Calling All Pot Sommeliers

[707Corridor]

I've been thinking about this thread lately...sometimes the things I hear people say

 

[mean mr.mustard]

Nobody has certified me yet

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

I have been thinking about this again lately. I made this thread in 2009. It was too soon. Anybody else think now would be a good time to start working on something like this? The game has changed a lot since 2009. What we can do now now was not even comprehendible when I started this thread.

 

[Crooked8]

Advanced sommelier with the CMS here. Lmk if i can be of service, ive always dreamt of doing this. Incredible cannabis service, blind tasting, pairing and theory could all be a curriculum like any beverage program.

 

[Sunshineinabag]

As long as they aren't Grads of dunning-kruegar university lmaop

 

[Sunshineinabag]

Widow cake....ecsd2 and a bunch of envy genetics will need to be sniffed

 

[dank.frank]

There has to be more qualifications to this than just...I've grown a long time.

I know growers who smoke cigs and they can't pick out nuances in flowers that others do. Not to mention, people do taste things differently...inaccurately, even. It's one thing to have an understanding of the plant and it's flavors...

It's another thing entirely, to have an understanding of just flavor. There are reasons some people are great cooks and others are not. It's not always about passion for what one is doing. There is a wall some hit if you just can't figure out how to create new dishes simply by intelligently pairing flavors.

I suppose, you'd have to do as originally stated - collect your master growers, etc - and then you have to eliminate those that really aren't tasting a series of blind tests to detect flavor and smell in known profiles/objects. I don't think many would want to expose themselves to such a judgement though. Imagine being a breeder whose brand is built upon the "terpz" in their phenostrain, only to be eliminated from an organization whose intent is to essentially taste test. That wouldn't look good for the brand.

With that, you'd get flack from the current market industry - or risk invalidating the organization before it has a chance to establish itself - simply by not endorsing the current trending breeder or cut. If the industry deems the organization invalid - then all you are really doing is puffing into your own echo chamber for the sake of....what?

You'd be surprised how many people when blindfolded can't tell the difference between steak and chicken. Seriously!



dank.Frank

 

[flylowgethigh]

Not exactly sommilier level, but when you grow a bunch of different strains, at some point you are faced with a bunch of jars to choose from. Are you grabbing for flavor, buzz, feeling? Then there is the issue of spreading out the consumption so the best isn't gone so fast.

1st or 3rd world problem here?

 

[shithawk420]

Wow.its good to see you around hash zeppelin.and I agree but what's the rules? Another man's trash is anothers treasure.i see so much weed it's ridiculous.i did however acuire some home grown sour diesel that was very good.i remember the fabled G13 that was supposedly smuggled from a government lab or something.and then there was godbud.its all about the grower imo.

Damn! Dank.frank is here too! A legend in the in the house! Respect brother!

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

There has to be more qualifications to this than just...I've grown a long time.

I know growers who smoke cigs and they can't pick out nuances in flowers that others do. Not to mention, people do taste things differently...inaccurately, even. It's one thing to have an understanding of the plant and it's flavors...

It's another thing entirely, to have an understanding of just flavor. There are reasons some people are great cooks and others are not. It's not always about passion for what one is doing. There is a wall some hit if you just can't figure out how to create new dishes simply by intelligently pairing flavors.

I suppose, you'd have to do as originally stated - collect your master growers, etc - and then you have to eliminate those that really aren't tasting a series of blind tests to detect flavor and smell in known profiles/objects. I don't think many would want to expose themselves to such a judgement though. Imagine being a breeder whose brand is built upon the "terpz" in their phenostrain, only to be eliminated from an organization whose intent is to essentially taste test. That wouldn't look good for the brand.

With that, you'd get flack from the current market industry - or risk invalidating the organization before it has a chance to establish itself - simply by not endorsing the current trending breeder or cut. If the industry deems the organization invalid - then all you are really doing is puffing into your own echo chamber for the sake of....what?

You'd be surprised how many people when blindfolded can't tell the difference between steak and chicken. Seriously!



dank.Frank

these are all great points. How do we do this to make it about holding up quality and avoid it becoming a pretentious cool kids club. Like I want this to be about enjoying and celebrating well grown cannabis no matter what the genetics. There would be an entire branch just for land race strains and old school hashes. Then there would be a branch about new genetics from that year. The. There would be a branch for like 5 year cured hand made hashes like they make in the Himalayas. There would be a branch for sativas that take 12 or more weeks to flower. Etc. Lots of different things people can geek out on together. The one thing they all have in common though is quality.

I’ve also come to really dislike the term master grower since I started this thread. Mostly because all the people that I’ve met called master grower are self titled master growers. Most come across as arrogant. They are usually not as skilled as they think either. I’m certainly no master. I learn something new every seed I pop, and every cola I chop. It’s one of the main reasons why I like growing.

