"Weed is just weed."

"Whoever says this lacks nuance, perspective, and scientific evidence.”

- Quote by myself

When observing & consuming different cannabis buds and their unique differences and qualities, we quickly start to understand why the “it’s just weed” people are undoubtedly wrong in their perception of cannabis.

But why isn’t each type of cannabis the same?

And how and why can the quality of each type of cannabis differ so much?

Let’s unravel that.

What is Sensory Cannabis Quality?

Okay, let’s kick this off with the first question: Why isn’t each type of cannabis the same?

If you have had any experience with cannabis so far, you likely have heard of the terms “Indica,” “Sativa,” and “Hybrid.” The general emphasis around these words is that “Indica” types are generally supposed to be more sedative, while “Sativa” types are supposed to be more energizing, and “Hybrid” types are somewhat between sedative and energizing.

I shall mention at this point that these terms really don’t mean much, but I won’t get into too much detail on why that is, as I could write an entire article about that topic - maybe I will one day, but let’s stay focused on the quality for now, shall we?

So, the reason why I’m bringing this up is because I’d like you to understand that there are different cannabis types with specific intoxicating properties that range from sedative to stimulating.

As a matter of fact, we can say that the effects of all cannabis varieties can fall under a sedative to stimulating effect spectrum.

A Pink or Afghan Kush variety, for example, is usually on the far-sedative side of this spectrum, while an Amnesia Haze or Congolese strain is on the far-energizing side of the spectrum.

The reason for these sedatives or energizing effects is based on the so-called Entourage effect, which is the hypothesis that the various plant-based chemicals in the trichome heads of these varieties create a unique bouquet of compounds that include cannabinoids, terpenes, volatile sulphur compounds (VSC), esters and various other phytochemicals (plant-based compounds).

When we discuss distinct varieties like a Pink Kush, for example, it’s essential to know that these varieties are bound to a so-called genotype and a chemotype.

The plant's Genotype refers to the plant's genetic profile and suggests how these genes should be expressed in the overall appeal, including the plant’s aromatic profile and trichome expression. These factors are part of the sensory quality of cannabis, as they’re all aspects we can perceive about the cannabis by using our senses.

The Chemotype refers to a plant’s chemical profile, suggesting what range of chemicals the plant should express. For example, researchers often classify cannabis varieties as a Type I (THC-dominant), Type II (balanced CBD:THC) or Type III (CBD-dominant) Chemovar.

Now, you might think, “Nice nerd out, Tommi, but what does that have to do with quality?”

I’m glad you asked.

Let’s quickly reroute to the Genotype. Once again, a genotype tells us what the sensory quality - looks and smell - should be like. However, with the plant’s genotype in mind, we can now compare these metrics to the plant's phenotype, which is another nerdy word that simply means, “This is how my plant actually looks like.”

So, for example, a Pink Kush variety should typically have a dense, compact bud structure with vibrant pink and purple hues interspersed with deep green. Its aroma profile is often described as being very earthy and kushy, with perhaps some underlying floral notes. The trichome coverage should be heavy, giving the buds a frosty appearance. (= Genotype - what the plant should be like)

However, the actual Phenotype (how the plant looks in reality) can vary based on growing conditions, cultivation techniques, and slight genetic variations. This is where quality assessment becomes crucial.

When we evaluate cannabis quality, we compare the actual Phenotype to the expected Genotype, among other things that we will discuss in the next section. Proper cannabis should, therefore, closely match the characteristics defined by its Genotype.

Or, to say it less nerdy, if you buy a Pink Kush that is elongated and smells like fruits, you’ve just bought something that is named Pink Kush but doesn't resemble the actual variety at all. In that case, this fake Pink Kush is likely not only looking and smelling like a Pink Kush, but will also give you a much different buzz than a Pink Kush would.

In Summary, each type of cannabis isn’t the same because the plants vary genetically in their appearance, aroma and chemical profile. Further, each distinct type can vary and morph into different varieties based on how the phenotype expresses itself. This is influenced by various factors such as the growing conditions, cultivation techniques, and slight genetic variations.

Now that we have this covered, let’s explore what cannabis quality generally is before we explore how and why the overall quality of cannabis can differ so much.

