How Do You Classify and Select Your Dispensary Flower?

[His_Highness]

I would have thought this had come up before so I searched for "terp" but didn't find anything......

I pay attention to whether its described as a Sativa/Indica, the THC% and the CBD% (When available). I don't feel like I can really depend on the accuracy of the dispensary's definition in terms of Sativa/ Indica. I have a little more confidence in the testing for THC and CBD but wouldn't bet my life on them either.

If I saw a Sativa, with 25% THC and a .09% CBD I would expect a creative and energizing high, mostly in the head and much less in the body. If I saw an Indica, with the same specs I would expect a more euphoric high, equally affecting the head and body and possibly some couch lock.

I never thought the above was state of the art expertise and thought it was kind of hit or miss.

I've recently run into some folks who look at the terps from the strain's test and debate whether it will perform the same as the last batch from the same strain. Some will even attempt to describe the expected difference in the buzz based on the terps.

What's your method for classifying what you expect from a strain?

 

[Shit Snacks]

Google "strain name" "strain" and take all that you find with a large grain of salt

 

[Farid]

The nose and touch are the best way to tell quality. Unfortunately that's not always possible (especially touch).

THC% can be misleading too. I mean if all you care about is potency then it might be useful, assuming the buds tested are similar to those being sold. Many places test the most potent part of the cola, presenting a misleading picture of what the whole thing is like.

But for me, I'd rather have great smelling and tasting bud that's 15% thc than horrible tasting bud that's 25%.

 

[FlyingLow]

Take everything you think and throw it out the window. Snacks isis right.

Percentages are crap. All test samples are usually covered on pollen before submission- your dispensary bud will NEVER have those numbers.

Take what you think you know about Indica and sativa and throw it out the window along with any strain names. There has been so much cross breeding, nothing is what it was, pure strains do not exist, we live in a world of hybrids.

Take two seeds and give them to different growers, the same strain can have dramatically different flavors and effects. One harvest does NOT mean your next of the same strain will be comparable.

I shop by smell and aesthetics when possible (not in Illinois), but otherwise I use online menus and research through leafly or other sites… I find Leafly FAR more knowledgeable and informative than your everyday bud tender.

 

[zor]

Terpene levels are the only metric I find which carry any meaning for me, and even then it's not terribly reliable to convey any specific effects. That said, I like seeing the terpenes as I can get a sense of what flavors I'll be expecting, and I love delicious cannabis. Give me all the flavors, the sweet fruity, pungent skunky, spicy earthy, plain ol' weedy!

I am blessed with access to some excellent dispensaries/caregivers in the northeast and make quarterly purchases, opting for an eighth of all flower and a smattering of concentrates. I don't find enough consistency between strains of the same name grown by different cultivators, sometimes Wedding Cake will knock me out, sometimes it will elevate and energize me.

Completely agree with all the above about the THC%, there's too much potential for manipulation and selective testing, and man some of the big local dispensaries here carry old dry flower, which makes me wonder whether there's higher CBN and lower THC at this point. Also remember, this is a business with a lot of hype, image, and stereotypes associated with it, and for many it's still quite new and burgeoning; it's easy to sell gimmicks.

 

[Shit Snacks]

online menus and research through leafly or other sites… I find Leafly FAR more knowledgeable and informative than your everyday bud tender

Yeah I think allbud and some others are even better, Leafly is more of my last resort lol Though I do also take into account the % and indi/sati, but yeah it's all relative, along with price of course... No two spots the same and no two buds the same unfortunately!

 

[Farid]

I used to go by looks a lot too until I got a batch of "K-Train" that was some of the ugliest bud I've had, but turned out to be some of the best bud I've had in a long long time.

 

[hinglemccringleberry]

Google "strain name" "strain" and take all that you find with a large grain of salt

Shoot, I also take indica vs sativa with a grain of salt. Most sativas make me want to crash out and sleep like a baby.

 

[Shit Snacks]

Shoot, I also take indica vs sativa with a grain of salt. Most sativas make me want to crash out and sleep like a baby.

