What is a terpene?

The word itself is a derivation of the word turpentine, a fluid distilled from the resin of pine trees which, unsurprisingly, has an intense pine aroma from a high alpha-pinene content. The name was later extended to tens of thousands of molecules that have a similar chemical structure. They are further subclassified by the number of carbons. Alpha-pinene and others with 10 carbons are called monoterpenes. Cubebenes, the molecules responsible for the flavour of cubeb pepper, have 15 carbons and are classified as sesquiterpenes.