The A-scale — AAA through AAAAA — isn't set by any government body. It's a trade shorthand that evolved out of the Canadian grey market, and different shops use it differently. We've anchored ours to three things we can actually measure on a jar: trichome density, cure and bag appeal, and aromatic complexity. THC percentage is on the label, but it's the least interesting number of the four.
AAA is our floor — clean, sensibly cured flower with decent trichome coverage. It's not a trophy bag, but it smokes properly and doesn't embarrass anyone. Each step up adds trichome frost, cures longer, tightens the trim, and broadens the terpene picture. By the time you reach AAAAA, you're looking at hand-trimmed indoor flower with visibly glassy trichomes and the kind of smell that fills a room when you crack the jar.
Exotics is a separate category, not a higher grade. Those are limited-drop cultivars — rare phenos, imports, and one-off strains where the interest is the profile rather than the shelf tier. Our Indica, Sativa, and Hybrid shelves sit at AAAA+ quality but are organized by effect so you can shop by how you want to feel, not by the acronym.