They often say that to detect good weed, all you need to do is to have a look at it and smell it. It is believed that smokable cannabis should have green leaves and taste/smell fruity and powerful. But if your flower shows off these indicators, does it mean you have the best-quality pot? Yes and no. These two answers are equal.
Read Venera’s flower judging manual to learn the details. Before anything else, let’s find out what can happen to cannabis and why it can be in bad condition.
Can your flower get old?
If you take a closer look at cannabis sold at dispensaries, you will notice that it does not feature any sell-by date. So, you may assume it can’t get old, right? But that’s not true. THCA flowers can become stale under improper storage conditions. When stored correctly, cannabis and its potency can last a long time.
Otherwise, it can become moldy and awful to the taste. Moldy flowers look similar to what you regularly find on expired cheese, bread, and other food products. On top of that, flower quality can be ruined and transformed into a dry bud due to the effects of direct sunlight and air.
But that’s not all that can happen to your weed. Check out what recommendations professional judges follow as part of a flower show judging guide (it can become your own judging manual for weed assessment for personal use):
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Overly dry flower can lead to unpleasant experiences and throat hits.
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If its aroma or taste has changed during storage, it won’t smoke well.
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If it isn’t dried properly, it can grow mold. Nobody wants to smoke moldy weed.
If it is not stored according to high standards, cannabis can undergo changes in shape, color, and smell. Therefore, you should only buy weed that has been carefully kept in a cool place away from the effects of the elements.
Now that you know that cannabis can become old, being able to determine the state of your weed is the necessary ability to acquire.
6 Steps to judge good THCA flower
When you find yourself at a dispensary or looking over online weed collections, it’s too easy to get lost. Here’s how you can be sure you go for the best quality with tips from THCA flower show judges.
Pay attention to the color
Good weed should be green and colorful. Usually, buds with orange and red hairs come from the top shelf. Meanwhile, everything that is too brown or dark brown can be assessed as old or poor quality.
Assess its texture
Healthy THCA buds shouldn’t be overly moist or too dry and shouldn’t break apart easily. There shouldn’t be tons of seeds and stems, either. Good-quality smoke is the one associated with a robust texture.
Look for glimmering crystals
Those are the strain’s trichomes that you can see on the bud’s surface. They are the carriers of cannabis flavors and effects. The more trichomes, the better. You can’t have too many trichomes.
Check for white powder
To do this, you’ll need to break apart the flower you’re assessing. Don’t buy or consume cannabis that contains white powder within. This is a telltale sign of mold.
Note: When you judge good THCA flower, remember that you may confuse glimmering crystals with white powder. Trichomes glisten and resemble sugar crystals. Meanwhile, mildew looks like baby powder.
Smell it
It goes without saying that top marijuana comes with a distinctly skunky, strong odor. If it smells terrible, you should abstain from using it. Odors and aromas are crucial indicators of weed quality used by flower show judges.
Today, there are hundreds of marijuana strains, and each can smell differently. Naturally, the age of the plant when it’s harvested plays a key role. Cannabis that’s harvested earlier in its life cycle has a milder, less skunk scent.
Any flower show judging guide will tell you that some marijuana varieties can quickly lose their flavor while other strains develop a profile that lasts for years. You need to practice your assessment skills to be able to figure out which weed is good to go and which isn’t. To make it simpler, remember that the smell of great flower is somewhere between sweet, woody, and diesel-like.
Taste it
Good cannabis should taste like citrus, fruit, or pine or have a little earthy or skunky flavor. Therefore, if your THCA flower does not feature any signs of mold or other contaminants and tastes and smells like this, it should be a decent choice.
Good flower = Good experience
Cannabis can improve your mood, replenish your energy, and relax you with a bang. But this is only true when you have a high-quality product. Luckily, when stored properly, cannabis and its potency can last long.
You aren’t supposed to become qualified as a THCA flower show judge to make sure the weed you’re about to buy is good to smoke. Here are the basics to keep in mind:
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If your cannabis does not have any visible imperfections, smells lovely, and is not too crumbly, you can try it without a second thought.
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If it does not look that good (the buds are brown, disheveled, and extremely unattractive), or when you are hesitating and can’t determine if it can be smoked, it’s better to check it more carefully. Bad flower can be harmful to your health and cause a harsh inhalation experience, to say nothing of bitter disappointment.
If you happen to experience serious side effects of cannabis, it means that you have either consumed a lousy product or too much. If overdosing is the issue, try reducing the amount of intake. If the reason is the state of your weed, you’d better toss away the old herb and shop for top-shelf THCA buds.
You can boost your chances for a perfect smoking experience with this simple flower judging manual and by keeping your weed the right way.
