Field Guides

A sensory vocabulary: aromas and effects

By SŌMA 6 min read Updated

Talking about cannabis gets easier when you have words for what you sense. A small, shared vocabulary of aromas and effects lets you describe what you liked, and ask for more of it, without relying on strain names alone.

SŌMA uses the same words. SŌMA's Match compares flower on a shop's menu by these qualities, as SŌMA has recorded or estimated them, so the more specifically you can name what you like and what you avoid, the more Match has to tell one strain from another. This guide sets out the words, what research says about them, and how SŌMA uses them. Its sources are listed at the end.

The language of aroma

Smell does much of the work in what people call flavour. Researchers broadly agree that smell plays a dominant role in how food tastes, though the precise-sounding figures often quoted, such as 80%, have no good evidence behind them. Smell reaches you two ways: sniffed through the nose, and from inside the mouth, where it is experienced as flavour. We found no study that measures how much of the flavour of cannabis comes from smell.

Terpenes, the aromatic family found across the plant world, account for much of the smell of cannabis, but not all of it. Some of the most distinctive notes, such as skunk, have been traced to sulfur compounds and other minor compounds, and in a 2025 study of intact flower, terpene profiles poorly predicted how a trained panel described the smell. More in What are terpenes.

In a study in which 61 people chose from a list of 48 aroma words to describe dried flower, the words chosen most came from everyday categories, such as woods, spices, florals and citrus fruits, along with notes such as diesel, skunk, pungent and cheese. A handful of families covers most of that ground:

  • Earthy and woody — pine, soil, fresh-cut timber.
  • Citrus and fruit — lemon, orange, berry, tropical.
  • Floral and herbal — lavender, sage, tea.
  • Sweet and dessert — vanilla, cream, candy.
  • Fuel, spice and funk — diesel, pepper, sharp cheese.

None of these is better than another; they are preferences. Noticing which families you reach for is the start of a useful profile. Smell is not a measure of strength, though: in the same study, people's smell-based guesses of potency did not track the THC the lab measured.

The language of effect

Effect words describe how flower tends to feel rather than how it smells. People commonly reach for terms like relaxed, sleepy, happy, uplifted, creative or energetic. As shared shorthand they make preferences easier to say, but they are subjective, and the same flower can feel different from one time to the next. Studies point to some of the reasons:

  • Dose and the way it is taken. In a controlled study, the effects of inhaled cannabis grew with the dose of THC and were stronger vaporised than smoked at the same dose.
  • The person. A review of studies in people found that the acute effects of cannabis tend to be less marked in people who use it regularly.
  • Expectations. Researchers who analysed more than 100,000 online user reviews warned that names, reviews and past experience could colour what people report.

Aroma and effect: a contested link

It is often said that a given aroma, or the terpenes behind it, brings a given feeling. The evidence for that is thin:

  • That analysis of user reviews, covering more than 800 varieties, found that some reported flavours went with some reported effects. Its authors note the limits: the reports could not be checked for which variety or what dose was taken, or for whether the variety's name shaped them.
  • In an observational study, volunteer judges at cannabis competitions were given flower samples double-blind and answered an online survey about each. How pleasant they found the effects went with how pleasant they found the aroma, but not with the measured terpenes, the THC figure or the amount of THC taken. It is one study, several of its authors list private companies as their affiliation, and we read only its abstract.
  • The indica and sativa labels, often used as shorthand for a heavier or a brighter feel, did not reliably match the terpene profiles of more than 40,000 lab samples of THC-dominant flower from six US states, nor the genetics of more than 100 samples in another study, though there the labels did go with a few terpenes.
  • Controlled studies of terpenes in people are few and small, and cell and animal studies point both ways. More in What are terpenes.

So treat any link between an aroma and a feeling as a guess to test against your own experience, not a rule.

