I know, it's tough. You walk into a new dispensary for the first time, and you're immediately shown to a shelf with about a hundred and twenty different kinds of weed on it.
While you're trying to get your breathing back on track and keep your joy under control, the budtender behind the counter is most likely expecting you to already know what you want. She's got people waiting, after all.
Where do you begin? How can you possibly get the most out of your bud stop with so many choices?
It's easier than you may think, if you have a nose.
If you don't have a nose, it will be considerably more difficult for you, but just let me know and we'll figure it out together.
Welcome back to another issue of High On Dispensaries!
Here you'll find tips and tricks on how to navigate the"budding" legal cannabis industry in high Colorado. I'm a manager at a shop called High Valley Cannabis. If you ever find yourself in the most beautiful part of Colorado, come see us.
Take Smelling Seriously
Lots of my customers miss out on the best possible cannabis experience for them.
I hate to see it, but some people are in a hurry, and others are convinced that "weed is weed is weed." Whatever the reason, people tend to not give their nose a fair chance.
As a customer, I've never visited a dispensary that doesn't allow the opportunity to smell before buying, an opportunity of which full advantage should be taken.
In Colorado, recreational dispensaries are required to have separate display jars and supply jars. The display jars are simply for looking and smelling. Relax, the contents of the display jars are never actually sold to customers. The bud that is sold comes from larger supply jars, which haven't had a hundred people's noses all up in them.
The point is, it's always easy for the budtender to give you a quick look and smell. You'll want to make sure you get a good, full smell.
I haven't worked long in the industry (none of us have, really) but I've smelled hundreds of different strains. Nothing is the same.
Some smells will hit you like a piece of candy.
It's pretty simple. If you want to eat that smell, if it makes your mouth water, then that's one to remember.
Don't Forget Flavor
When you smoke a cannabis flower, flavor is experienced in a completely different way than eating, as you are actually inhaling the fragrant oils.
There is an ever-growing and seemingly endless list of flavor combinations in the cannabis world. They cannot easily be described, but experiencing them is as easy as smelling.
You can absolutely trust your nose. It knows.
Now I'm just going to tell you a little about terpenes. I'm not really changing the subject, though.
Terpenes Bring the Flavor
THC, CBD, and all those other wonderful cannabinoids come from trichomes.
Trichomes are basically tiny hairs on and around the flowers. These little hairs serve several purposes on many types of plants, but with cannabis, one of their primary purposes is to secrete fragrant oils called terpenes.
There are over a hundred different terpenes that can be found in cannabis.
That's only the ones that have been discovered so far, and independent research on cannabis still isn't allowed under US law. Each strain has a completely unique combination of various terpenes, which means that the flavor varieties are actually endless.
Perhaps even more fascinating, studies on terpenes are beginning to prove that they have medicinal value.
Here are some of the more prominent known cannabis terpenes and their possible benefits.
Limonene
Whenever there's a citrus flavor or aroma, there's some limonene. It can be used to fight bronchitis or promote weight loss.
Citrus fruits also produce these terpenes.
Myrcene
Myrcene is an earthy and musky flavor that is found most often in hops (beer). Medicinally, myrcene is a powerful anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxer.
Linalool
The flavor of linalool is spicy and floral, like potpourri. It is also an anti-inflammatory and it helps with motor control.
Those are three of the most common and most researched terpenes.
I'm not going to go into great detail about terpenes in this post. I wanted to share the importance of smell and explain where it comes from.
Back To The Shop
Smell as many as you can. Smell them all if you have to. Do it for me.
We've got five senses, if we're lucky. We can count on them. Smell is the only way we can know about the particles and molecules in the air that are invisible to our eyes.
The part of our brain that makes decisions about purchases is less reliable than any of our five senses if you think about it. So shouldn't we use every tool available to us when making a decision.
When buying cannabis, your nose is the most important tool you've got.
Thanks for Reading!
I promise, together, we'll learn how to shop for weed like civilized people.
Sources
http://www.brainfacts.org/sensing-thinking-behaving/senses-and-perception/articles/2012/taste-and-smell/
https://www.inverse.com/article/32000-marijuana-terpene-flavor-effects
https://www.leafly.com/news/cannabis-101/terpenes-the-flavors-of-cannabis-aromatherapy
http://maryjanesdiary.com/terpenes/
Images
pixabay.com
bitmoji.com
🤖💬 This post has been Blessed with a 76.92 % upvote from @cannabiscurator Plugged in by @carrieallen
I can Help You Pay It Forward and Steem your fellow 🎁💁Steemian back. Simply Transfer 0.042 to @cannabiscurator and the 420 Steemit Post ⛓Link you want 🔼 Upvoted in the Memo.