Exactly! most everything we're getting now is some sort of hybrid anyway as FL said, but yeah it's also strain to strain never the same

 

[letter never sent]

I do as much research as I can. I’ll look up the brand/grower on social media/website to try to figure out what the genetics are. Some brands are better than others when it comes to disclosing this type of info. I’ll also use sources like Leafly, Seedfinder, etc. Sometimes you can find reviews of the exact flower by searching Google or even Reddit.

In general, once I find genetics/terps/brands that work well for me, I tend to stick with them as much as I can. I do prefer indica leaning flower, though of course almost everything these days is a hybrid to some degree. My favorite brands lately here in SoCal have been Cannabiotix (CBX) and 710 Labs.

 

[darbarikanada]

If I saw a Sativa, with 25% THC and a .09% CBD I would expect a creative and energizing high

I'm a big fan of creative strains. sativas or sativa-leaning hybrids are more likely to be creative, but it's far from guaranteed. there are definitely creative indicas (purple arrow!) and plenty of creative hybrids. jack herer seems to have a strong creative component; I've found that hybrids made with it are often creative.

budtenders are almost always unhelpful; you're better off doing online research, even if it's far from perfect.

the only way to assess any cannabis is to try it, preferably 3x or more, using similar amounts, and not in rapid succession (i.e. 3x in 3 days); your tolerance should be at 'baseline' every time. it's time-consuming, but I haven't found anything else that works.

fwiw

 

[Bad Dog]

I do a bit of research on the parent strains, weather its listed as indica or sativa, I don't really believe in turpines for anything other than flavour and I prefer to be surprised. I look for similarities between strains I enjoy but am not overly concerned with that either since quality varies so much grower to grower and even harvest to harvest from the same grower. but this is my typical approach, look for strains many people recommend from good growers but at the end of the day this

the only way to assess any cannabis is to try it

totally pure strains are basicity unheard of these days, but you can still find strong examples of varieties from quality growers. up here in Canada one of my favourite growers is Broken Coast, they have their own breeding program and produce some known strains and some proprietary strains that they will not share the genetics of, they list the indica to sativa % the strain is made from. how accurate they are I'm not certain of, its not like I know if they do some kind of DNA testing (maybe the do?) or just that they used so much of a supposed sativa and indica, I've alway meant to email and inquire, but their quality, potency is on point and effects seem reliable and repeatable.

https://imgur.com/a/vIARFua

 

[shredder]

I've never bought any dispensary herb, I'm spoiled in that way. But if I did I'd look for organically grown buds with a terpene profile that suited me.

 

[invertedisdead]

The only thing that means anything to me is the date it was harvested/packaged, to know its not all old and dry.

I’m really not impressed with the way dispensaries fail to cycle out older product. There should be a lot more sales to incentivize clearing out older stuff.

I find that published terpene percentages are not much different than published THC percentages - it makes people only want to buy the ones with the biggest number; and I’m not necessarily convinced the bigger number even equates to more flavor.

I don’t pay any attention at all to whether it’s labeled Indica/Sativa, the chances of getting a true Indica or Sativa in a California dispensary is extremely low in my experience...

For genetics I generally try to find as old a lineage as possible, also Try to avoid anything GSC based if possible ,which is hard in California. IMHO there’s a bunch of strain names on the shelf , but there isn’t really that many strains. I’d try to stick to craft brands that give the impression they actually use their cannabis, rather than generic marketing driven “Green Gold Rush” corporations.

Also, you get what you pay for - not all the time of course, but in general I find I’m not getting blown away by any of the big deals.

 

[hoptimum]

I do as much research as I can. I’ll look up the brand/grower on social media/website to try to figure out what the genetics are. Some brands are better than others when it comes to disclosing this type of info. I’ll also use sources like Leafly, Seedfinder, etc. Sometimes you can find reviews of the exact flower by searching Google or even Reddit.