How uses this

My taste, your profile in SŌMA, holds the aromas, flavours and effects you say you like and avoid, and the strains you love. Match reads the strain names on a shop's menu and scores each against My taste. For a name SŌMA has researched, it scores SŌMA's record (the grower's own, where the menu names a grower SŌMA holds one for). For a name it has not researched, it reads aroma and flavour from New York lab terpene panels for that grower's lots where it holds them, and otherwise estimates from the plant's parents, a model's reading or the name itself; it gives such a read lower confidence and labels it an estimate.

The effects SŌMA holds for a strain are what growers, breeders and other published sources report, or an estimate, not a measurement. A score is about fit with your taste, not the quality of a jar: SŌMA reads the menu, not the flower. After a match you can tell SŌMA how a pick landed; your verdicts move later matches within a set limit, more as related verdicts build up. How SŌMA works has the detail.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

What are terpenes?

A large family of aromatic compounds found throughout the plant world, cannabis included. They account for much of the smell of cannabis flowers, though some of its most distinctive notes, such as skunk, have been traced to other compounds. See What are terpenes.

Do aromas predict effects?

Not reliably. An analysis of user reviews found some reported flavours going with some reported effects, but the reports could not be checked and may have been shaped by names and expectations; in another study, people who liked a sample's aroma tended to like its effects, but its measured terpenes did not predict that. Controlled studies in people are few. Treat any link as a guess to test, not a rule.

Why describe cannabis by sensory qualities instead of strain names?

Because one name can cover different plants. In a genetic study of 30 strains obtained from dispensaries in three states, most strains had at least one sample out of line with the others sold under the same name, though many were consistent once those were set aside; in a six-state study of lab results, how consistent a name's chemistry was varied widely from name to name. Aroma and flavour describe the flower in front of you.

How does this connect to 's Match?

Match scores each strain on a shop's menu against My taste: the aromas, flavours and effects you like and avoid, and the strains you love. The effects SŌMA holds for a strain are reported or estimated, not measured, so a score reads fit with your taste, not how a particular jar will feel.

Corrections

  • We said much of what we call flavour is actually aroma, carried by terpenes. For food, researchers broadly agree that smell plays a dominant role in flavour, but no reliable figure exists, and we found no such study for cannabis; and not every note is a terpene: skunk-like notes have been traced to sulfur compounds. The guide now says both.
  • We said effect words vary with dose, setting and the individual. The studies we read support dose, the way cannabis is taken, regular use and expectations; we found no study measuring how setting changes the experience, and it is removed.
  • We said there are gentle associations between certain aromas and certain felt experiences, shaped by the whole chemistry of the plant, and called the link a helpful prior (in the body and the FAQ). The evidence is contested: an analysis of user reviews that could not be checked found some reported flavours going with some reported effects, one observational study found liking a sample's aroma went with liking its effects but measured terpenes did not, and controlled studies in people are few. The guide now says what the evidence does and does not show.
  • In the intro and the description we called this vocabulary the foundation of how SŌMA works, said it powers SŌMA's Match, and said that the better you can name what you want, the better the match. In the body we said SŌMA describes every strain in this sensory language, that Match finds flower whose sensory profile lines up, and that the more you log what you like the sharper it gets; and in the FAQ that Match recommends flower by how it is likely to feel and smell rather than by name. Match reads the strain names on a shop's menu and scores SŌMA's record for each, or an estimate where it has none, against your taste; the effects it holds are reported or estimated, not measured; and your verdicts move later matches within a set limit, more as related verdicts build up. The guide now says so.
  • In the FAQ we said that aroma and effect describe the experience you actually want, and that matching on sensory qualities is more reliable and more repeatable than relying on names. We had no study comparing the two and removed both; the answer now gives what genetic and chemical studies found about strain names.
  • In the FAQ we said terpenes account for much of what we perceive as a strain's smell and flavour, and that they are central to describing flower by its sensory profile. The answer now adds that some of the most distinctive notes have been traced to other compounds; the second sentence is removed, since SŌMA's own descriptions also rest on what growers and breeders report.