A product label tells you the basics. THC percentage, strain name, weight, price. The Certificate of Analysis sitting one QR code away from that label is where the rest of the story lives, and it is worth knowing how to read.
That is what this post is for. Once you can read a COA, you stop guessing about your cannabis and start choosing it.
What a COA Is
A Certificate of Analysis is a lab report. A third-party, state-licensed laboratory takes a sample from a batch of cannabis, runs it through a long list of tests, and produces a document that says, in writing, what is in that product and what is not. Potency. Terpenes. Pesticides. Heavy metals. Mold. Solvents. The whole picture.
Every regulated product on our shelves has one. You can usually pull it up by scanning the QR code on the package, asking a budtender, or checking the brand’s website.
Think of it less as a science homework assignment and more as the receipt you wish every product in your life came with. Receipts are how you confirm what you paid for. A COA is how you confirm what you got.
Why It’s Worth a Minute of Your Time
Cannabis is an agricultural product. It grows in soil, gets watered, sometimes gets sprayed, gets processed, and ends up in your hands. Testing is the layer of accountability between the plant and you. A real COA tells you the THC number on the label is honest, the terpene profile is what the brand says it is, and nothing in there is going to be a problem.
It also turns you into a sharper shopper. Two products can both say “Indica, 24% THC” on the front of the jar and feel completely different in practice. The COA is where you find out why. The terpene breakdown might show one as myrcene-dominant and the other as caryophyllene-forward. The minor cannabinoid counts might show very different amounts of CBG or CBN. The packaging date might be six months apart. Same headline number, different product, different night.
For Ivy Hall as a social equity brand, transparency is part of how we built the company. We do not stock anything we cannot stand behind, and the COA is the document that lets you verify that for yourself. Trust is good. Verified trust is better.
Step 1: Make Sure the COA Matches Your Product
This is the most important step, and it is worth doing every time. Before you read a single test result, confirm the document in front of you belongs to the product in your hand.
Check these:
- Batch or lot number: It should match the number printed on your packaging. If it does not, you are looking at the wrong report. Brands run multiple batches of the same strain over the course of a year, and each batch gets its own COA.
- Test date: Recent is better. Older reports can mean the cannabinoid profile has shifted a bit since testing. Cannabis loses a small amount of THC over time, and terpenes evaporate faster than cannabinoids, so a fresher COA gives you a more accurate read on what you are buying today.
- Lab name and accreditation: Reputable labs will list a state license and often an ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, which is the international standard that says a lab follows strict, audited testing methods. Seeing it is a good sign.
If any of those three look off, ask your budtender. We would rather answer the question than have you wonder.
Step 2: Scan the Safety Panels
The next section is the one that does the quiet, important work. This is where the lab confirms the product is clean.
You are looking for a clear PASS next to each of these:
- Heavy metals: Lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium. These can find their way in through soil or water, and the limits are tight for good reason.
- Pesticides: Many labs screen for fifty to sixty different chemical residues. None of them should be above the allowed level.
- Microbials: Mold, yeast, harmful bacteria like E. coli and Salmonella. Cannabis is a plant, and plants can grow things you do not want to inhale.
- Mycotoxins: Toxic byproducts of mold. Tested separately because they can linger after the mold itself is gone.
- Residual solvents: This one matters most for concentrates, vape oils, and extracts. The extraction process uses solvents like butane or ethanol, and the finished product needs to show those are gone or well below the safe limit.
- Foreign materials: Self-explanatory. No hair, no dirt, no glass.
If you see PASS across the board, you are good. If you see a FAIL anywhere, that product should not be on a shelf, period.
Step 3: Read the Cannabinoid Profile
This is the section a lot of COA guides lead with, and it is fine to read it first, but we put it third on purpose. Safety first, fun second.
The cannabinoid section lists how much of each active compound is in the product. THC, CBD, and the supporting cast: CBG, CBN, CBC, and the acidic forms with an “A” on the end like THCA and CBDA.
A few things to understand:
The results are usually shown two ways. Milligrams per gram (mg/g) or milligrams per milliliter (mg/mL) tells you exact concentration. Percentages tell you the same thing as a share of the total weight. They are two views of the same number.
Total THC matters more than raw Delta-9 THC, especially in flower and concentrates. Raw cannabis is mostly THCA, which converts into active THC when you heat it (smoking, vaping, baking). Labs use a standard formula to calculate what the total active THC will be after that conversion. That is the number that predicts the experience.
ND stands for “none detected.” It means the compound is either not there or is below the lab’s limit of quantitation, which is the smallest amount the equipment can reliably measure.
For someone shopping for an edible, the math is simpler: look for total milligrams of THC per piece and per package. A 100mg, 10-pack of gummies is ten 10mg pieces. The COA confirms it.
Step 4: Check Out the Terpenes
Terpenes are the aromatic compounds that give cannabis its smell and flavor. Pine, citrus, pepper, fruit, gas, lavender. They show up in lots of plants. Mango has them, lemons have them, hops have them, and cannabis has them in serious variety.
Not every COA includes a terpene panel. When one does, it is a gift, because it tells you something the THC number cannot: what this particular product is likely to taste, smell, and feel like compared to another product at the same potency.
A few common ones to recognize:
- Myrcene: Earthy, musky, mango-adjacent. Often the dominant terpene in strains people reach for at the end of the day.
- Limonene: Citrus-forward. Found in a lot of strains people associate with mood lift.
- Pinene: Pine, fresh, sharp. Common in strains with a clearer-headed feel.
- Caryophyllene: Peppery and spicy. Unique because it interacts with the body in its own way.
- Linalool: Floral, lavender-like.
Terpene research is still developing, and the way they shape an experience seems to depend on the combination, not just the headline terpene. If you have ever wondered why two strains with the same THC percentage felt nothing alike, the terpene profile is where that conversation starts.
A Few Red Flags Worth Knowing
You probably will not run into these at a licensed dispensary, but knowing them makes you sharper everywhere else.
- A COA that only shows potency, with no contaminant testing. Incomplete.
- A COA where every safety result is ND or zero with no testing limits listed anywhere. That is not a clean product, that is a missing test.
- A FAIL on any safety panel. Disqualifying.
- A test date that is a year or two old on a product sitting on a shelf today.
- No lab name, no license number, no signature. A real lab is happy to put its name on its work.
How This Plays Out with Ivy Hall Products
We carry a wide bench, and every product has been tested. Here are a few examples from our shelves where a COA reading habit pays off, and what to look for on each one.
Simply Herb Mac 1 (3.5g flower): A hybrid flower from Simply Herb, grown indoors and known for its dense, frosty buds and citrus-forward aroma with creamy diesel undertones. The strain leans relaxed and uplifting at the same time, which is part of why it shows up in a lot of carts and pre-rolls too. Flower is the category where the COA does the most work: confirming Total THC after decarb, showing the terpene profile that drives the smell and flavor, and running the microbial and pesticide panels that matter most when you are inhaling plant material.
Rythm Remix Strawberry Sour Diesel Diamond Infused 2.5g 5pk Pre-Rolls: A 5-pack of sativa pre-rolls from Rythm’s Remix line, where premium indoor flower is double infused with THCA diamonds and kief and dialed in with natural terpenes. Strawberry Sour Diesel brings a strawberry-forward profile with piney, peppery notes. Infused products are where the COA matters most for understanding potency. The diamonds and kief push the Total THC well above what the underlying flower would test at on its own, and the COA shows you the THCA-plus-Delta-9 math behind that bigger number.
Limelight Papayahuasca King 3g Disposable: Limelight’s first 3-gram disposable, an indica-leaning vape that crosses Papayahuasca with King Louis XIII for a fruity, kush-forward profile (tropical punch, citrus, fresh plum, gas undertones). The hardware includes a battery gauge and three voltage settings so you can dial the draw from terpene-forward to bigger clouds. Vape products are where the residual solvent panel on the COA earns its keep. Distillate is made using solvents, and the lab report is how you confirm those have been purged from the final oil.
Wyld Raspberry Gummies 100mg 10pk: A 10-pack of sativa-enhanced fruit gummies made with real raspberry juice and no artificial ingredients. Wyld leans toward bright, daytime flavors here, and Raspberry is the brand’s pick-me-up option in that lineup. Edibles are where the COA does something simple and valuable: it confirms the dose per piece matches the label. 100mg across 10 gummies should be 10mg each, and the lab report is the proof.
Wyld Boysenberry 1:1:1 THC:CBD:CBN Gummies 100mg 10pk: Wyld’s indica-leaning sleep gummy, where each piece brings equal parts THC, CBD, and CBN together in a fruit-forward boysenberry chew. The CBN is the part that nudges this one toward bedtime rather than just a relaxed evening. Ratio products are where reading the COA pays off most. A 1:1:1 only works if the ratio actually holds up in each gummy, and the lab report is how you confirm it does.
Avexia Harmony Pain Relief Balm 1:1 THC:CBD 100mg: A topical balm that pairs equal parts THC and CBD with menthol, olive oil, cacao butter, vitamin E, ginger, and rosemary. It is the kind of product you reach for when you want to apply something to a specific spot rather than ingest it. Topicals go directly on your skin, so the contaminant panels on the COA (heavy metals, pesticides, microbials) are doing especially important work. The lab report also confirms the 1:1 ratio the product is built around.
Kanha Strawberry Lemonade Live Rosin Belts 100mg 4pk: An indica-leaning edible made with solventless rosin instead of distillate, which puts it on the higher end of the gummy category. The strawberry lemonade flavor is bright and tart, and the rosin extraction means the cannabinoid and terpene profile carries more of the original plant through to the finished chew. Rosin is made without solvents, which means the residual solvent panel on the COA should come back essentially empty. That clean read is one of the things that sets solventless extracts apart on the lab report.
Different categories, same habit: glance at the COA, confirm the batch, scan for PASS, then dig into the parts that shape your experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does COA stand for, and who creates it?
A: COA stands for Certificate of Analysis. It is produced by an independent, state-licensed third-party laboratory that tests a sample from a cannabis product’s batch and reports the results in a single document.
Q: Where do I find the COA for something I bought at Ivy Hall?
A: Most products have a QR code on the package that links directly to the report. If you do not see one or cannot scan it, ask any budtender on your next visit and we will pull it up for you.
Q: How recent should a COA be?
A: A general rule of thumb is within the last six to twelve months. Older reports can still be valid for safety information, but cannabinoid potency can shift slightly over time, so newer is more reliable.
Q: What is ISO/IEC 17025 and why does it matter?
A: It is an international accreditation standard for testing laboratories. A lab with ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation has been audited and confirmed to follow strict, repeatable testing procedures. Seeing it on a COA is a good sign.
Q: What is the difference between Total THC and Delta-9 THC on the report?
A: Delta-9 THC is the active form already present in the product. Total THC includes Delta-9 plus the active THC that will be created when THCA is heated and converted. For anything you smoke, vape, or cook, Total THC is the more useful number.
Q: My COA says “ND” next to a contaminant. Is that good?
A: Yes. ND means none detected, which means the lab tested for that contaminant and either did not find it or found it below the smallest amount their equipment can reliably measure. That is the result you want.
Q: Why do two products at the same THC percentage feel so different?
A: Often it comes down to terpenes, the minor cannabinoids, and the format. Two flowers at 24% Total THC can have completely different terpene profiles, and edibles, vapes, and flower all behave differently on different timelines. The COA helps you compare beyond the headline number.
Q: What should I do if a COA looks incomplete or does not match the product?
A: Mention it to a budtender right away. At a licensed dispensary, every product on the shelf has cleared testing, but we always want to know if something seems off so we can verify it on our end.
Q: Does Ivy Hall carry products with CBD, CBN, or CBG in addition to THC?
A: Yes. We carry gummies, balms, and other products across a range of ratios, including options that pair THC with CBD, CBN, or CBG. The COA for each one shows the exact milligrams of each cannabinoid, so you know what ratio you are buying.
Making COA Reading a Habit
Once you have done this a few times, it stops feeling like work. The pattern becomes familiar: confirm the batch, confirm the date, confirm the lab, glance down the safety panels for the row of PASS results, and then settle into the cannabinoid and terpene sections where the personality of the product lives.
Reading a COA can become the same kind of small habit a coffee drinker has with a roast date or a wine drinker has with a vintage. It is not about being a scientist. It is about being awake to the information that is already there.
Cannabis testing exists because the alternative is the unregulated market, where labels are a suggestion and the safety panel is a leap of faith. Buying from a licensed dispensary means a third party has checked the work. Learning to read the COA means you can check it too. That is the level of transparency we want every Ivy Hall customer walking out with, whether you are picking up a 3.5g of Simply Herb, a pack of Wyld gummies, or a balm from Avexia. Same habit, same confidence, every time.
If you ever pull up a COA at the counter and something does not make sense, that is what we are here for. Ask the budtender. We like this stuff. That is part of how we ended up working at Ivy Hall in the first place.
References
- New York State Office of Cannabis Management, “How to Read a Lab Certificate of Analysis for Your Cannabis Product.” https://cannabis.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2023/04/ocm_howtoreadcoa_final.pdf
- New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission, “How to Read a Certificate of Analysis for Your Cannabis Product.” NJ-CRC consumer guidance.
- Cannabis Workforce Initiative, “How to Read a Certificate of Analysis (COA) for marijuana-type Cannabis sativa,” Dr. Daniela Vergara, October 30, 2025.
- ACS Laboratory, “How to Read a COA and Why It’s So Important,” Elena Schmidt.
- International Organization for Standardization, ISO/IEC 17025 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. https://www.iso.org/ISO-IEC-17025-testing-and-calibration-laboratories.html
