you need.
Examine The Appearance
Cannabis flowers with dense buds, vibrant colours, and a lot of white trichomes reflect the care that went into growing and preparing them for your consumption. High quality cannabis has bright colours, from red and orange to purple and blue. Although vibrant green is the most common colour, a healthy bud can come in many hues.
The best cannabis flowers are covered in tiny, shiny trichomes. These are the resin glands of your flower. These fragile and sensitive structures house most of the flower’s cannabinoids and terpenes, determining how potent your flower will be.
You will usually see hair-like wisps in many cannabis strains. These are the remains of the pistils of mature cannabis plants, and they indicate that your cannabis was harvested at the perfect time. Your flower should have little to no seeds visible and the stems should be short.
Low quality cannabis flowers are mostly pale shades of brown, yellow, and green. They do not have any of the bright colours found in high quality flowers and also have a much drier consistency. You will notice that low quality flowers often still have excess leaves, stems, and seeds, showing you that the flowers were not trimmed properly.
Your flowers will not have their signature frosty appearance if you are buying low quality flowers. That is because the trichomes turn a dark amber colour as time goes by. This indicates that your flower’s Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content has degraded. Instead, it has formed a new cannabinoid called Cannabinol (CBN). CBN is a much weakened version of THC.
Smell The Flower
Terpenes are the compounds in cannabis that are responsible for its aroma. They produce scents and flavours associated with your strain, and are located mostly in the flower’s trichomes. Some terpenes have their own aromatherapeutic effects, like Linalool (also found in lavender) that has stress-relieving properties, so they contribute greatly to your overall cannabis experience. They also contribute to a process known as the “entourage effect.”
It has been determined that the cannabis plant contains at least 100 terpenes. The various smell and flavour traits that influence consumer preferences are a result of variations in terpene profiles.
If you want to feel the potency of cannabis, you should focus on the terpenes – more particularly, the individual terpenes – rather than the THC concentration. This is due to the fact that a cannabis flower’s terpene content directly affects its potency. High quality flowers have a varied terpene profile.
Terpenes also evaporate over time, so cannabis that does not have a potent scent might indicate that it is no longer as effective. A strange scent could also indicate low quality cannabis. If a flower has a mildewy or musty aroma, you probably will not get the experience you are expecting.
Touch The Flower
Touching cannabis flowers, even if they are in a package, will tell you a lot about their quality. High quality flowers are thick and dense, showing that they received the right amount of nutrients and light during its lifecycle. This results in flowers that are rich in cannabinoids and terpenes.
You will notice that the bud is sticky because of all the resin. If the flower is brittle and dry, it is most likely a low quality flower. You can also bend the stems; if they do not snap, your flower is most likely past its prime. Be sure to give the flowers a shake – if there are any loose seeds, stems, or leaves, it is most likely a low-quality bud.
Review Lab Tests
Reading the findings of laboratory testing is the best method for assessing the quality of cannabis flowers. The cannabinoid and terpene profile, as well as a screen for contaminants, are outlined in the lab test results. Low quality weed that contains pesticides or other contaminants is unsafe for smoking, so try to buy from a reputable dispensary that is willing to undergo lab testing.
The other suggestions in this article will help you determine whether cannabis was handled properly during the growing process and once it reaches the dispensary shelf, but nothing can compare to lab test results for concrete evidence of what is truly in your flower. Always request to see the lab test results for any cannabis flower you are unsure about before making a decision.
High Quality Vs. Low Quality: Identifying Cannabis Flowers
Cannabis flowers come in a variety of different strains, but they all have some tell-tale signs pointing to their quality. When purchasing cannabis flowers, consider the following:
| HIGH QUALITY | LOW QUALITY | |
| LOOK | “Frosty” look (white and glistening trichomes) Few leaves/seeds/stems Tight and dense structure | Leafy with lots of stems Visible seeds Loose and open structure |
| COLOUR | Vibrant green hues Orange “hairy” look Colourful undertones | Mostly brown, yellow, or tan Amber-coloured trichomes Bleached appearance |
| AROMA | Strong, potent aroma Terpene profile-based hints | Musty or mouldy scent No scent at all |
| FEEL | Breaks apart easily, but does not crumble Sticky | Crumbles easily Dry Brittle/crunchy |
There are a few things that distinguish high quality cannabis from low quality cannabis. If you handle, smell, and look at your flowers before purchasing them, you will start to notice whether or not they are high quality. Just taking the time to go over your buds before your next session might help you become a cannabis connoisseur as high-quality buds frequently have comparable qualities. That way, you can make sure you will always enjoy a high-quality cannabis session.