You’re also right about finding the right people to be considered somms. There should be tests. Like to see if they can detect if something was sprayed or grown with shitty salts and not flushed. I bet a lot of us would discover that we are not as accurate as we think, including myself.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

Wow.its good to see you around hash zeppelin.and I agree but what's the rules? Another man's trash is anothers treasure.i see so much weed it's ridiculous.i did however acuire some home grown sour diesel that was very good.i remember the fabled G13 that was supposedly smuggled from a government lab or something.and then there was godbud.its all about the grower imo.

Damn! Dank.frank is here too! A legend in the in the house! Respect brother!

thanks man! I hope all is well with you.

I am not sure what the rules would be. I think a base knowledge of land race genetics and earlier staple strain. This is necessary because these strains contribute to almost every modern gene pool with traceable genetics. Examples would be like northern lights, skunk 1, super silver haze, dj short blueberry. We know where exactly they came from. Everything was well documented. Another qualifier would be being able to tell the difference between quality organic truly well grown cannabis vs. bulk warehouse weed pumped with too much phosphorus that just looks nice. Remember it’s not about what strain it is but how well the strain is grown.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

I live in Portland Oregon now and there is a dispensary here that has some of the best bud I’ve ever smoked consistently. A lot of it is from small boutique growers that are on icmag. This stuff is super babied too. It looks like most of this weed has never seen the inside of a vac bag. The shop jar cures it for a while before they even put it out for sale. I really need to do some smoke reports.

Anyways though this dispensary does flights, like breweries do flights of beer. They have different flights from different growers so you can sample all the growers best stuff. It’s fun. They really get it. Their staff is super knowledgeable on each strain and are passionate about the product. I can go in there and nerd out with these folks. It’s fun. I wish it was like Amsterdam where we could stay and toke up. They can give me detailed descriptions on flavors. They can give me history on the genetics as well as how it was grown. These bud tenders are good. I would consider them the equivalent of what I think a cannabis sommelier should be. its obvious that whoever does the hiring hires based on these skills. We are not supposed to advertise on icmag so anyone wants the name to the shop just message me and I’ll give you the info.

I think we are going to see a lot more of this as time goes on, just as we saw it with micro breweries. People are realizing that to get true quality it’s going to cost a bit more and they’re ok with that. This has resulted in dispensaries seeking out these products. For a really well grown sativa that takes over 70 days to flower a dispensary will pay over 2500 a pound again. Just 5 years ago this was not happening. The market was saturated with garbage and most dispensaries refused to pay more based on true quality and time it took to grow. It wasn’t even worth growing for a business. We all knew that legalization would cause a shit storm, but the storm is starting to settle. I think small micro growers are finally about to start seeing the benefits of legalization. At least in Oregon. I certainly like Oregon more than Colorado. If I can do my own small micro grow like the size of a 3 car garage like when I was in Reno I would be a happy camper. Just focus purely on quality and fun and not have any employees. I don’t even need it to be my job. Just a hobby that makes money like it used to be. Not giving a shit about getting a high yield. Just trying to get it as tasty, frosty, and smooth as possible. Flower for an extra week if I want just to get more amber heads. That’s the life.

 

[CosmicGiggle]

Nice write up HZ, was there much difference between the high of the different strains or was it all 'a perfect blend of indica/sativa'?

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

Nice write up HZ, was there much difference between the high of the different strains or was it all 'a perfect blend of indica/sativa'?

which strain are you asking about?

 

[GMT]

This is pretty much the theory behind the rep system on these sites. But over time, everyone gets the maximum rep available. The problem you really have is giving people a reason to buy into the idea. People like to be judged positively, they don't want to be judged negatively. Eventually it will spiral down into a battle of competing judgement systems just as politics did. Just as educational facilities are becoming. There would need to be an objective reality that some could tap into rather than subjective opinions. That requires machinery and operators and fees. That requires advertising legal and accounting personnel.
There are people who have knowledge of certain areas, and depending on the area, the people who are asked change depending on what is needed.
I don't think it would become universally accepted, and that would undermine its credibility with those it would help.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

This is pretty much the theory behind the rep system on these sites. But over time, everyone gets the maximum rep available. The problem you really have is giving people a reason to buy into the idea. People like to be judged positively, they don't want to be judged negatively. Eventually it will spiral down into a battle of competing judgement systems just as politics did. Just as educational facilities are becoming. There would need to be an objective reality that some could tap into rather than subjective opinions. That requires machinery and operators and fees. That requires advertising legal and accounting personnel.
There are people who have knowledge of certain areas, and depending on the area, the people who are asked change depending on what is needed.
I don't think it would become universally accepted, and that would undermine its credibility with those it would help.

This is why it will never be an official system. I think high end dispensaries will hire bud tenders based on a very high level of skill and knowledge just like 5 star restaurants hire somms based on skill and knowledge. Those bud tenders could then compete in blind contests.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

Also in order for this idea to advance there would need to be establishments that could legally serve cannabis like in an Amsterdam coffee shop. Like getting wine service at a restaurant.