How do you pick your herb - does smell matter to you?

Since I don't live in a legalized area I am limited in my choices/purchases. I almost feel like I'm living in the stone-age rather than the stoned-age when I read what folks in legalized areas have access to. My purchase process is the same as it has been for over 30 years....a clandestine meeting in the back room type of thing. If I were to ask what strain I'm purchasing it would take an extra 10 minutes to conclude the transaction while I wait for the seller/friend to get over the laughing fit.

It's been a long time since I was anything but thrilled with the quality and quantity but lately I find myself getting more excited when I can smell the pungent sweetness of what I'm buying before I even open the bag or take possession.

So the question is ... In your opinion...can you rely on smell to pick something good and/or is the smelliest, sweetest herb a good indicator of taste and potency? I'm not talking about a smell that is undoubtedly herb. I mean something that smells sweet like a spring flower on a sunny morning.

As a life-long herbalist... I believe that smell matters a great deal.

Our bodies are smart enough to be attracted to things that they need, if we let them... and smell is a great way to figure it out. Get past, if you can, the "fruity/candy" smells, and sample the underlying notes... woody, metal, earthy, piney... and see if your physical self "perks up" a little... or shies away. If you sense your physical reaction as a bit of rejection, don't try that one.

This has worked well for me, and for other herbalists I know, for virtually any herb/spice/food there is. Natural food, that is... not processed. Processing just destroys any natural relationship with food. that's another rant, I'll stop on that now.

As far as medical herb goes... yeah, we rely on smell a LOT. if we find ourselves wanting to crawl into the smell jar, then we will try it.

I have a medical certification for cannabis since last May. It wasn't that long ago I would buy whatever my friend had available. Usually very good quality the last couple years. I had been getting my product from him for many years. I didn't know the names often. I didn't know if I was getting a saliva or an Indica. I have a lot of ongoing pain I deal with everyday. I needed something geared towards pain. I was thankful that I had my dear friend to depend on.

Now I am able to go to a dispensary and pick out the strains. I get my ideas from FC friends and the online resources. Also reading online article about different medicinal strains. The Cannabis Cup info is good to read up on. I look up strains on Leafly. The Bud-tender for the most part usually knows the product their selling, but not always. I go on smell too and what it looks like. You can't always feel or touch the product unfortunately. So often several smell really good so it's hard to choose.

I had been going to a MMJ Farmers Market but the county temporarily shut them down. I was able to purchase my medicine at less the price and it was organic. The growers were available to talk to the customers and was I was able to find out how my medicine was grown, a real plus. I'm hoping to hear where the market will be moving soon, keeping my fingers crossed.

i think to educate yourself with the various strains. I have notes with me often when I go to the dispensaries. Sometimes I will only buy a gram of something. If it's something that works well I will go back the next day and buy more. But I don't wait too long because it may be gone. I have certain strains that when I see them I buy because they aren't always available and I really like them. Such as something like Skywalker OG or Mendicino Purple. I usually like some with blue in the name but not always. Sometimes it comes down to how the strain was grown and personal preference.

EDIT
I would probably take a pass if it didn't smell to my liking. Sometimes the product is old and dried out. So it wouldn't have a fresh smell maybe less of a smell. You wouldn't want to buy something dry and crumbly. Also anything with mold is a no brainier or too wet.

Enchantre said:

As a life-long herbalist... I believe that smell matters a great deal.

Our bodies are smart enough to be attracted to things that they need, if we let them... and smell is a great way to figure it out. Get past, if you can, the "fruity/candy" smells, and sample the underlying notes... woody, metal, earthy, piney... and see if your physical self "perks up" a little... or shies away. If you sense your physical reaction as a bit of rejection, don't try that one.

As far as medical herb goes... yeah, we rely on smell a LOT. if we find ourselves wanting to crawl into the smell jar, then we will try it.

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Thanks Enchantre! Good point on the natural body connection/reaction to smell as a barometer.

CK - would you take a pass if there was no real strong pungent smell?

I agree with what @Enchantre & @CarolKing have both stated.

When i've strayed away from product that my nose was telling me was right, due to either cost or wanting to experiment, I've been dissappointed with the meds I had chosen.

Now, to coin a phrase, i very well understand that "The nose knows..."

And its choices may not be permanently what I need, as there have been times where I've gone to replenish my supply of one of my regular strains and have come home with a different strain, due to the small test revealiing a more desirable strain that was available.

