When consuming Live Cured Flower you’ll notice a more full spectrum taste and scent than smoking traditionally cured flower. Traditional flower has a more condensed and focused scent and flavor that is more one note. I’d like to explain how the nuances of the live plant are preserved through our process, how terpenes degrade due to enviromental factors, and how the interaction between smell and taste creates the perception of flavor.
How does your sense of smell affect taste?
Your sense of smell and taste are closely interconnected, and they work together to create the perception of flavor when smoking cannabis. Before researching this, I had absolutely no idea what it specifically was and how we process it. This phenomenon is known as the “olfactory-gustatory interaction” and here’s how it works:
- Smell (Olfaction): Your sense of smell is incredibly powerful and can detect a wide range of aromas in cannabis. When you smoke cannabis, terpene compounds are released into the air. These compounds enter your nasal passages and interact with olfactory receptors in your nose. Your brain processes these odor signals, helping you identify and differentiate various terpenes.
- Taste (Gustation): Your sense of taste involves your taste buds, which are located on your tongue and other parts of your mouth. Taste buds can detect five primary tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (savory). Each taste bud contains specific receptors for these tastes, and they send signals to your brain to interpret the flavor of what you’re smoking.
So, the perception of flavor is a combination of taste and smell. When you smoke cannabis, the volatile terpenes that contribute to its aroma are released and detected by your olfactory receptors. These scent molecules travel up the back of your throat to your nasal passages, where they interact with your olfactory receptors. This interaction greatly enhances your ability to detect different flavors and nuances in cannabis cultivars.
Your sense of smell plays a crucial role in enhancing your sense of taste. The combination of information from both senses allows you to experience the complex and diverse range of flavors found in cannabis. We seek to preserve both the scent and taste of the live plant through our specialized process.
Preserving the flavor of the live plant.
Live Cured Flower has a more vibrant and intense flavor compared to traditionally cured flower due to a combination of factors, including the presence of volatile terpene compounds and the impact of processing. Here’s why our Live Cured Flower tastes better than traditionally cured cannabis:
- Volatile Terpene Compounds: Live Cured Flower contains a higher concentration of volatile aromatic terpenes responsible for each cultivar’s characteristic flavors and aromas. These compounds are delicate and can be lost during the traditional drying process. Traditionally drying cannabis involves evaporating moisture in a non-controlled environment, where several factors can lead to the loss of these volatile terpene compounds. As a result, traditional cannabis has a more subdued and less complex flavor profile with only a handful of dominant terpenes standing out.
- Processing Effects: Traditionally drying cannabis alters its chemical composition, leading to changes in flavor. Some terpene compounds break down or transform during the drying process, which can affect the overall taste. On the other hand, Live Cured Flower retains its natural composition and is closer to its original state.
- Timing: Since Live Cured Flower is frozen right after it’s harvested, it means you’re smoking that cultivar at its peak flavor. Traditional cannabis, on the other hand, is harvested, dried, and packaged over a much longer period. This process takes time and leads to flavor loss during the waiting period.
Nuanced changes in flavor on inhale and exhale.
The perception of smell and taste can indeed change when inhaling and exhaling cannabis, and this phenomenon is primarily due to the way our olfactory system processes terpene molecules and the air flow during breathing. This is pretty crazy and really blew my mind when I was researching it. It was a bit complicated for me to understand at first, but here’s how it works:
- Inhalation (Orthonasal Olfaction): When you inhale through your nose, terpene molecules from the cannabis you’re smoking are drawn into your nasal passages. These molecules dissolve in the thin layer of mucus that lines your nasal passages and come into contact with olfactory receptors. These receptors are specialized nerve cells located in an area called the olfactory epithelium (no idea what that is but this is how it was explained).
As the terpene molecules bind to specific olfactory receptors, they send signals to your brain’s olfactory bulb, which is responsible for processing smell (again, never heard of an olfactory bulb either). This processing of terpenes during inhalation is called “orthonasal olfaction.” The brain then interprets these signals, allowing you to perceive and recognize the smell and taste of the cultivar.
