Whether for recreational enthusiasts or medicinal patients, dried cannabis flower remains the most popular delivery method. Smokable weed is available in a nearly endless array of indicas, sativas and hybrids. Strains of a wide variety of well-respected brands represent targeted cross-breeding, innovative grow practices and meticulous harvest procedures. Answering public demand, the bud on the shelves of dispensaries across the country showcases the very best in color, aroma, texture and taste. Today’s plants are allowed to fully mature. They are picked at the peak of potency and dried to preserve the most desirable compounds. Organic practices ensure safety while avoiding contaminants, such as spiders, webs, mold and pesticides. Consumers can tell if they are in the presence of top quality weed by looking at and smelling it. A strong, dank aroma evidences a richness of terpenes. The texture should not be moist and sticky nor dry and crumbly.
The dense, thick buds should fall somewhere in-between and be free of seeds. Premium weed will have very few leaves and sticks. The color should be a vivid green and can display flecks of orange or purple. Bright, fiery orange hairs are proof of properly timed harvest. If the pistils are white, the plant was picked too soon. If they are a dark brown or gray, the weed is old and past its prime. The surface of top-shelf bud is covered in tiny, mushroom-shaped crystals. These are the trichomes, where the terpenes and cannabinoids are located. An abundance of trichomes promises high THC potency. For joints, blunts, bongs or filling a pipe, the better the weed the better the smoking experience.