Flower 101: how to read the label.

A cannabis label packs a lot into a few lines. A strain name, a percentage with two decimal places, a word like indica or hybrid. None of it is hard to read once someone explains it. This guide walks through every line on a Couth label, so the next time you're standing at the case you know exactly what you're looking at. Ten minutes, no chemistry degree.

What a strain even is

A strain is a named variety of the cannabis plant, the same way Honeycrisp is a named variety of apple. One species, different genetics. Those genetics decide how the plant smells, how it tastes, and what kind of high it leans toward. Growers cross two varieties, keep the seedling they like best, and name it. There is no naming authority, which is why some strain names sound elegant and others sound like inside jokes.

The grower matters as much as the genetics. The same strain raised by two different farms can come out noticeably different, because genetics set the range and the grow decides where the flower lands inside it. Everything in our flower case comes from Couth Farms, our own indoor grow. We watched these plants from seed to jar, so when a label goes on, we know what's behind it.

Indica, sativa, hybrid

One of these three words shows up on every label. The folk version says indica sits you down, sativa gets you moving, and a hybrid lands somewhere in between. As shorthand goes, it's not useless. It's also not the whole story. Nearly everything grown today is a hybrid of some kind, and plenty of flower ignores its own category. There are indicas that spark conversation and sativas that end the night early. Ask anyone who's worked a counter for a season and they'll have examples.

The word describes the plant's family tree more than it predicts your evening. Treat it like red versus white on a wine list. A fair place to start, with the better information sitting a little lower on the label.

The THC number

THC is the compound that gets you high, and the percentage says how much of it the batch carried when the lab tested it. That's all it says. It can't tell you whether the flower is any good, the same way alcohol content can't tell you whether a beer is worth drinking. A strain testing 27% is not automatically better than one testing 24%. Potency says how strong the flower is, not how it smells, how it tastes, or how the high unfolds. Treat it as one line on the label, not the verdict.

The number earns its keep at the extremes. Flower in the teens rides gentler, and anything close to 30 deserves a slow evening. Scroll our menu and you'll see most of our flower tests in the twenties, which is what healthy indoor plants produce. Inside that range, the differences you'll actually feel come from somewhere else on the label.

Terpenes, in one paragraph

Terpenes are the compounds that give each strain its smell, and they steer more of the experience than the THC number does. Limonene smells like citrus and tends to run bright. Myrcene smells earthy and tends to run heavy. There are dozens of others, and you don't need to memorize a single one, because your nose already speaks the language. Open a jar and love what you smell? That's a preview, not a coincidence. Shopping by smell sounds unscientific until you remember it's the same chemistry the lab measures, just read through your nose instead of a report. Every write-up on our strains page names the leading terpenes, so you can put words to what your nose already decided.

Reading a Couth label, line by line

Time to put all of it together on a real jar from our shelf. Take Boofscotti, one of ours. Top to bottom, the label gives you:

• The name and the type. Boofscotti, an indica. There's your family tree.
• Total THC. 27.79%. Strong, near the top of our case.
• The terpenes. Limonene out front, which promises citrus in the nose and a brighter ride than the number alone would suggest.
• Batch number and test date. Proof a licensed lab checked this exact harvest. Want the full test results? Ask at the counter and we'll pull them up.

Now hold that against Johnny Boy, an indica testing 26.51% with myrcene leading. On paper the two sit a point apart. In practice they're different evenings. Boofscotti comes on loud and citrusy, Johnny Boy settles in earthy and heavy. The THC line can't show you that. The terpene line just did.

What to ask at the counter

The label gets you most of the way. The person behind it gets you the rest. We grew everything in the flower case ourselves, so ask anything. Ask what a strain smells like out of the jar. Ask what the staff takes home at the end of the week. Tell us the best high you've ever had and we'll work backwards from there. No purchase required, and no such thing as a dumb question. That's the quiet advantage of buying from the people who grew it. Nothing on our shelf is a stranger to us.

Prefer to do your homework first? The menu shows what's in the case right now, and the rest of our guides are on the way, pre-rolls next. Stay couth.