Identifying Quality Marijuana... 101

Fluff/Density - Moisture/Dryness - Seeds? - Stemmy? - Crystalization - Taste & Smoke Texture - Potency

These are the 5 adjectives one should judge when examining a bag of marijuana. Using this post you should be able to identify almost instantly the quality of a bag when purchasing it. Quickly enouph perhaps to avoid bad purchases. I look at quality pot as being on par to great wine. One should know what to look for.

Fluff/Density-
This is a measure of how big your bag looks. We are assuming your source is honorable and you are getting precise weights. There is fuffy bud that springs back when you put a slight pressure to it. There is very dense bud that is hard as a rock. Dense bud has a very small looking bag. Fluffy bud has a larger looking bag. Dense pot when combined with a high crystalization and potency can deliver a very high amount of THC in a short amount of time. However, dense pot is ussually associated with schwag which ussually has seeds and a relatively low potency, but this is not nessesarily always true. Very quality pot is ussually associated with a fluffier bud. I have seen bud that was too fluffy, though, but rarely.

Moisture/Dryness -
This is, obviously, a measure of dryness. This is more technically a measure of how well it was cured. This is much like the age of the wine when looking at wine and spirts. How long was it put up and allowed to naturally cure and dry? Never do you want very moist buds. This means you are getting ripped off. If you dont act quickly you will end up with mold. However, there is a range at the dry end of the spectrum the includes some of the grey area. These bags are dry enouph to never develop mold but not all bags are perfectly dry. You definately dont want your bag to be moist.

Seeds? -
Definately one of the most important visible signs of a particular buds quality. Seeds take energy to build when a plant is growing. This is energy that could of went to more of those crystals we like so much. This, also, is most always associated with schwag. Seeds are bad. However, a really good strain with high THC content natrually can develop seeds and it could still be cured correctly to taste and smoke well, but this is rarely the case. Male plants are ussually not taken care of as well because of this assocation.

Stemmy? -
This is the measure of how much of the bud is stem. Stem is the part of the plant with the lowest amount of THC in it. Stem is useless. Bud is sold by how much it weigh. You don't want to pay for this stem so bud with less stem is preferred.

Crystillazation -
This is the the only measure of appearance that is always useful in identifiying the buds potential potency. If there are no sparkly spots on it when you put it under a light then most likely its not gonna have an abundance of THC. It can definately work out though. When the bud is dense it is hard to see many crystals, but it doesn't mean they aren't there. If it is fluffy, however, you should be able to see some sparkles and the more the merrier.

Taste & Smoke Texture -
This is a measure of the smoke created after burning it. This would not apply to vaporizers as much as it is when putting a lighter to it. This would also not apply to cooking it. This is most of the time a personal preference thing and varys from pipe to pipe. Ideally you would want to be smoking out of any kind of glass or a joint/blunt. Metal definately affects the taste. Well cured buds should not have very much of a taste. Some will have a slight after taste of a grape or orange, but these are very rare. A burning taste and pretty much anything you personally would think of as bad. This is a matter of personal preference. I can't really tell you what taste to like in your smoke.

Smoke Texture is the measure of the harshness of smoke. If you are a veteran smoker and you couph, thats bad. It is as simple as that. Big hits out of serious instraments can make veterans couph with even the best bud. However, most of us should agree that we'd rather not couph. You can't know this until you smoke it. Also, even the best looking bud could smoke like SHIT. Of course, this ussually isn't so. If it was well cured that means it was well taken care of which means it is probably worth taking good care of. I have, similarly, seen bud that looks horrid. Dark, dense, seeds, etc. have a smooth and comfortable smoke.

Note: A tickle is a special sensation that can induce couphing. This, however is a good couph and I take it to be getting a big ol' dose of THC. Enjoy.

Potency -
This is the post consumption effectiveness. Again, this has alot to do with how you consume it. Burning with a flame or during cooking will kill aproximately 50% of the THC in the bud before it even gets to you. Cooking without burning or using a vaoprizer will deliver aproximately 98-99% of the THC in the bud. However, when rating bud, we're really just trying to determine how much THC to be consumed is availiable. This determines how high you get. The more you smoke the higher you get. This also correlates to how much you have to smoke to get high. Government figures (for what they're worth) have the most potent bud in the world currently at ~25-30% THC. Those crystals you can see or not see are belived to be big stores of THC, which is why we even look for those. THC is also in the other parts of the plant of course so even with none of these visible there still could be plenty.

If you've made it this far, cheers. I'm pretty baked right now and this just kinda spewed out. Anything I miss?

This was nice read.
Is this all knowledge in your head or did you get it off some site?

You know, the crystalls [to give them their proper name, Trichomes] dont actually mean much.

Generally tho buds with crystalls will be good stuff, but not always. Just thought i'd share that, as this is a way most people think they can tell the potency, and its not always the case.

Good read, good info!

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Originally Posted by LIP

You know, the crystalls [to give them their proper name, Trichomes] dont actually mean much.

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Actually it does mean much :p, those trichomes which is basically a stem-like structure with a head. That head contains the THC and all of the cannabinoids. If it wasnt for those then what would be the point of smoking marijuana? :p

thats a nice read. maybe someone should make this a sticky

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Originally Posted by orangeman

Actually it does mean much :p, those trichomes which is basically a stem-like structure with a head. That head contains the THC and all of the cannabinoids. If it wasnt for those then what would be the point of smoking marijuana? :p

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Sorry orangeman... they definately dont contain all the cannabinoids.

I've gotten buds that look amazing. Cured to perfection with crystals all over... But smoking it reveals otherwise.

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Originally Posted by iwantFUEGO

Sorry orangeman... they definately dont contain all the cannabinoids.

I've gotten buds that look amazing. Cured to perfection with crystals all over... But smoking it reveals otherwise.

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Just because buds have alot of trichome crystals on it doesnt mean it is potent. Have you ever considered that maybe your bud was just not very potent? :p

Awesome stuff man.

I just sat down and typed it out. =P Hence the grammer and spelling errors. I found some DANK bud and it inspired me so to speak.

If I vape my bud I can save 50% of my stash? Wow, time to invest in a vaporizer.

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Originally Posted by orangeman

Just because buds have alot of trichome crystals on it doesnt mean it is potent. Have you ever considered that maybe your bud was just not very potent? :p

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exactly...:thumbsup:

we had this bud we called "chemical haze" cuz it tasted horrible and gave us headaches... :mad:

but before we smoked it... we called it super chron and bought a whole bunch of it cuz it looked sooo good. :cool: