Strawberry Lemonade. Blueberry Muffins. Sour Banana Sherbet. Cookie Face. Jack Herer. Technically, they’re all the same plant, but they couldn’t taste more different.

What makes your favorite cannabis strain smell and taste the way it does? Where does its flavor come from?

Terpenes Decide How Your Cannabis Will Smell and Taste

Terpenes are aromatic compounds found in cannabis and a wide variety of plants, spices, and fruits.

Terpenes give strains their distinctive smell and taste. For example, when you take that first whiff of fresh flower and detect a strong scent of citrus, what you’re smelling is the terpene known as limonene.

On the other hand, if you’re picking up a scent that makes you feel like you’re in a pine forest, chances are you’re smelling pinene.

There are over a 100 different types of terpenes found in the cannabis plant. And cannabis breeders work hard to combine different strains in order to generate specific flavors.

Here’s a list of popular cannabis terpenes and their corresponding flavors, courtesy of Leafly:

TERPENE	FLAVOR
Pinene	Pine
Myrcene	Cloves, Earthy, Herbal
Limonene	Citrus
Caryophyllene	Pepper, Spicy, Woody, Cloves
Linalool	Floral
Humulene	Woody, Earthy
Ocimene	Sweet, Herbal, Woody
Terpinolene	Pine, Floral, Herbal