To do so, I’d like to shift our focus now primarily to sensory quality, which is the observable characteristics of a cannabis type that we can assess through our senses.

That being said, I will spend little time discussing THC and Terpene percentages as the lab numbers are, from my point of view, more like an indicator of medical ingredients rather than the overall quality of a cannabis bud.

To understand my point of view, let’s think about buying and consuming apples.

Imagine this: You go into the produce section of your grocery store to hunt down some delicious apples. As you explore the aisles, you notice different varieties of apples. There are Pink Lady apples, Cosmic Crisp apples, Ambrosia apples and so on. Now, you have to decide what apples you want to buy, so you walk up to the staff of the grocery store and ask them, “Please tell me the calorie and vitamin differences of each different apple variety and recommend the best apple.” The grocery staff member - who has no idea what apple taste you prefer or what vitamins your body needs, by the way - responds with, “You see the pile of half-rotten, brown apples over there? Those tested with the highest calories and have a great vitamin content.”

You buy the half-rotten apples, take a bite, and are barely able to finish the entire thing as it tastes like shit and minutes later, your stomach aches, and you’re about to shit yourself, but hey, you’re happy that you got the highest calories and most vitamins.

Now that you hopefully understand why sensory quality (including your own preferences) is more important than just the lab results*, let’s quickly summarize what sensory product quality can tell us:

• Potential health risks when consuming the product: Mouldy and harsh products, for example, can affect your health negatively.
• The pleasantness of consuming the product: When consuming a product, we mostly want something pleasant to consume, providing a great appeal, aroma, flavour and smooth smoke/vape.
• The potential effects/intoxication from consuming the product: The aroma intensity, complexity, variety, overall appeal, and trichome coverage can give us some solid indicators of what the effects of the product can be like.
• The efforts and artistic craft behind the growing and handling of the product: The sensory quality of a product shows us how much expertise and care the growers took to cultivate an outstanding or poor variety.
• How to differentiate various products: The sensory quality varies highly from product to product and, therefore, helps us to differentiate the abundance of products in a cannabis store based on the actual product quality instead of just strain names, THC numbers and price points.

*I just want to quickly mention here that I still value the lab tests, especially the evaluation of microbes, heavy metals and pesticides, which surely help keep consumers safe. I’m simply not shopping for cannabis based on THC and Terpene percentages, as just following the numbers is often misleading and doesn't give you the full picture of what you’re about to purchase.

Now that you have had a quick intro to sensory cannabis quality and what it can indicate, let’s jump right into the rabbit hole of sensory quality evaluation.

 

Sensory Bud and Smoke Quality

Let’s start off with our question again.

How and why can the quality of each type of cannabis differ so much?

To understand how the sensory quality of cannabis can differ so much, let’s explore the sensory quality indicators that we evaluate in our Sensemillier Grading Platform.

In our platform, we separate the sensory quality of cannabis into two main categories:

• Bud quality
• and Smoke or Vape quality.

These main categories are then further broken down into subcategories.

The Subcategories for the Bud quality are:

• Aroma
• Appeal
• Trichomes & Undesirables
• Curing

The Subcategories for the Smoke quality are:

• Dry pull flavour
• Smoke flavour
• Ash colour
• Smoothness

Let’s explore each subcategory in more detail and show you some insights from our Grading Platform so you can better understand the various factors that make up product quality and how to evaluate them.

Aroma (Bud Grading)

The Aroma includes the following grading aspects:

Aroma Intensity

To evaluate the Aroma Intensity, we start by opening the product packaging from an underarm's length away from our chest to see if the aroma is noticeable from a distance and fills the room. If we can’t smell the aroma from there, we reduce the distance by bringing the packaging to our chest and continue with this process until we can pick up the distinct smell of the buds - the last step is having the jar or pouch right under our nose.

We evaluate the Aroma Intensity in this way because cannabis is a unique plant that can produce intense fragrances like barely any other plant. This intensity of its aroma is dependent on the concentration of aromatic phytochemicals like Terpenes, VSC, Esters and other compounds that are said to contribute to the Entourage effect and the user experience. Consequently, the more intense its aroma, the higher the concentration of aromatic phytochemicals.

