How to actually read a lab result
THC percentage is the number everyone checks and the one that tells you the least. Here's what the rest of the certificate is for.
Every legal batch comes with a certificate of analysis. Most people look at one line on it, decide, and move on. That line is total THC, and on its own it is close to useless as a predictor of anything you actually care about.
Potency tells you concentration, not character. Two batches at the same number can behave nothing alike, because what shapes the experience is the full composition — the minor cannabinoids, and especially the terpenes, which are the volatile compounds doing most of the work your nose notices and a fair amount of the work your body does.
So read down. Terpene profile is the most useful section on the page and the most commonly skipped. Myrcene-dominant batches tend to land heavy. Limonene reads brighter. Caryophyllene is the peppery one. These are tendencies, not promises, and anyone selling them to you as a guarantee is overselling.
Then check the parts nobody markets: pesticide, residual solvent, heavy metal and microbial screens. A pass on those is the actual point of the document. Potency is a spec; contaminant screening is a safety test, and it is the reason the certificate exists at all.
Last, check the date and the batch ID. A certificate that doesn't match the jar in your hand is a certificate for something else.