How to be a terpene fiend

Cannabis is joining the fancy pants brigade! Aw yeah. Weed has tasting notes. Knowing your trainwreck from your OG Kush is cool, but if you want to seem like you are a real chronnissuer, you have to know your terpenes.

Terpenes (“terps” for people into the whole brevity thing) are the chemicals that give cannabis strains their unique flavors and effects. Terpenes aren’t just found in marijuana. All sorts of things, from mangoes (myrcene) to Pine-sol (Pinene) contain terpenes. However, no one should ever smoke Pine-sol. Eating a mango after ingesting cannabis may give you a stronger buzz, though. Fortunately, each terpene has a distinct aroma, because marijuana loves us and wants to make it easy for us to find weed we like. There are over 200 different terpenes in cannabis plants, but only a few have been studied. Here is a quick rundown of some common terpenes and their effects:

Myrcene

Smells like: Cloves and citrus, kinda.

Found in: OG Kush, Blue Dream, others

Effects: Couchlock, anti-inflammatory, may increase the effects of THC

Limonene

Smells like: Lemons, citrus, peppermint

Found in: Lemon Haze, Trainwreck, others

Effects: Mild euphoria, stress relief

Humulene

Smells like: Hops, coriander

Found in: “Cookie” strains, White Widow, Headband, others

Effects: Anti-inflammatory, appetite suppressant

Linalool

Smells like: Lavender, citrus

Found in: Lavender, Skywalker OG, others

Effects: Calming, stress relief

Caryophyllene

Smells like: Black pepper

Found in: Romulan, Bubba Kush, Others

Effects: antidepressant