Aroma Complexity

To evaluate the Aroma Complexity, we bring the container with our buds right up to our nose and gently smell its overall scent while assessing if what we smell is an unpleasant, faint, average, pleasant or complex aroma. We evaluate the aroma complexity to determine the variety of present phytochemicals and undesirables. The creamy, citrusy or gassy aroma of a bud is namely due to a high concentration of said aromatic phytochemicals, while a lack of aroma or unpleasant, off-putting or dirty smells are an indicator of unhealthy, low-quality flower that won’t be enjoyable to consume.

Appeal (Bud Grading)

The Bud Appeal includes the following grading aspects:

Bud Size

To evaluate the Bud Size, we simply place our buds next to a lighter for size reference and then assess whether our buds are tiny, small, medium, big or huge.

For us, bud size indicates the artistic manufacturing, care and size of the buds, as it’s not easy to maintain a well-cured, huge bud through the processing and supply chain.

Bud Colour

To evaluate the Bud Colour, we specifically assess the colour of the plant material (flowers & trim leaves) and not the stigmas (hairs on the buds). Evaluating the bud colour helps us to determine the health and age of the buds in front of us, as really old or unhealthy buds will be mostly pale, brown or amber-ish in colour, while really healthy and fresh buds will mostly have vibrant tones of green, purple or even pink.

Trim

To evaluate the Trim of the buds, we pay close attention to the amount of individual trim leaves we can spot on the buds. Badly trimmed buds will be full of leaves, whereas perfectly trimmed buds will show barely any visible leaves. We do so because the trim leaves themselves carry fewer glandular trichomes and, therefore, have a lower phytochemical content than the tiny flowers that make up the buds. Consequently, the trim leaves only add unnecessary chlorophyll and weight to the buds.

Trichomes (Bud Grading)

Trichomes are the tiny resin glands that grow primarily on the bracts of the cannabis flowers and produce and store all of the plant’s phytochemicals in their “heads.”

The Trichome evaluation includes the following observables:

Trichome Visibility

To evaluate the Trichome Visibility, we take a look at our buds to see how easily we can notice the trichomes on them. The trichomes on really frosty flowers will be easily visible from afar as the entire bud will appear frosty white. However, for lower-quality buds, the trichomes will be hardly visible even when looking at the flowers close-up.

We evaluate the trichome coverage to determine the potential amount of present phytochemicals. Because the trichomes produce and store all of the phytochemicals in their heads, the more trichomes we can see on a bud, the higher the phytochemical content of the buds should be.

Trichome Colour

To evaluate the Trichome Colour, we’re placing our buds under our digital microscope so we can have a close-up view of the individual trichome heads to assess their colour on the inside and the outside of the buds*. We evaluate the trichome colour because the colour of the trichome indicates the ripeness of the trichome heads and potential degradation of their phytochemical content. The colour range and change of trichomes are similar to the changing colours of fruit. A premature banana, for example, is often more light greenish and lacks its vibrant yellow colour before it fully matures. Similarly, premature trichomes appear translucent/clear in colour and turn into a glistening, milky white colour as they mature and fill up with phytochemicals. Further, like fruit that turns amber to brown as it degrades and starts to rot, trichomes also undergo a similar colour change and become more golden and then mostly amber and brown as the cannabis oxidizes and degrades.

Head Development

To evaluate the Development of the Trichome Heads, we keep our buds under our digital microscope to have a close-up view of the size and robustness of our trichome heads on the buds’ inner and outer surface*. Because the entire intoxicating chemistry of cannabis is stored in the trichome heads, we evaluate the size and condition of the heads to assess how well the trichomes were maintained throughout the supply chain. Our fruit analogy also applies here as well to help us understand the importance of having proper trichome heads. We can think of the trichomes as apples, whereas our bud is the apple tree. Now, imagine you're an apple farmer and have apple trees that lack apples or carry only little apples. That would be kind of frustrating as you’d want proper, large apples that would give you more yield, be more appealing to your customers, and help you make much more apple juice. The same idea applies to our cannabis farmers who are eager to produce buds full of big, robust trichomes that are able to carry higher amounts of phytochemicals, make the buds look more appealing to their customers and allow them to yield much more resin when being extracted.