I am limited to a choice of 4-5 strains at my dispensary. I have not smelled anything first before buying. I just bought a small sample of everything

Then the next time I bought 90% of the indica I liked best and 10% of the highest THC sative they had. I don't think smelling is a bad thing at all. In fact, I hope to remember to do this next time. I just didn't think to smell it first. I chose to take it home and taste it also. I get more enjoyment from the taste on exhale than the smell in the jar.

Excuse me, I'm vaped like a MoFo right now

look and smell mean everything to me, i like my buds for taste and fun, i prefer to dab to get heavily medicated..

His_Highness said:

Since I don't live in a legalized area I am limited in my choices/purchases. I almost feel like I'm living in the stone-age rather than the stoned-age when I read what folks in legalized areas have access to. My purchase process is the same as it has been for over 30 years....a clandestine meeting in the back room type of thing. If I were to ask what strain I'm purchasing it would take an extra 10 minutes to conclude the transaction while I wait for the seller/friend to get over the laughing fit.

It's been a long time since I was anything but thrilled with the quality and quantity but lately I find myself getting more excited when I can smell the pungent sweetness of what I'm buying before I even open the bag or take possession.

So the question is ... In your opinion...can you rely on smell to pick something good and/or is the smelliest, sweetest herb a good indicator of taste and potency? I'm not talking about a smell that is undoubtedly herb. I mean something that smells sweet like a spring flower on a sunny morning.

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Agreed with @Enchantre - smell is actually my #1 indicator of quality herb. I've had enough super frosty bud that didn't smell great and ended up being not too potent or very smooth. Smell really tells you the freshness - old improperly stored weed can look fantastic.

I use the sniffer for picking fruits too, plenty of terpenes there. Especially pineapple - I don't buy pineapple that doesn't smell like pineapple through the rind.

The only smell worth getting excited over is when buds smell like vomit. In my state we only have three strains anymore Fluffy buds, Beasters, and Vomit. I guess I'm lucky I have two growers one that grows Fluffy he calls it Grape Ape. His teacher the weed master around here he grows Good Beasters strains like Jet fuel. But every now and then in the hood I'll come by some Barf-bag called something like Godzilla it's the only buds I'll buy outside of my growers.

FrogBoy138 said:

The only smell worth getting excited over is when buds smell like vomit. In my state we only have three strains anymore Fluffy buds, Beasters, and Vomit. I guess I'm lucky I have two growers one that grows Fluffy he calls it Grape Ape. His teacher the weed master around here he grows Good Beasters strains like Jet fuel. But every now and then in the hood I'll come by some Barf-bag called something like Godzilla it's the only buds I'll buy outside of my growers.

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Best smelling herb I've ever come across and the grower puts it out consistently
#FreshSqueezedLemonFunk AKA Slymer aka Golden Ticket

Personally I don't overly care about smell, round here (UK based) there is loads of herb that smells the part but when you vape it its weak as shit and you need many bowls to get high. I mean, yeah its tasty but I like potency. Personally I take a look at the buds and if its dripping with trichomes I'm not that bothered about the smell.

However over in the US everything you guys seem to get is looking incredibly potent so smell probably plays a bigger role when all the weed is going to be really strong anyway.

His_Highness said:

If I were to ask what strain I'm purchasing it would take an extra 10 minutes to conclude the transaction while I wait for the seller/friend to get over the laughing fit.

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OMG! Thats so much my case until 3 years ago! I would either get the generic M-39 that everyone grows, or "exo" for exotic. My actual guy has diversity through out the year, but I have to stock the rare findings.

Back on topic, I will add that I bought a couple of batches in those 3 years that smelled awesome and was ok frosted only to be super weak. The vapor output was 50% of what I usually get.. I suspect that those batches were given a super quick qwet or bho treatment, but lets stay on point. I think a 60x-100x microscope is the best bet to judge the quality. Looking at the thc crystal formation, color, cloudiness etc.

Yup. I've had great looking, frosty bud that smelled great but wasn't that potent, and the flip side is that I have had bud that didn't look or smell that great that was super potent.

Also not legal here in Florida, but I'm fortunate enough to have an excellent source of really primo bud - by far the best stuff in these parts - ever. I figure it's because of all the legal weed going around. Sometimes I even get a name - like "fruity pebbles" or some other weird name that might not mean anything.

