Vital Tips for Preserving the Aroma and Flavor of Your Cannabis

It's the terpenes that count. Terpenes are organic compounds produced by many plants. They are not exclusive to the cannabis plant, but they have a big impact on the taste and aroma of various cannabis species.

Terpenes are hydrocarbons that are chock-full of hydrogen and carbon, the core ingredients of fuel. Their strong smells keep away herbivores and attract predators and parasites that feed on them. Terpenes are common to sap—and resin-producing plants and trees. They also contain the building blocks of steroids.

I'm no chemist, so let me save you the trouble. What we're interested in is that terpenes and the terpenoids that hold them produce the essential oils of medicinal plants and flowers. Those oils have been used in infinite ways since people first discovered them.

It's for growers.

Understanding terpenes and their value to the cannabis plant and product is especially important to those involved in the cannabis growing process, including those who produce at home. Terpenes can be damaged or destroyed during handling, growing, and processing. Any damage to the terpenes will diminish or destroy your outcomes.

You can learn to accelerate and maximize your cannabis yield and potency. But, if you lose the flavor and aroma, you sacrifice its value.

What do terpenes mean to you?

When you care for your farm, you want to encourage terpene growth and multiplication. The more you find among your buds, the more potent the smell and the more affluent the taste. There are scores of terpenes, sometimes subtly different. Each fruit and berry, for example, has its smell, but it sometimes takes an expert to differentiate them.

They are fundamentally sweet, sour, spicy, and bitter. Specialists in wine, perfume, tobacco, and other fields develop excellent noses for distinguishing one scent and taste from another and detecting relationships between them. Their skills help people pair aromas and flavors with foods, moods, behaviors, etc. They understand we may be hardwired to prefer some over others and may be influenced by culture to favor others.

You want to encourage and facilitate the growth of terpenes and terpenoids in your crop's buds. That may mean improving your sense of smell and taste. If your nose or tongue contains other compounds, you will not recognize what your plants' strains are doing.

How to make it work.

Terpenes are essentially defense mechanisms. So, you can spur their growth by stressing the plants—just a bit!

Too much stress will kill your plants, so you might start making gentle movements with your hands around and among the plants during the middle to the late flowering season. Trying not to touch the buds, you can gently move the stems and leaves to expose them to more light and air. A more ambitious approach removes the leaves closest to the buds by hand. The real farmer pros have the experience and skills to be more aggressive, but you should take it slow rather than risk losing your investment.

As you get closer to harvest, lower the humidity in your grow room and leave them in complete darkness for a few days before harvest. The hotter and wetter the room, the lower the potency and flavor. You should reduce the nutrients you have been feeding the plants and provide only water for the last few weeks. They need the nutrition to flower, but as you approach harvest, you should cut back and use the water to flush out the residue of the additives and chemicals. So, you want to nudge the plants into producing terpenes with a bit of stress without shocking them.

How to process your harvest.

You must dry and cure the harvest with care. The trick to doing that right depends on the humidity. It's tricky trying to score just the right degree of dryness. If it's too dry, it crumbles and falls apart. If it's too moist, it invites mold, mildew, and poor taste.

Amateurs will just hang their plants to dry in the circulating air, but there are risks of contamination. You should dry in a humidity-controlled room. Most of the moisture will evaporate in three days at 68° F and relative humidity at 55%. Dropping the temperature slowly will force decomposition and exhaust the starches. Keeping the humidity steady, your drying will take up to 14 days. The longer it dries beyond ten days, the more the THC breaks down.

How to store your flavor and aroma:

• Store it out of direct sunlight in a cool, dry place below 75° F.
• Use tightly sealed containers like Mason jars.
• Affix descriptive labels to jars with details on strains, expected THC: CBD ratios, and flavor/aroma expectations.
• Store in humidors only if they have cedar interiors.
• Monitor the humidity levels with hygrometers or Boveda® packs.
• Vacuum seal your product in containers to avoid oxygen exposure.

Cannador® sells handsome, tabletop wooden humidors for storing your product in 2-6 strain versions. SneakGuard® has a jar with a lid that removes air and locks the product in with a combination lock. Re: Stash offers sun-proof jars with child-proof lids. Herb Guard markets a line of smell-proof black glass containers and traveling bags. TightVac has long provided vacuum-sealed containers.

How not to store for flavor and aroma:

• Avoid plastic bags because they produce a damaging static.
• Don't store above, near, or around appliances producing heat.
• Never store them in refrigerators or freezers because they fluctuate in temperature and humidity and will freeze the buds and terpenes, only to damage them when handled.

You must also remember that, despite the desired aroma and taste, cannabis will give off a strong odor. You need containers and locations that won't give you away or annoy your family and guests.

Your final tip

If you're buying an eight at a time, this may all be too much trouble. But you lose value and investment when you lose taste and aroma. So, you must be careful if you're buying larger stashes or growing your own. It's also too much to expect to succeed the first time around. So, you should proceed with some self-education and patience to accept and learn from your mistakes.