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Cannabis Grading Guide
If you’re familiar with mail order marijuana sites, I’m sure you’ve seen the AA/AAA/AAAA grading system in reference to the quality of your weed. But what do these terms mean exactly? With so many online dispensaries popping up, getting familiar with this system is crucial to ensure you know what you’re ordering. Please remember that this grading system isn’t a reflection on the strain as a whole, rather a reflection the grower and the quality of that particular batch.
Generally speaking, the cannabis grading system is subjective as there isn’t a set of rules each batch has to follow under in order to qualify to be of a certain grade. However, many can agree that A/AA/AAA/AAAA gradings can be viewed as good/better/best system and is the most widely used and respected among those in the cannabis industry. An AA grade strain can show a huge quality difference from an AAAA strain – but what should you be expecting?
Typically these strains would be apart of the top tier when it comes to quality, which also means they would be the most expensive. You can find many great strains here that’ll have near perfect scores in regards to smell, look, and taste. The smell should be pungent and pleasing with almost no off notes. Structurally, the nugs would have an abundance of trichomes, while maintaining density and in a well-kept form. A poor trim or unhealthy looking colour can be signs of a lower quality strain. And finally, there shouldn’t be a harsh aftertaste. These are all of the qualities that can be expected from our AAAA strains.
King’s Kush and Bluefin Tuna are a couple of our most popular AAAA strains.
These are the most common strains available for purchase and can be considered as the happy medium for most people. Some strains under this grading can still be of fantastic quality and you can generally find this grading at almost anywhere. While we would still consider the strains under this grading to have high quality features, you can expect less density in terms of the nugs themselves and more discolouration – but not enough to be a concern for the seasoned smoker. AAA strains are a great choice for experienced users who expect great quality while not needing to break the bank every couple of weeks.
Did you know that THC potency doesn’t play a huge role in terms of the grading system? The cannabis grading system is for the most part, based on smell, appearance, and taste of each batch. However, potency will come through easier in strains of a higher grading.
Pink Bubba and Granddaddy Purple are our best sellers in the AAA category.
These strains are generally seen as the “good, but could be better” batches when it comes to cannabis. While there are some good finds under this strain grade, you can definietly expect a difference in quality when it comes to smell, look and taste in comparison to an AAAA graded strain. This means there may be some more off notes, the buds may be less dense and more discoloured, and the aftertaste may linger for a little longer than the grading’s counterparts. One great thing about the strains under this grade is that they’re more budget friendly. Because of this, we try our best to only stock higher quality AA strains to ensure that our customers are still getting the quality they’re looking for while staying within their budget.
We would recommend giving our Dank Sinatra strain a shot!
Hopefully this gives you a good idea of what to expect from strains under each grading system! Some may ask if it really matters all that much… to which we say: yes – more experienced users will definitely be able to tell what the off notes might be, while newer users might not be able to name exactly what it is, but they’ll definitely be able to notice a difference in terms of quality. However, we do recommend you give different strains in each grading a shot as you may be pleasantly surprised!
