Before visiting the Las Vegas cannabis dispensary for the first time, I did some research.
I was very interested in trying out and buying some new strains of cannabis flower.
I had checked the dispensary’s website and found that they offer an incredible array of flower from a variety of producers. By educating myself a bit, I hoped to be able to evaluate the different options for quality and find something I’d really like. I learned that aroma is very important. All cannabis has a distinct odor, but there are indications of high- and low-quality flower. The sugar-like crystals coating the outside of the flower are the trichomes that produce terpenoids. These terpenoids secrete scented oils that are responsible for the unique scent and flavor of each strain. A strong scent usually means higher potency and greater abundance of trichomes. A weak smell can be the result of buds that are dried out, old and less potent. Along with aroma, the structure of the flower reveals a lot about its age and integrity. The best indica buds tend to be fat, dense and tightly-packed. The better sativa strains are usually more open, lean and wispy. While hybrids can vary, depending on genetics, all buds should be evenly sized, spaced and completely intact. There should be bright orange hairs on the outside of the bed. The pistils are white when the plant is young but transition from yellow to orange as they grow. Fiery orange pistols clustered throughout the bed indicate a maturely harvested plant. Brown or gray hairs suggest that the lower is old and dry. Sativa strains usually have more pistils than indica.