*We evaluate the inner and outer surfaces of our buds to: A) Analyze the impact of the product packaging & handling on the integrity of the trichomes. B) Find possible undesirables like bud rot that could potentially be hidden inside the buds.

Undesirables

As we’re scoping our buds, we eventually can find undesirables like hairs, insects, moulds or seeds inside of them. The colour and shapes of the undesirables will stand out from the plant material and trichomes we can observe on the buds. Moulds like jar rot, for example, will look like white spider webs that cover the buds, while bud rot makes the inside of the buds appear brown and also shows some white webbing, whereas powdery mildew will appear like spots of white powder on the plant material. Insects and seeds will be easy to spot as the insects are easy to spot based on their dark colour, bodies and legs, and the seeds will appear as light brown ovals - coated by a white, translucent calyx membrane for micro seeds.

Curing (Bud Grading)

To evaluate the cure of our buds, we do a squeeze test by firmly squeezing the buds and watching how they react when we pinch them between our fingers. We do so to evaluate the moisture levels of our buds, as too much or too little moisture can negatively affect the consumption experience and other factors like the aroma. Poorly cured buds, for example, will be so dry that they crumble into pieces, while too-moist buds will stay squished. Well-cured buds, on the other hand, will either slightly or fully bounce back like a sponge.

Dry Pull Flavour (Smoke Grading)

The Dry Pull refers to tasting your joint before smoking it by taking a puff of the unlit (dry) joint.

The Dry Pull evaluation includes the following factors:

Dry Pull Intensity

To evaluate the dry pull intensity, we take a few puffs of our joint before lighting it while assessing how much flavour we can notice. We evaluate the dry pull intensity to gauge the concentration of flavourful phytochemicals before we start combusting them. High-quality or really aromatic cannabis, for example, should have an intense dry pull that fills our entire taste buds with an intense flavour, while lower-quality cannabis has just a mild or even no dry pull flavour at all.

Dry Pull Complexity

To evaluate the dry pull complexity, we take another few dry pulls after assessing the intensity, while we now shift our focus to evaluating the entire spectrum of flavours we notice. We evaluate the dry pull complexity to assess the variety of phytochemicals or potential undesirables that are present in our joint. Further, we use the complexity of the dry pull as a reference point to compare to our aroma complexity and the following smoke complexity evaluations, as high-quality cannabis should only have a minimal aroma-to-flavour variance that should be pleasant or complex overall.

Lower-quality cannabis, however, will have an unpleasant or faint flavour that matches the lack of aroma or has lost flavour compared to the buds' initial pleasant fragrance.

Smoke Flavour (Smoke Grading)

To evaluate the smoke flavour, we assess the flavour complexity of the smoke within the first and last couple of puffs. We evaluate the smoke flavour at the beginning and the end of the joint to not only see how pleasant the joint tastes but also compare how well the flavour is retained throughout the entire consumption experience. High-quality cannabis, for example, will have a pleasant or complex flavour that maintains the initial complexities we picked up in the aroma and dry pull flavour and tastes well from the beginning to the end of the joint. In contrast, low-quality cannabis will either taste unpleasant or faint from the get-go or change from a more average to an unpleasant flavour towards the end of the joint.

Ash Colour (Smoke Grading)

To evaluate ash colour, we keep smoking our joint until about half is consumed and then let a bit of ash build up, which we then flick off to assess the ash colour right at the center of the ash cone. We evaluate the ash colour as a measurement that can show us the absence or presence of residuals - like moisture, undesirables, nutrients or chlorophyll - in our joint. Really clean cannabis will usually have a light grey to even fully white ash colour, while the ash colour of lower quality cannabis will be more dark grey or entirely black. However, we’d like to mention here that the reference of ash colour to cannabis quality is an extensive discussion amongst the cannabis community. Some individuals swear that a clean ash colour indicates a clean and properly flushed product, while others argue that the ash colour is irrelevant to the quality of your cannabis.

Our observations around this topic are that we've never smoked an entirely smooth and flavourful joint that burnt black, and neither did we ever smoke a fully clean burning joint that wasn't smooth or flavourful. However, we agree that the ash colour is probably one of the least important aspects of the experience, but still evaluate it to do some proper data analysis in the future that lets us examine the correlation between ash colour, flavour and smoothness.