In general, once I find genetics/terps/brands that work well for me, I tend to stick with them as much as I can. I do prefer indica leaning flower, though of course almost everything these days is a hybrid to some degree. My favorite brands lately here in SoCal have been Cannabiotix (CBX) and 710 Labs.

I agree. It’s a crap shoot. Numbers mean next to nothing. I try to find a dispensary or two I like, and if I find a strain(s) and producer that give me the results I’m looking for I stick with them.

 

[checkyourlibido]

Terpenes are the biggest variable that I look for.

I don't care about THC level, as long as it's THC is about 20% or more. I feel like pain relief and THC level don't have a huge impact for my personal pain relief. And if I want to get high, my shovel head can fit a lot of herb.

 

[Dynomatico]

I have known the sales people for a few years now at my favorite Dispensary and they steer me quite right from their own personal experiences. It is a relaxed Dispensary and I will go in mid afternoon weekdays when not so busy. Much chatting! I actually wish they would open a coffee shop! I often only buy 1gr of 2 or 3 strains, try them and if really like one or more, I go back for a few on the weekend when they always have everything on sale, every weekends! I feel fortunate that way. Small town, 30K, New Mexico.

 

[cvs8floz]

I agree with most people here that the Sativa/Indica designation for any strain is meaningless, I know exactly how it feels when you get energized by a strain (and want to spend hours in the tent working on plants) vs getting couch locked (and not even want to take a shower or do anything), but I can't produce these states of mind on demand by consuming a particular strain. This is after growing over 50 strains in the last 7 years. I also agree that age, smell and taste is everything, the sweet spot is something like 5 to 8 weeks post harvest and sooner for some strains, especially CBD rich ones that don't age as well. I used to spend hours poring over offerings from different breeders and selecting what I thought were the best strains for me, now I buy mostly on price and try to stagger my growths using autos so I always have something fresh available. I must say that some of my 1:1 strains with THC under 10% vape and taste the best.

 

[Cheebsy]

I think this is a fascinating subject. The latest episode of the cannabis cultivation and science podcast is all about evaluating the aroma. I haven't quite finished it but it's well worth a listen.

Annecdotaly I've heard that in blind tests consumers often prefer strains that test a bit lower for thc than the stratospheric strains that we seem to be breeding for in modern days. I'd love to be involved in blind tests like that to see how I would react.

 

[His_Highness]

A discussion about a Sativa .... The person mentioned that when looking at the test results ... the terps weren't what he'd expect to see for a Sativa, differed significantly from the last batch for the same strain and having subsequently tried it, he felt vindicated because it felt more Indica leaning especially when compared to the affects of the previous batch.

I started this thread because I was wondering how many folks were able to classify/anticipate how a strain would act by reading the terp test results. So far the posts imply there are some folks who do use terp numbers but not many.

Aside from Sativa/Indica, the THC% and the CBD% I also look through the reviews (Leafly, dispensary, etc.) when trying something new. Probably should look at the reviews even when I've tried something before since I've been surprised by strains I really enjoyed in the past not acting the same in a later purchase even when the THC% and CBD% were similar. I wonder if I had compared the test results between the previous and current batch if I would have noted the "difference"?

 

[Shit Snacks]

A discussion about a Sativa .... The person mentioned that when looking at the test results ... the terps weren't what he'd expect to see for a Sativa, differed significantly from the last batch for the same strain and having subsequently tried it, he felt vindicated because it felt more Indica leaning especially when compared to the affects of the previous batch.

I started this thread because I was wondering how many folks were able to classify/anticipate how a strain would act by reading the terp test results. So far the posts imply there are some folks who do use terp numbers but not many.

Aside from Sativa/Indica, the THC% and the CBD% I also look through the reviews (Leafly, dispensary, etc.) when trying something new. Probably should look at the reviews even when I've tried something before since I've been surprised by strains I really enjoyed in the past not acting the same in a later purchase even when the THC% and CBD% were similar. I wonder if I had compared the test results between the previous and current batch if I would have noted the "difference"?

