Kush Life • The basics • 4 min read
Terpenes in a CBD vape: what they do and how to read a profile
What terpenes are, where cannabis makes them, what the science does and does not say, and how to read the terpene line on a Kush strain page.
Terpenes are the aromatic compounds that give plants their smell: the zest of a lemon peel, the sharpness of pine needles, the softness of lavender. In a CBD vape they are what makes one pod taste of lemon and another of pine and earth, and they do not get you high.
Every Kush and King Kush pod carries a profile built only from natural cannabis-derived terpenes, nothing synthetic. Here is what those compounds are, what the science does and does not say about them, and how to read the terpene line on a strain page.
What are terpenes?
Chemically, terpenes are hydrocarbons built from five-carbon units called isoprene. Two units make a monoterpene, such as limonene or pinene. Three make a sesquiterpene, such as caryophyllene or humulene. Add oxygen and you have a terpenoid, such as linalool, though most people use the two words for the same thing. Together they make up most of a plant's essential oil (Wikipedia, Terpene).
Where do cannabis terpenes come from?
Cannabis makes its terpenes in the glandular trichomes, the tiny resin glands on the female flower, the same place it makes its cannabinoids. A study of Finola, a hemp variety, traced most of its terpenes to a handful of plant enzymes. The leading monoterpenes were myrcene, pinene, limonene, terpinolene and ocimene; the leading sesquiterpenes were caryophyllene and humulene. The authors describe these compounds as largely responsible for the scent of the flower and for what sets one variety apart from another (Booth, Page & Bohlmann, PLOS ONE).
Those are the same names you will find on our strain pages.
Which terpenes are in Kush pods?
Eight terpenes lead the profiles across the twelve strains. Caryophyllene is the black-pepper note and sits in eleven of them. Myrcene, earthy like mango and hops, is in LA Confidential and AK 47. Limonene, lemon peel, is in Amnesia Haze, OG Kush and Banana Runtz. Pinene, pine needles and rosemary, is in Blue Widow and Super Jack.
Terpinolene is fresh and slightly floral, the note that makes White Widow and Super Jack smell the way they do. Humulene is woody and hoppy, as in Berry Gelato. Linalool is lavender. Ocimene is the fresh, forward note in Super Lemon Haze. The terpene finder in What is CBD? shows every pod that carries each one.
Do terpenes get you high?
No. Terpenes are not intoxicating. The high in cannabis comes from THC. Kush pods are broad spectrum with zero THC, and King Kush pods are full spectrum legal hemp under 0.2% THC. What the terpenes change is the smell and the taste, which is why the strain name on the pouch matters.
Do terpenes change how a CBD vape feels?
This is where the honest answer gets shorter. Most of what is known comes from lab and animal studies, not from people using a vape. One finding stands out. In 2008, researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Bonn showed that beta-caryophyllene binds CB2, one of the body's two main cannabinoid receptors, and leaves CB1, the one behind a high, alone. The same compound is in black pepper, oregano, basil and cinnamon, and has long been used as a food additive (ETH Zurich via ScienceDaily).
The wider idea that terpenes and cannabinoids work together is called the entourage effect, and it is still an open question. A 2020 study tested myrcene, pinene, caryophyllene and limonene on the cannabinoid receptors, alone and in mixtures. Apart from a weak signal from caryophyllene at CB2, they did nothing there and did not change how THC or CBD act there. The authors concluded that if an entourage effect exists, it works some other way (Finlay et al., Frontiers in Pharmacology).
So read the effect words on a strain page for what they are: how people describe the character of a strain, not a promise of what it will do for you.
How do you read a terpene profile?
Every strain page has three lines. Profile is what you smell and taste: Super Lemon Haze reads lemon zest and spice, LA Confidential pine, earth and skunk. Terpenes names the main compounds behind it: for Super Lemon Haze, beta-caryophyllene, terpinolene and ocimene. Effect is the strain's character in a few words.
Start from a smell you already know. If you like lemons, look for limonene. If you like pine, look for pinene. Pepper means caryophyllene, lavender means linalool. Strains that share their terpenes share a backbone: LA Confidential, AK 47 and Blue Widow all carry myrcene, caryophyllene and pinene, and the rest of each blend sets them apart.
Browse them all on the strains page, or begin from a feel on the effects page.
Are the terpenes in Kush pods natural?
Yes. Every pod is 1 mL with 950mg CBD and natural cannabis-derived terpenes, nothing synthetic. Every batch is lab-tested, and the batch number on the pouch opens its certificate on the lab results page.