Assuming it looks good - not too dry or moist, nicely trimmed buds, good color and evident crystals - smell really doesn't necessarily indicate potency. Some of the most potent weed I've seen this year is called "skunky" cause it's smell was so pungent - kinda like that vomit weed frogboy mentioned.

But my preference, for vaping at least, is something sweet and fruity, and given the choice, if 2 options visually looked good - i'd go for the sweet smelling weed. I would say that I've rarely had great smelling weed not be potent, but I've had lots of low-smelling weed not be so good.

In general, I think a strong smelling weed is a good indicator, but visual evidence of crystals must be there as well.

@SD_haze - I'd take that Golden Ticket even if it smelled like an old shoe

As the trichomes develop there are different windows of opportunity for harvest. A little early and you tend to get a very lemony, sativa-like cerebral high though maybe not as potent. Let them go till many are amber and the smell is different and more of an indica couch lock sedative high. It's worth getting some sort of magnifier to examine the color and extent of the trichomes, like this:

One thing I've read is that some strains have been bred specifically to have little odor as compared to others. I think these strains came about to accommodate the home grower who wanted to keep the smell at a minimum.

So I don't believe you should always trust your nose. As others have previously mentioned, you can get "smelly" strains that aren't all that potent and you can get some not-so-smelly strains that will knock you down.

I think it all comes down to genetics along with how the plant was gown, how it was harvested, and how it was dried & cured.

If I lived in a legal state I think I'd get myself a jeweler's loup and each time I was making a purchase I'd break it out to check out the trichomes. I'd try and look as pretentious as possible when doing it too .

Until we go legal... The jewler's loop and asking what the strain was would result in 'Its all I've got and it ain't gonna get you any higher if I tell you its called 'Big-Bad-Lemon-Swizzle-Mamma-Jamma-Skunk-Funk and it glows in the dark. Stop asking silly questions and put your third eye away. You want it or not.'

It's great to emerge from furtive shadows, avoid patronizing violent gangs, shop for weed in glass cases, do your civic duty by paying taxes, have your own little medical grow, have brand names and quality control, pull out a tiny microscope while shopping for cannabis, etc. Do whatever you can to decriminalize, create mmj, and legalize!

His_Highness said:

If I lived in a legal state I think I'd get myself a jeweler's loup and each time I was making a purchase I'd break it out to check out the trichomes. I'd try and look as pretentious as possible when doing it too .

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@His_Highness says "Lemme look at this so-called primo kush"

Solomon said:

@His_Highness says "Lemme look at this so-called primo kush"

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It looks like a good fit for me...especially since there seems to be 3 or 4 roach clips holding things together....oh wait, I don't combust so roach clips won't work for me now....there's gotta be a way to embed a MFLB in that thing....

spoutti said:

OMG! Thats so much my case until 3 years ago! I would either get the generic M-39 that everyone grows, or "exo" for exotic. My actual guy has diversity through out the year, but I have to stock the rare findings.

Back on topic, I will add that I bought a couple of batches in those 3 years that smelled awesome and was ok frosted only to be super weak. The vapor output was 50% of what I usually get.. I suspect that those batches were given a super quick qwet or bho treatment, but lets stay on point. I think a 60x-100x microscope is the best bet to judge the quality. Looking at the thc crystal formation, color, cloudiness etc.

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Man I envy you guys in legal states. I only know a few actual people and only one gets anything worth consuming.

Id kill for some proper cannabis

My. Aesthetics are very important to me. Taste and smell are just as important as effect. Again IMO. I definately agree with @Enchantre about being drawn to certain types of smells. My favorite strains, regardless of look, are usually the ones that have the most pungent smells. If it smells like cat piss, or turpentine, or sex I love it. I also like the fruity and the skunks also. In my experience, no smell=no flavor. No flavor=no fun.

We process a lot of information through smell. I don't keep track of the massive amount of available strains or their parentage. But a whiff of the medicine, and a sensation or memory comes up. Intuitive smell categories.

Living in Florida so im not legal but I do have regular supply of great weed and usually my guy has multiple strains to choose from. I usually dont care about smell unless its got a really sour bite to it usually referred to as kryp here. I know a guy who grows some of it locally and its always one of my favorite things to vape, probably mostly because its something I get a lot.

In the UK here, but in Bristol which has a very tolerant attitude.

I always go by smell, and asking the guy "which ones best?"

I'm lucky, quality is very high here. Not a patch on you lucky guys in the states though.