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Do you want to know what the effects of cannabis flower will be without having to consume it?
You’ve probably heard of the term “sommelier.” It refers to someone who is an expert in wines and can help you pick out the perfect bottle for your meal or event. Well, now there are cannabis sommeliers too⸺interpeners. Interpeners are able to identify different varieties of weed using only their senses. They know exactly what effects to expect from each variety before they consume it.
What is Interpening?
Interpening is the art and science of evaluating cannabis flower to determine quality and psychotropic effects through a sommelier style inspection. No more Indica or Sativa, false strain names, or lacking COA data when it comes to quality; Interpening requires a deeper understanding of cannabis that challenges previous ideas and fully leverages our senses.
Currently, cannabis is sold by strain name and THC percentage. However, that information alone will not help the consumer understand the quality and effects of their cannabis. THC percentage alone does not necessarily equate to potency, as there are many other phytochemicals in cannabis that provoke synergistic effects with THC. Additionally, THC is not solely responsible for the stimulating or sedating effects cannabis produces. THC may drive the high or euphoric effect from cannabis, but the terpenes are truly what determine the characteristics of this experience, whether stimulating, sedating, or anywhere in between.
How Do I Become an Interpener?
Trichome Institute certifies interpeners through the online Professional Interpening course. The course consists of about five hours of video content supplemented by additional readings and resources. Certification is awarded to students who successfully complete the course and final exam. Certified Interpeners enjoy special benefits, such as exclusive access to the online interpening community.
The online course includes:
- Cannabis Origins & History
- Speciation Controversy
- The Strain Name Dilemma
- The History of the Word Marijuana
- Cannabis Anatomy
- Chemistry: Cannabinoids & Terpenes
- Parallels of Cannabis & Wine
- Unacceptable Physical Characteristics
- Unacceptable Aroma Characteristics
- Aroma Perception Technique
- How to Predict Psychotropic Effects
- The Professional Interpener
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Interpening Book and Tools
Interpening Hardcover Book
Interpening – The Art and Science of the Cannabis Sommelier, features 130 pages of the most up-to-date and interesting cannabis facts ever assembled. We just released our 3rd edition to keep things fresh and accurate!
Interpening Loop
Described by some as “the coolest piece of cannabis origami ever,” the Interpening Loop guides you through assessing cannabis quality and predicting the psychotropic effects based on the flower’s visual characteristics and aromatic profile.
- The first page of the tool guides you through gauging the five effect types of any hybrid cannabis by placing it on the spectra of physical and aromatic characteristics.
- The second page of the tool lists the most common unacceptable visual and aroma characteristics of cannabis.
- The third page highlights the cannabis quality attributes
- Finally, page four lists the six most notable and common terpene types and the effects they typically produce.
The Weed Wheel
The Weed Wheel® is a guide to Interpening® cannabis within the broad to narrow leaf, or sedative to stimulating spectrum. The Weed Wheel helps you gauge hybrid cannabis effect types, determine potential potency from personal tolerance, and understand the different mental and physical effects of different cannabis types
Hold the Weed Wheel with both hands, fingers behind the wheel and thumbs in front of it. With your fingers or thumbs, gently slide the top and bottom part of the wheel over each other to reveal the five different effects of cannabis flower with interpening methodology.
Top Front Half: Be sure the human body is in the left window and the face, flower, and scents are on the right side with the flower type title square in the middle. Align the title, flower, scents, and face with the variety types, physical features, and aroma perception on the right hand side of the tool.
Bottom Front Half: After gauging the cannabis type, such as BLM for Broad Leaf Marijuana, use the grid on the bottom half to learn more about the different effects it could produce. There are six different mental and physical effect recommendations for the five effect types of cannabis on this tool.
Top Back Half: Use the tolerance graph on the back to help predict the potency of the effect types based on your perceived personal tolerance.
Bottom Back Half: Learn more about cannabis speciation complexity.
Interpening Aromatic Training Kit
Sommeliers and Cicerones have aromatic training kits that help them learn the complexities of beer and wine. Cannabis Interpeners now have an aromatic training kit too!
The Interpening Aromatic Training Kit comes with 9 liquid and 3 crystalline isolated terpenes to learn and practice the art and science of Interpening.
The tools in this kit train your trigeminal nerve perception, common terpene identification, and walk you through the broad to narrow leaf aromatic spectrum, classic OG cannabis strains (typicity), and more. It comes with a seven-page instructional PDF to break down the terpenes and guide you along the way with your scent perception technique.
Interpening Lesson: THC Percentage Does Not Equal Potency
Do you have what it takes to be an Interpener/cannabis sommelier? Take Interpening for a test drive with 75 mins of FREE lessons trichomeinstitute.com/interpening!