Smoothness (Smoke Grading)

To evaluate the smoothness, we assess what kind of sensation we can perceive in our throat when inhaling the smoke from our joint. We evaluate the smoothness to track how easy or harsh the cannabis is to consume. The best cannabis will be super smooth to smoke, meaning that we can barely sense any irritation in our throat or maybe just a slight tickle, while low-quality cannabis will burn our throat or dry it out, which causes our throat to hurt and constrict and causes an unpleasant or even painful sensation when we smoke our joint.

As we have now successfully covered all of the objective characteristics of cannabis quality, let’s talk about the subjective parts of cannabis quality: the Effects.

Experience: Quality vs Effects

As I just said, we consider the Effects to be subjective parts of our cannabis experience, as the effects we get from consuming cannabis are dependent on the make-up of our individual endocannabinoid system, nervous system and overall well-being.

Let’s quickly talk about why that is.

Cannabis primarily affects our Endocannabinoid System, which is responsible for fine-tuning the Neurotransmission within our Nervous System.

Neurotransmission is the electrical and chemical communication between the 80 billion neurons in our nervous system that communicate through about 500 trillion synapses.

Reading this hopefully makes you think “damn, that sounds complex,” and you’re right, the nervous system - which includes our brain, limbs and organs - is literally the most complex system in the entire universe.

It is because of the complexity of the processes within this system and the countless number of possible states of our nervous system that Neuroscientists like Andrew Huberman say that you can’t predict what experience anyone is going to have after smoking cannabis.

Further, your nervous system is quite literally the most fundamental building block of your entire existence by enabling you to think, move, perceive and do literally anything. And because your nervous system is formed by your genetics and literally every experience you ever had, and has such an insane capability of variance, I think that no one besides yourself actually knows what your nervous system is like.

Therefore, it’s impossible for anyone to really know what it’s like to be you and what any drug will really do to you. In contrast, it’s much easier to agree that a bud smells or looks a certain way, as these criteria are much more objective to assess than what the complex mixture of phytochemicals will trigger within the vast network of 80 billion neurons.

However, this doesn’t mean that we can’t evaluate our individual effect experience. Quite the contrary. This is why we have to evaluate our individual cannabis experiences, and why even doctors and cannabis nurses make their patients evaluate how a certain type of product made them feel.

That being said, let’s dive into the Effect Grading System on our Grading Platform.

Our effect grading system allows you to assess how cannabis impacted various factors of your mental and physical well-being, including:

• The Intensity of Intoxication
• Your Energy Levels
• Your Mood
• Your Concentration

Besides these post-consumption factors, a proper effect evaluation should also assess your set and setting prior to and during consumption, as your set and setting have a big influence on the current state of your nervous system and your overall cannabis experience.

For the set and setting, we track:

• Our purpose of consumption
• Our mindset before consumption
• Our consumption method
• How much we consumed
• Our Social setting
• Our location
• What activities we did during/after consuming

Lastly, at the end of the effect evaluation, we also rate our subjective experience overall on a scale of 1-5.

What’s interesting to mention here is that grading your cannabis quality and the effects you experience from various cannabis products will show you that there’s no objective way to understand cannabis, especially since the effects are highly individualistic.

What you can understand objectively are the various objective sensory characteristics we have discussed, which will empower you to ensure that someone's consumption experience will be pleasant.

The effects, however, are unpredictable; you can take a guess, but that’s all you can really do when it comes to “recommending an experience.”

I, for example, have smoked very pleasant, high-quality buds that gave me a panic attack, while I also consumed more average weed that gave me the best time ever.

The more experience you gather by grading and recommending products, the more you’ll see how easy it is to evaluate quality and how impossible it is to predict what someone's experience will be like.

At the end of the day, there’s good quality weed and there’s bad quality weed, but the weed that works the best for you is solely up to your individual neurochemistry.

So, keep grading and tracking experiences with our Sensemillier Grading Platform because that’s all you can really do to learn what type of cannabis works for you and what doesn’t.

PS: If a customer or friend comes up again to ask you what weed “makes them happy,” I recommend sending them this article so they see that’s not your job to know but theirs.