First off, if you just lay them in a drawer, they might get mold on the bottom side that is against the bottom of the drawer.
Next, when you sample BUDS. they are always taste crappy,, unless you did this at least 5-7 days into your flush.
When you DRY & CURE, Your plants should be hanging in a dark room, not touching each other. The temp should be 65-70 degrees, Humidity of about 50% with no air movement. The amount of time it takes to dry depends on a lot of things, bud size is a big factor. Once the BUDS feel dry on the OUTSIDE, but the stems will not snap, I place them in paper bags and seal them up, cracking them open for 30 minutes 2-3 times a day. At this point, the buds will still be moist on the inside of the buds. Putting them inside the bag will allow the moisture that is inside to move to the outside of the bud. I do this for 3-7 more days. When the stems feel like they almost snap, I then place them in sealed JARS, and crack them open for an hour each day, moving them buds around a little before I close them up again. This allows the Chlorophyl time to escape from the plant. I let this go on until the stems snap, or they are as dry and cured as you like. This usually takes 3-4 weeks total if my temp and humidity is correct.
Little side note, I truely feel it is not a good idea to take samples. The samples always taste like shit, (green), and are always dryed incorrectly. And each time you take a bud, the plant is injured just a little. But then again, I always seem to snap off buds on accident, maybe it is my subconceince wanting to give a bud a try... hahahaha
When I do dry and cure, If I am out of buds, I fast track about 10 grams. I basically do the same thing except, I go one day in the paper bag, one day hanging, one day bag, one day drying, until it is ready to smoke.
If done correctly, you plants will get rid of the Chlorophyl smell and taste, and become sweet and stinky smelling.