More details @ https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@cannabiscurator/let-s-grow-the-cannabis-community-together
Steemian Stoner Squad 🙏Please Upvote This Comment To Help Me Grow our Cannabis community on Steemit. Your support helps increase the 💪value of my 🔼contributions.
Peace in Blunts Fam 🔥💨
Not bad, @cannabiscurator! Thanks!
This is awesome... and so true. If you don't love the smell, don't do it!
Terpenes are the way of the future!😍
Sweet new signature... and stuff. 😎
Yeah, whoever helped me do that is pretty awesome!
@originalworks
The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @chrisroberts to be original material and upvoted it!
To call @OriginalWorks, simply reply to any post with @originalworks or !originalworks in your message!
To nominate this post for the daily RESTEEM contest, upvote this comment! The user with the most upvotes on their @OriginalWorks comment will win!
For more information, Click Here!
Sweet!
This post recieved an upvote from minnowpond. If you would like to recieve upvotes from minnowpond on all your posts, simply FOLLOW @minnowpond
Thanks for thinking of me @minnowpond1!
Oh that is very good advice! Now I am looking forward to your more detailed rundown on terpenes. Thanks again.
Thanks a lot! There's new information coming out constantly about terpenes. I want to make sure I get all the science stuff right.
It's looking more and more like terpenes make the difference. I'm starting to think that THC content matters very little with a bud.
Upvoted by our Cannabis Curation Team, the transientflowers cannabis curation project
Do you want more rewards on original cannabis content?
Helping to build a strong cannabis community on Steemit!
Last Update: Logo/Signature contest WINNERS
Thanks for the support!
Limonene is My Favorite
The lemon strains are always better for my head than non-lemon strains. Very, very, useful terpene. :) Awesome for my wife as well.
Thanks for breaking that down for folks, it definitely can be confusing. :)
Oh... Keep in mind folks...
EARTHY
is not a smell you want from cannabis. Cannabis has some earthy flavors but earthy smell comes from various types of fungi(molds). Fungi is what makes rich earth smell earthy :)
Yeah, maybe that was a poor choice of descriptive word. That was the word they used in the leafly article I cited, but like I said, they're hard to describe, but easier to experience.
Luckily, everything I purchase or smoke has been lab tested for contaminants. Usually, if anything is funky at any level, I would be able to smell it. My nose never ceases to amaze me.
Myrcene is actually my favorite and the most effective for me. I do enjoy most citrus strains as well.
Thanks for reading and commenting! I look forward to learning more about terpenes and sharing my findings with the Steemit community.
You're Most welcome
You post some interesting stuff and I appreciate it. The earthy comment was for people in general. I've been handed many a bag or jar for smelling and had people comment on how earthy it smells. Well, to me it's a turnoff lol Cannabis is super absorbent and will retain the smells of where it's growing. I've rather retentive about how I grow my own. ;)
Keep posting this stuff. I know people can use the information. I know I enjoy it. BTW, I live about 4hrs away in Cahone and may stop in sometime in the spring. :) Glad you're enjoying what you do, it's important in life. :D
You're Most welcome
You post some interesting stuff and I appreciate it. I live about 4hrs away in Cahone and may stop in sometime in the spring. :) Glad you're enjoying what you do, it's important in life. :D
Unfortunately, here in WA you can't rely on smell to guide you, since no cannabis may be unwrapped in the store. It comes down much more to visuals and stats.
But a knowledgable budtender can point you to the good stuff in the store that suffers from nothing more than poor packaging.
I have heard of this, and it is indeed unfortunate. I would be kind of lost shopping for bud in one of those shops. I wonder how Washington state came to the decision to sell that way.
I'll definitely have an upcoming issue called "making the most of your budtender" or something like that. The bud staff quickly become experts on what people are looking for, even if the customers sometimes don't know themselves.
Thanks for the comment!
If you like cannabis you should see this!
https://steemit.com/steemit/@neowne/paragon-sale-is-open
I do in fact like cannabis, as you can tell from pretty much everything about what I've posted. ;)
Clicking your link now....