Terpene Breakdown: Caryophyllene

Caryophyllene is one of the most common sesquiterpenes produced in cannabis, responsible for the peppery scent and that tickle in your nose when you smoke it. If you ever smoke a cartridge containing botanically sourced caryophyllene it could have been extracted from cloves, hops, basil, oregano, black pepper, lavender, rosemary, cinnamon or ylang-ylang to name just a few. On the topic of scent, Caryophyllene oxide is the chemical in cannabis used to train drug sniffing dogs to track down the plant. 

People often say, “this strain says it’s high in caryophyllene but it doesn’t smell like pepper.” Just like how bread, muffins, cake and cookies all contain flour but all taste different, different strains of cannabis can all contain caryophyllene but smell totally different. The scent profile is an amalgamation of all the present terpenes; different combinations can create totally different results. Not all strains with caryophyllene in them will smell like pepper.

Terpenes and cannabinoids have different evaporation temperatures. If you’re a vaper and want to fully experience the flavor of caryophyllene in your bud, set your unit to 130℃.