Yeah I would love to have a better understanding of the terpene stuff, but it's just another rabbit hole for me, most stuff I get doesn't have that info at all, but when it does I am always interested to look at it... Yeah and if you can find it online, to get an idea, even though it's not going to apply to the specific herbs I have in my hand... Yeah and the reviews, even more of a grain of salt for me, because of the differences in people, and most reviewers are just smoking it so I don't value their opinion much at all

 

[feralcomprehension]

Bag appeal, eyes and nose, is my main criteria, though if I'm at a place that has lots of well-priced options I always ask the budtender what they like.

 

[His_Highness]

Yeah I would love to have a better understanding of the terpene stuff, but it's just another rabbit hole for me, most stuff I get doesn't have that info at all, but when it does I am always interested to look at it... Yeah and if you can find it online, to get an idea, even though it's not going to apply to the specific herbs I have in my hand... Yeah and the reviews, even more of a grain of salt for me, because of the differences in people, and most reviewers are just smoking it so I don't value their opinion much at all

Couldn't agree more!

I've never reviewed even one test result which is why it peaked my interest.

I think the QR code on the site and/or package is what they're using. I wonder how closely the package QR code ties to the product in it? I've also wondered how the comparison from the current batch to a previous batch is being done if not by using the previous package's QR code.

Bag appeal, eyes and nose, is my main criteria, though if I'm at a place that has lots of well-priced options I always ask the budtender what they like.

Unfortunately the overwhelming majority of the dispensaries here in FL use packages you can't see through or smell. I also ask the budtender what's good but sometimes I'm surprised by how little they know beyond what I "think I know". It's pretty rare for a budtender here to know as much about vapes as us FC folks. I have made friends with a few but since I tend to order delivery and use a bunch of different dispensaries it's kind of hit or miss.

I tend to set my sights on something someone from FC mentioned and investigate it before the purchase. For example....someone recently mentioned in the FL thread I frequent how much they like Queso Perro flower so I've done the homework as I stated above, like what I've found and I'm waiting on it to go on sale. I only buy up to a half ounce unless something I just tried knocks my socks off and that batch is still available.

So far I'm not inclined to obtain a Google Degree in Terps but I'm still open to convincing....

 

[GetLeft]

I'm guessing the dispo websites you all use are similar to the ones I use here in PA but maybe I'm wrong. The websites I use are generic for the most part. One looks and works like the next basically. But I base my purchases upon the info I see advertised on those websites. Now into my second year of being legal to purchase here, I think I can say that the flower info I find is reliable and offers a good way to purchase. You can count on the flower advertised as high thc being high thc. I have found the distinction between sativas and indicas and hybrids as advertised around here to be pretty spot on, too. I've gotten to the point of having a list of favorites and I've come up with it thanks to the info provided at the dispo websites in addition to the usual cannabis info websites. Now having a list-in-progress of my favorite strains, I'm wanting to compare the terps they have in common. Need a little more free time before I can set about that task.

One note I'd make is that it must be harder to get consistent results with concentrates because where I am I've found the strain and thc information to be unreliable. Can't even be confident of the physical consistency of what you're purchasing. I generally shoot for budders and badders because they tend to be easier to load for me than the gooier concentrates or the more crystalline ones. But I've had budders that were sugars and badders that were oils. That's one question that I'll be posing to my budtender before I purchase another concentrate: Are you sure that when I open this budder I'm really going to find a budder?

 

[shredder]

As a grower caregiver I see things from a different perspective.

And what I offer patients isn't what I've seen in dispensaries.

As an example sometimes I have 2 or even 3 generations of the same variety spaced by 3.5-4 months in age. Different crops.

The smell/odor is different for each age. It gets more richer and slightly sweeter as it ages and cures.

Whenever patients take a whiff of each they always take the well aged and stored properly.

I think the peak age differs though. The bigger denser buds age longer than the smaller and looser buds.

The whole experience, vibe or whatever with patients and myself and the product itself are something dispensaries lack IMHO.

Maybe some day they'll get what us hippies knew forever. Naaaa, lol

I'd rather have gourmet buds than a budtender that wants to be my besty in a trendy store.