- Exhalation (Retronasal Olfaction): The sensation of smell and taste are also affected by retronasal olfaction, which occurs when you exhale. As you breathe out, some of the terpene molecules that were previously inhaled are pushed up the back of your throat and into your nasal passages through a process called retronasal airflow.
During retronasal airflow, these terpene molecules once again come into contact with your olfactory receptors, but this time from a different direction. This process can provide additional information to your brain about the flavor of the cannabis you’re smoking. Simply said, when you consume cannabis, terpene molecules are released and travel to your olfactory receptors through the back of your mouth and up your nasal passages, enhancing your perception of flavor. As you inhale and exhale you brain interprets these terpenes differently because of the direction it’s being passed through your body, again adding to the complexity of the flavor.
What I took away was that the change in smell perception during inhalation and exhalation is due to the combination of orthonasal olfaction (when inhaling) and retronasal olfaction (when exhaling). These two processes allow your brain to gather different aspects of the scent and flavor of cannabis, contributing to a more comprehensive perception of its scent and taste. Live Cured Flower gives you a wider spectrum of terpenes to taste which you will be able to detect on the inhale and exhale.
Fresh terpenes vs degraded terpenes.
Terpenes are organic compounds found in cannabis (see Terpenes 101 and Terpenes in Cannabis). They contribute to the characteristic aromas and flavors of each cultivar. However, terpenes can be sensitive to various factors that can lead to their degradation. Here are some ways terpenes can degrade and affect taste:
- Heat: Terpenes are volatile compounds, which means they can evaporate (off-gas) at relatively low temperatures. Exposure to heat can cause terpenes to evaporate and degrade, resulting in a loss of aroma and flavor. From the moment of harvest to drying / curing, our flower is kept at extremely low temperatures to protect those valuable terpenes. Our process gives us a more controlled temperature than the variations that can occur through hang drying.
- Oxidation: Terpenes in cannabis react with oxygen in the air, leading to oxidation. This process alters the chemical structure of the terpenes, changing their aroma and flavor profiles. Oxidation is more likely to occur when terpenes are exposed to air for extended periods such as being hang dried. Live Cured Flower is not exposed to any oxygen while it’s being dried / cured which prevents the possibility of oxidization.
- Light: Ultraviolet (UV) light can also contribute to the degradation of terpenes. Exposure to sources of UV light breaks down the chemical bonds in terpenes, leading to changes in their aroma and flavor. Live Cured Flower has no exposure to UV light while it’s being processed. At times lights are turned on in hang drying rooms to inspect the flower. Our feeling is that any exposure to UV light risks the degradation of the valuable terpenes.
- Time: Over time, with the influence of external factors like heat, light, or air, terpenes can naturally degrade due to the instability of their chemical structures. This can result in a gradual loss of aroma and flavor. So, the clock is ticking as soon as the plant is harvested. We freeze the plant at moment of havest, and carefully process the flower so it’s brought to you with the soonest possible packaging date to when you purchase it. We always keep it fresh for you.
- Storage Conditions: Proper storage is crucial to preserving the quality of terpenes. Storing terpene-rich cannabis in airtight containers, away from light and heat, can help slow down the degradation process. We store our Live Cured Flower 1/8ths in a tamper sealed glass jar protected by a paper sleeve. We try to minimize any exposure to the outside environment through the entire process before it reaches you.
The rate and extent of terpene degradation varies depending on the specific terpene compounds, the cultivar, and the environmental conditions. To ensure their longevity and optimal aroma and flavor, it’s important to handle terpenes carefully and that’s exactly what we do throughout our Live Cured Flower process. We freeze cannabis in time at the peak of perfection and present it in its truest form for you to enjoy.
The aroma and flavor of cannabis can vary significantly depending on the cultivar, environmental factors while processing, and the specific ratios of terpene compounds present. When it comes to the taste of cannabis, we make sure it closely aligns with its aroma of the live plant. Each of our perceptions of cannabis aromas and tastes can vary widely. Also, the way cannabis is consumed (smoked, vaporized, or consumed in edibles) can affect the way its flavors are experienced. But ultimately the way cannabis is cared for post-harvest will really inform your experience.
To see how tasty Live Cured Flower really is, you’re going to have to try it for yourself. Visit the Retailers section of our site to find some near you!
Stay safe and stay stoned
