Flower is more than a strain name and a THC number.
A useful flower guide should help explain how the product was categorized, how it was grown, what the labels mean, and which details can change from one batch to another.
Use this hub to move between the educational guides and After Dark's current flower tiers.
Guides in This Section
Cannabis Flower Quality & Tiers
What makes cannabis flower Budget, AA, AAA+, Premium or Exotic? Learn how genetics, cultivation, trichomes, aroma, cure, moisture, freshness and batch consistency can affect flower quality.
BC Grown vs. Indoor, Hydroponic, Greenhouse & Outdoor Cannabis
BC-grown, indoor, outdoor, greenhouse and hydroponic are not the same kind of cannabis label. Learn what each term actually describes and what can influence the final flower.
Indica vs. Sativa vs. Hybrid
What do Indica, Sativa and Hybrid mean today? Learn the history of the labels, why modern cannabis is heavily crossbred, and why cannabinoids, terpenes and batch information matter too.
What Does “Good Weed” Actually Mean
What makes cannabis flower good? Learn how genetics, aroma, trichomes, cure, freshness, structure and handling shape flower quality beyond THC alone.
Gas, Loud, Fire, Dank, Zaza & Mids
What do gas, loud, fire, dank, zaza, mids and top shelf mean in weed slang? Learn the cannabis vocabulary without confusing slang with official grades.
Top Shelf vs Mids vs Quads
Top shelf, mids, quads, AAAA, AAA and AA are common cannabis quality terms. Learn what they mean, what they do not mean and how retailer tiers differ.
Does Higher THC Mean Better Weed
High THC does not automatically mean higher-quality cannabis. Learn what THC tells you and what it misses about aroma, cure, freshness, genetics and flower quality.
Bag Appeal 101
What is cannabis bag appeal? Learn how bud structure, colour, trim, trichomes, size and freshness shape the visual impression of cannabis flower.
What Does “Frosty Weed” Mean
Frosty weed gets its crystal-like look from trichomes. Learn what cannabis trichomes are, what they contain and why visible frost is only one quality clue.
What Does “Terpy” Mean
Terpy, gas, loud and dank are cannabis aroma words. Learn how terpenes contribute to smell and why aroma is more complex than THC percentage.
Fresh Weed vs Dry Weed
Why does cannabis become dry or lose aroma? Learn how drying, curing, moisture, storage, air, light and time affect flower after harvest.
Smalls vs Big Buds
Are big cannabis buds better than smalls? Learn what bud size can and cannot tell you about genetics, flower position, appearance, quality and value.
Craft Cannabis vs Commercial Cannabis
What is craft cannabis? Learn how small-batch language, cultivation attention, trimming, genetics and consistency differ from simple marketing claims.
Strain vs Cultivar
Cannabis strain or cultivar? Learn why both words are used, what cultivar means in horticulture and why a strain name does not guarantee identical batches.
Landrace vs Hybrid
Learn what landrace and hybrid mean in cannabis genetics, why modern cultivars are heavily crossbred and why ancestry does not guarantee a specific effect.
1. What Determines Cannabis Flower Quality?
Start here if you want to understand what people mean by flower quality.
The guide covers:
Read: Cannabis Flower Quality & Tiers.
- genetics
- cultivation
- trichome development
- aroma and terpenes
- flower structure
- trim and handling
- moisture
- drying and cure
- freshness
- THC as one measurement rather than the whole grade
2. BC Grown vs Indoor, Hydroponic, Greenhouse and Outdoor
These words answer different questions.
BC-grown identifies origin. Indoor/outdoor/greenhouse identifies environment. Hydroponic identifies a cultivation method.
Read: BC Grown vs Indoor, Hydroponic, Greenhouse & Outdoor Cannabis.
3. Indica vs Sativa vs Hybrid
Use this guide to understand why the traditional labels remain common on menus but should not be treated as guaranteed effect predictions or precise genetic categories.
