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Terpenes: what gives a strain its smell

By Mister Haze. Published .

Engraving of lemons, an orange, hops, lavender and a pine cone: what terpenes smell of

What are terpenes in cannabis?

Terpenes are aromatic compounds in the plant's resin that give a strain its smell and much of its flavour. The same compounds make lemon peel smell of citrus and pine needles smell of pine. How much they shape how a strain feels is still being studied, so we describe the smell and leave out the promises.

Where the smell comes from

Terpenes are made by plants, conifers above all, and they are why a lemon peel, a pine forest, a handful of hops and a lavender field smell the way they do. The cannabis plant makes dozens of them, in the same sticky resin glands that hold its cannabinoids. Those glands are the crystals you see on a flower.

For a plant, terpenes do work: they help against pests and disease and they attract the insects it wants. For you, standing at a counter, they are the nose of the strain.

The usual suspects

Sixteen you will hear about, what they smell like, and where else you have met the smell. Open one to read more, or find strains in our directory described that way.

Why two jars of the same name smell different

Terpenes are volatile: they evaporate with warmth and time. How a plant was grown, when it was cut, how it was dried and cured and how long the jar has been open all change what reaches your nose. A fresh, well-kept jar and a tired one can smell like two different strains.

The name is a weaker guide than you would hope. Studies of commercial cannabis have found that strain names often do not match the genetics behind them, so a menu line is what the shop calls it. The best test is the oldest one: smell it, if the shop lets you.

What we say, and what we do not

We describe smell and flavour, and what people commonly report. We do not tell you that a terpene will help with anything, because that is not something a guide can promise, and the research on how terpenes and cannabinoids work together is still young. Where a database lists a strain's main terpenes, we say who measured them and on what: usually lab-tested products, which stand for the product tested and not for every jar with the same name.

How to use this in a coffeeshop

Ask for the smell you like. If you tend to like citrus, ask for something citrusy and smell your way from there. Look at the shop's own description, where there is one, and compare it with what we list. In our strain directory you can search by smell as well as by name: type 'citrus', 'pine' or 'earthy' and it shows the strains whose write-ups describe that smell. Only strains with a write-up carry smell tags, so the list grows as the database does.

Questions people ask

Do terpenes get you high?
No. THC is the compound behind the high. Terpenes are mainly smell and flavour, and how far they colour the experience is still being studied. We do not claim more than that.
Are terpenes only in cannabis?
No. They are in citrus peel, pine needles, hops, lavender, pepper and a great many other plants. Limonene, for example, is found in citrus fruits and pinene in pine trees.
Which terpenes are the most common in cannabis?
Lab data often lists myrcene, caryophyllene and limonene among the main ones. In the one profile in our database that carries lab figures, Gelato #41, a database reports caryophyllene as the leading terpene, then myrcene and limonene.
Why does the same strain smell different in different shops?
Growing, drying, curing, storage and the age of the jar all change the terpenes. And the same name can be sold for different plants. Smelling it before you buy tells you more than the label.

Sources (3)

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We read each page one at a time and wrote this in our own words. Tier 1 is the breeder or an official body speaking about its own product or rule; tier 3 is an encyclopedia, database or magazine. Where a tier 3 page is the only source, we say so.