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How To Distinguish Fine Cannabis
1) Is it organic? This might not be important for some, it is the number one important factor. Not only do organic buds taste and smell better then "chemmy" buds, but the high and the comedown are also much nicer. If your dealer doesn't know, maybe it's time to grow yer own! 2) Is it dried properly? If the bud is dried properly, a stem will snap when bent. If the stem just bends, the herb is wet and not yet ready for smoking. Another way to tell if herb is dried properly is to see if a joint will smoke properly and stay lit. I recommend a sweet-leaf grinder to perpare the herb. These can be found at any good headshop. They break the herb into material of perfect density for rolling. If the joint won't stay lit, the herb is most likely too wet. (or the herb wasn't leached properly, and too many fertilizer salts are present, which is even worse!) Please do not buy wet herb. You are paying for moisture that will (hopefully) evaporate out of the buds. If it's already sealed and wet, this is very bad. Mold is highly probable. Please avoid smoking mold! You could get a lung infection. I recommend using a small hand held 10X or 30X microscope (available at Radio Shack) to inspect your buds for mold. It will appear as web-like fibres running through the plant. Also, please make sure the herb is not too dry. If it so dry that it easily crumbles into powder, the smoke will be harsh and not as tasty. Adding a couple pieces of lettuce to the herb for half a day or so is the preferred method of adding back a little moisture, and since the lettuce is inert, it will not affect the smell or taste of the herb. 3) Is it cured properly? This is a entirely different process than the drying. Does the herb smell green, sort of like lawn clippings? If so, the herb is most likely not cured properly and therefore not very good. Properly cured herb will have a multitude of luscious aromas, many of which which words can not describe as these flavors do not exist elsewhere in nature. (Inventing words can be fun.) Properly cured herb does not need to be squeezed to smell amazing. It will do so on its own. In fact, quite often, properly cured buds will smell no better when squeezed. (They already smell as amazaing as possible) It should be noted that marijuana potency and flavor are increased when the herb is cured properly. 4) Is it still fluffy or has it been smashed? Very simply, smashing decreases potency. These are very delicate flowers. Rough handling and smashing causes the loss of many precious resin glands. Believe it or not, most Mexican herb was fantastic before compressing! 5) Does it taste as good as it smells? Lots of herb smells great, but often it just taste like smoke, or slightly sweet smoke. It's a special herb that tastes as good as it smells. If you want to get really technical, you could ask - How does the second half of a joint taste? On much of todays herb, the first half of a joint will taste great. The second half, however, may just taste like hot tarry smoke. With truly special herb, the joint will taste great down to your lips burning on the roach. 6) Does it bite you in the throat? (not to be confused with expanding to make you cough, which is a good thing!) Is the herb smooth and rich, or is it chemical tasting and harsh? If the herb bites you in the throat upon inhalation, it most likely has chemical residues remaining in the tissues, and should be avoided. If the joint pops and sizzles, this indicates the same. No thanks! 7) Is it visibly sparkly? (not white) Take the herb to the natural sunlight, if possible, and look at it up close. (Indoors, a bright light will suffice.) Is it sparkly, like a jewel? This is a great sign. Those sparkles are the resin glands, and that's where the magic happens! Many people mistakenly assume that very white herb is very crystally. Not true. All that white stuff is mostly stalks (cytholythic hairs, technical?) , and they don't contain THC! Look at a white bud in the sunlight and notice if it sparkles.Probably not much. This is why I'm not much of a fan of the White Widow line of strains... Lots of long white hairs, but small and sparse resin glands. 8) Does it burn to a clean gray ash? If so, this is a good sign. Many things need to have been done properly for this to happen, including leeching, curing, etc. Much of Amsterdam's herb will not do this, and it loses points in my book(s) for this. 9) Does it get you high? I often see buds that look quite good, (to the untrained eye) but are really quite bad. Much of the BC bud exported to the US is like this. (Again, I said EXPORTED TO THE US! I know that the conoisseurs in BC are smoking great herb!) Also, some bud doesn't really get you "high." It gets you low! These are usually pure indicas, which some people prefer. Personally, I prefer sativas, which usually provide a clear and cerebral high. 10) I don't use hemp rolling papers. They taste like, well, hemp. Or you could use a vaporizer, which many people prefer. If not, a clean glass pipe or bong works great. Just make sure it's clean. I recommend the use of everclear to clean your glass. Don't even bother trying to distinguish fine cannabis using dirty paraphanelia. You lose half the flavor, at least. Finally, and most importantly, one must ask - Does it make me want to come back? It all comes down to that. Is the herb so delicous that you just want to keep on puffing it? If so, you've got a keeper, and smoke on! If all smokers only bought herb that matched these criteria, think of how good the supply would (have to) become!Edited by: BA
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21-08-2003, 23:56
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