Read: Indica vs Sativa vs Hybrid.
4. After Dark Flower Tiers
After Dark currently organizes flower into five navigation tiers:
The tier pages are the commercial/current menu layer. This Flower Guides hub is the educational layer.
- Budget
- AA
- AAA+
- Premium
- Exotic
Budget
Value-focused flower section. Use the current Budget page for current products and the Quality & Tiers guide for context.
AA
Separate flower category positioned above Budget in the After Dark menu structure.
AAA+
Separate middle/upper flower category between AA and Premium in the store's navigation system.
Premium
Upper-tier flower section in the After Dark menu.
Exotic
Top flower-navigation tier in the current After Dark structure.
These are store categories, not universal government grades.
5. Use the Current Batch Information
Even within one tier, flower can vary by cultivar, grower, batch and storage history.
Use educational pages to understand the language. Use the live tier page to understand the current listing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I look at besides THC?
Consider genetics, aroma, trichome development, structure, trim, moisture, cure, freshness and any verified terpene or cannabinoid information available for the product.
Is BC-grown a quality grade?
No. BC-grown describes geographic origin. The finished flower still depends on how it was cultivated and handled.
Are Indica and Sativa exact scientific categories for modern retail cannabis?
They are familiar traditional/retail labels, but modern research shows the labels do not cleanly map to two genome-wide genetic groups.
Where can I see the current flower lineup?
Use the current Budget, AA, AAA+, Premium and Exotic menu pages.
Current After Dark Links
Related Resources
What Does “Good Weed” Actually Mean
What makes cannabis flower good? Learn how genetics, aroma, trichomes, cure, freshness, structure and handling shape flower quality beyond THC alone.
Cannabis Flower Quality & Tiers
What makes cannabis flower Budget, AA, AAA+, Premium or Exotic? Learn how genetics, cultivation, trichomes, aroma, cure, moisture, freshness and batch consistency can affect flower quality.
Top Shelf vs Mids vs Quads
Top shelf, mids, quads, AAAA, AAA and AA are common cannabis quality terms. Learn what they mean, what they do not mean and how retailer tiers differ.
Bag Appeal 101
What is cannabis bag appeal? Learn how bud structure, colour, trim, trichomes, size and freshness shape the visual impression of cannabis flower.
What Does “Frosty Weed” Mean
Frosty weed gets its crystal-like look from trichomes. Learn what cannabis trichomes are, what they contain and why visible frost is only one quality clue.
What Does “Terpy” Mean
Terpy, gas, loud and dank are cannabis aroma words. Learn how terpenes contribute to smell and why aroma is more complex than THC percentage.
Fresh Weed vs Dry Weed
Why does cannabis become dry or lose aroma? Learn how drying, curing, moisture, storage, air, light and time affect flower after harvest.
Smalls vs Big Buds
Are big cannabis buds better than smalls? Learn what bud size can and cannot tell you about genetics, flower position, appearance, quality and value.
BC Grown vs. Indoor, Hydroponic, Greenhouse & Outdoor Cannabis
BC-grown, indoor, outdoor, greenhouse and hydroponic are not the same kind of cannabis label. Learn what each term actually describes and what can influence the final flower.
Craft Cannabis vs Commercial Cannabis
What is craft cannabis? Learn how small-batch language, cultivation attention, trimming, genetics and consistency differ from simple marketing claims.
Indica vs. Sativa vs. Hybrid
What do Indica, Sativa and Hybrid mean today? Learn the history of the labels, why modern cannabis is heavily crossbred, and why cannabinoids, terpenes and batch information matter too.
Strain vs Cultivar
Cannabis strain or cultivar? Learn why both words are used, what cultivar means in horticulture and why a strain name does not guarantee identical batches.
Landrace vs Hybrid
Learn what landrace and hybrid mean in cannabis genetics, why modern cultivars are heavily crossbred and why ancestry does not guarantee a specific effect.