How important are flavor and smell of the smoke to your enjoyment of cannabis?

Glen Johnson

March 17, 2022

I posed this question in a LinkedIn survey and 99 people responded…

Wow, 60% think the Flavor is more important than getting high!

So now my question is… If 60% of us think the flavor of the smoke is over 50% of the whole smoking experience, why is it that we cannabis producers focus so little energy on maximizing that part of the experience?

To be honest, I was expecting the results to show that people mostly wanted the THC content.

When the results started coming in, I was pretty shocked to see that the smell and taste of the smoke rated as the single most important aspect of the experience for over 50% of the participants.

One quick look at the success of the Cigar industry can answer the question of why this level of popularity exists.

If you think about it, the entire cigar industry is built to serve those customers who want that amazing flavor, far more than the nicotine buzz you can get from a cheap cigarette.

Can we create these same flavor characteristics with cannabis?

Obviously cannabis and tobacco are very different types of plants, so the exact process used in tobacco is not going to cross over very well, but there are parts of that process that absolutely do work with cannabis, and we’ve already been using them to some extent, for many years.

For example, art Cigars spend YEARS in the processing stage in an effort to maximize the flavor and aroma of the smoke. First they undergo a long bacterial fermentation, and then a secondary enzymatic fermentation or “aging” process that often lasts 1-3 years.

Why is it so common in the cannabis industry to think that curing only takes two weeks?

I believe this is because cannabis producers treat the product as if the THC is the main thing you smoke – but apparently that’s not true!

According to this survey, producers should be placing a far greater emphasis on how they treat the plant matter and the terpenes, because these two ingredients are what creates the flavor of the smoke.

THC is obviously important to creating the “high,” portion of the experience, but it has NOTHING to do with creating the taste or the smell of the smoke.

The intense flavors they get out of a fine cigar are the direct result of perfecting the art of enzymatic fermentation and understanding exactly how to maintain the environmental conditions in a way that promotes the activity of these enzymes over a very long period of time. Frequently this process takes a year, but it’s not uncommon to cure tobacco for as many as three years.

Of course you won’t ever get your cannabis to taste like a fine cigar, but you can absolutely create the same basic enzymatic fermentation process if you provide the right conditions in your curing room. Those conditions will allow the enzymes to break down and convert the terpenes and many of the other chemicals in the plant matter, which results in new compounds that drastically increase the flavors and the “smoothness” of the smoking experience, while decreasing the harshness and the burning in your throat you get from smoking a freshly dried bud.

This process brings out the absolute best each plant has to offer.

What are the perfect conditions to maximize the flavors of the plant matter?

These are just a few of the hundreds of small details about curing that all cannabis producers need to know.