If you’re new to the world of legal cannabis, our first advice is: don’t always trust labels. The CBD flower itself should speak for its quality.
The good news is that it’s quite easy to learn how to recognize high-quality CBD flowers and to distinguish them from a low-quality product.
You will surely find a lot of online guides based on various physical and chemical characteristics, but insiders will tell you that your most important and precise measuring tool when you are looking for high-quality CBD flowers is your nose.
Aroma
Top-quality legal cannabis is often characterised by a powerful fragrance. So when you are examining your CBD flower, consider that fine quality cannabis flowers should have a distinct and captivating smell which should stand out from other flavours. The strong and rich aroma indicates a high content of terpenes that with some more experience you will be able to identify. Terpens are produced by a variety of plants and are the primary components of resins and essential oils. It’s the combination of terpens that gives to a flower or a plant its particular smell and aroma (floral, citrus, fruity etc.) Pungency of CBD flowers is also directly linked to their potency.
If your storekeeper has different display samples, consider that remaining open to the air the flavour loses its intensity. If possible ask the storekeeper to give the flower a little pinch in order to release some of those terpenes and help you to get a better idea of what the actual smell of your CBD flower is.
So the smell is the first and main evaluation criterion for CBD flowers. The pungent aroma with its different nuances (sweetish, sourish, fruity, citric, floral etc.) is always a sign of quality.
- Avoid buds that smell like hay or have no smell at all.
Visual appearance: judge by the appearance!
Color
Another important thing to consider if you are looking for fine-quality legal cannabis is the color.
First quality CBD flowers should be generally green in color, though the shade can range from lighter green to darker green. Bright, robust coloration generally signals a high-quality product. Top-quality CBD flowers tend to be some combination of green and purple.
- When the CBD flower on the shelf is brown, red, or yellow, that’s not a great sign. Our advice: avoid purchasing them.
Trichomes
If your storekeeper provides magnification devices to inspect the product (alternatively take a picture with your smartphone and zoom it), check out the trichomes on the flower’s surface. The trichomes are the collection of crystalline white hairs that aren’t always immediately visible to the naked eye. To determine the quality of your CBD flower you will have to evaluate whether those small crystals on the plant are intact or machine-trimmed and hacksawed down. In fact, best quality legal cannabis should be tightly hand-trimmed.
It’s in the trichomes that you will find your THC and CBD. Apart from producing such cannabinoids, which determine the potency and the properties of a flower, trichomes produce the resin. But not only! They are also responsible for the storage of essential oils and terpenes, which have been already mentioned, special compounds that confers to CBD flowers it’s aroma and flavor.
So if your CBD hemp flowers are densely packed with ripe trichomes and have a “frosty” look , you are almost surely holding in your hands a powerful and high-quality marijuana.
The quantity of trichomes is proportional to the quality of legal hemp flowers.
Golden pistils
It’s common to see quality CBD flowers covered with numerous colored pistils. Orange, brown or rarer red, pink and purple tiny hairs represent the maturity of the flower and their presence is a clear signal of a high-quality product and a confirmation of the correct maturation of the plant. This means that the plant comes from the controlled cultivation and the farmer is an expert in his field.
Their abundance does not affect the potency of the flower in any way, they only represent a clear quality mark.
To the touch
Too dry or too wet? Both are the low-quality signals. If the CBD flower is too dry it will crumble easily to dust. It should maintain a minimum of consistency and chop easily without pulverizing.
If the hemp flower is too wet it means that it has not been dried properly. The greatest risk of this drying error is the development of mold. The mold is usually easily visible to the naked eye.
Try to break off a small part of the flower. If it feels “sticky” to the touch – that is to say resinous and therefore laden with cannabinoids (THC, CBD) – but still remains slightly crunchy, then you are holding a flower of excellent quality.
CBD flowers structure
Quality cannabis buds should be quite tight, dense and well-formed. Avoid hemp flowers with “airy” or open structures and visible stems.
The best quality of legal cannabis comes from indoor cultivation. Almost always it excludes the presence of seeds, twigs and leaves that not only add an extra weight to your CBD flowers, but are normally synonymous with the poor quality.
Price
First-class CBD flowers are priceless and should be considered luxury items like fine wine and best cigars.
