Features

Cannabis Connoisseurs

Published on January 31, 2019 by David Wylie

So you want to be a Cannabis Sommelier.

If you think that a life of judging the finest cannabis is for you, there are ways to go about it.

However, the educational offerings are in their infancy, being an emerging job description in the fast-moving landscape of legal weed.

An increasingly recognized option is The Trichome Institute. It boasts the first ever Cannabis Sommelier program, calling the acquired skill ‘interpening’ – in other words, interpreting terpenes.

The institute’s founder, Max Montrose, says cannabis terpenes produce smells that are very detectable and are helpful in predicting the effect.

“We are suffering from the strain name dilemma,” says Montrose.

He says strain names are just labels given because different varieties needed names – not because they were necessarily related in chemistry.

Montrose is from Denver, Co., and he has experience supplying dispensaries with their product before legalization and regulation.

The course will be available online this year.

Meanwhile, in Canada an company called CannaReps is offering in-person interactive Cannabis Sommelier courses in some major cities, including Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.

Adolfo Gonzalez, the co-founder and headmaster, has over 15 years as a grower, researcher, and consultant in the cannabis industry.

Among topics the course covers are sativa vs. indica, THC and CBD, and terpenes.

“If you’re a beginner who’s curious about the budding industry, a dispensary worker who’s looking to brush up on cannabis product knowledge, or an entrepreneur looking to expand their knowledge, this course is the right answer for you,” say CannaReps.

We expect interesting opportunities in this growing field.

A mixture of cannabis courses are being offered all over the country.