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Diamonds have been considered the quintessential precious gems since the age of antiquity \u2014unadulterated expressions of the crystal form, prized both for their luminous clarity and all-but-unbreakable strength. This innate fascination with carbon diamonds is partially behind the rise of THCA \u201cdiamonds,\u201d the latest craze in cannabis extraction and the reason your dispensary\u2019s concentrate shelf looks like a jewelry store display case.<\/p>\n
Steinfarm<\/a>, a Seattle-based photographer who specializes in photographing\u00a0THCA diamonds<\/a>, says that the similarities between the two types of diamonds was central to his transition into professional cannabis photography. Before becoming a cannabis photographer, he spent eight years working as a commercial product photographer and the majority of his clientele were in the jewelry business. The most common item he was paid to photograph? Diamond rings.<\/p>\n Stacked diamonds on a dab tool of the strain Middlefork from DabX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As it turns out, there aren\u2019t that many aesthetic differences between carbon diamonds and cannabis diamonds, and as soon as he started photographing them, Steinfarm realized he already knew what he was doing.<\/p>\n \u201cI was shooting diamond rings, and I started seeing these [crystalized] concentrates come out,\u201d he says. \u201cI was looking for an edge into the industry and the diamonds are kind of where it hit off, cause honestly, they\u2019re really similar to earth diamonds.\u201d<\/p>\n That similarity explains the\u00a0appeal<\/i>\u00a0of cannabis diamonds, but what are they, and why does it seem like they\u2019re everywhere lately?<\/p>\n Mandarin Headband from DabX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The diamonds are made from THCA, which is the acidic compound in the plant that\u00a0becomes THC<\/a>\u00a0when it is exposed to heat. Crystalline THCA has been widely available for several years, but even at purity levels as high as 97 percent, it tends to have a powdery appearance to the naked eye. Then,\u00a0Guild Extracts<\/a>\u00a0in California pioneered the use of molecular isolation and became famous for their large THCA crystals with purity levels over 99 percent. Some other companies managed to more or less reproduce Guild\u2019s results with lower potency isolation, but the large crystal refinement wasn\u2019t ever consistently replicated by anyone else, largely because of how technically involved the process is.<\/p>\n Then, as the tastes of dabbers turned from\u00a0shatter<\/a>\u00a0to sauce, which is basically just a semi-separated mixture of viscous high-terpene extract and small THCA crystals, extractors found a simple, low-tech method for encouraging larger crystal formations. These \u201csauce diamonds\u201d have become an object of obsession for many concentrate connoisseurs and are a favorite on social media, where their striking aesthetics make for some dazzling imagery, whether it\u2019s a casual snap from a bragging dabber or a studio portrait of a massive crystal.<\/p>\n Legend of Nigeria from Phat Panda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cannabis extraction<\/a>, in general, is all about removing inert plant matter and isolating the primary cannabis compounds desired by humans, which break down into two main groups:\u00a0terpenes<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0cannabinoids<\/a>. Terpenes, which give cannabis its unique spectrum of scents and flavors and play a crucial role in the entourage effect (the idea that cannabinoids work best in harmony with one another) are liquid at room temperature and regular pressure. On the other hand, cannabinoids \u2014 compounds which directly interact with your body\u2019s endocannabinoid system to produce the physiological impacts of cannabis consumption \u2014 take solid form under typical conditions.<\/p>\n Almost all cannabis concentrates contain both terpenes and cannabinoids, making them susceptible to a process called nucleation, which ultimately causes them to separate. If you\u2019ve ever seen what happens to an old envelope of shatter, then you\u2019ve witnessed the result of nucleation, which is fundamentally the same physical process that creates sauce diamonds. The difference is that when shatter nucleates, it generally doesn\u2019t form crystalline structures, at least not ones that you can see. But using a simple process sometimes called \u201cjar tech\u201d or \u201cdiamond mining,\u201d you can create large crystal formations using little more than time.<\/p>\n Sour Tangie from Dab Lab<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As I noted in my book with cannabis legend\u00a0Ed Rosenthal<\/a>, \u201cBeyond Buds: Next Generation<\/a>,\u201d most large sauce diamonds start as BHO live resin, which is created by running fresh or flash frozen cannabis (instead of cured buds) through a closed loop extractor. The resulting oil receives a light purge without a vacuum to offgas most of the oil\u2019s residual solvents. The liquid that remains is poured into jars and left alone for two or three weeks, at which point there should be substantial crystal growth. The process is based on separation, so you\u2019ll also get a viscous, high-terpene extract with cannabinoid crystals.<\/p>\n Some extractors will boost crystal formation by adding other solvents, but not Josh Zeise, lead extractor at\u00a0DabX<\/a>, an extraction company based out of Oak Harbor, Washington that specializes in sauce diamonds.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do a live butane or propane extraction. We don\u2019t use pentane \u2014 that\u2019s called cheating,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll use natural-derived, steam-distilled terpenes. All we use to make the diamonds is live resin for our live diamonds or fresh\/cured material for our regular diamonds.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Topical OG from DabX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Steinfarm says DabX diamonds are some of his favorite to photograph, and\u00a0a glance at these images explains why. But he stressed that the quality can be both seen and tasted, and that he\u2019s yet to find anything else quite like it in the Pacific Northwest.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s crazy flavorful,\u201d he said. \u201cI haven\u2019t found anything that tastes quite like it up here.\u201d<\/p>\n Zeise said it\u2019s fun to watch the crystals form in the jar, and that for a certain kind of cannabis consumer, dabbing a big THCA diamond is the ultimate experience. However, he said he also makes sauces with smaller crystals for those seeking a more even-handed potency.<\/p>\n \u201cYou get those THC chasers, so it\u2019s always nice to offer the big diamonds just for them,\u201d he said, adding that his deep stash of in-house genetics lets him dial in strains for both crystal size and terpene intensity. \u201cThe Orange Kush is what you need for big crystals, the Dutch Treat brings the terps.\u201d<\/p>\n When it comes to Zeise\u2019s favorite form of cannabis? It\u2019s the same answer you hear from about 80 percent of extractors and hash makers.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually smoke flower,\u201d he said. \u201cI just dabbed so much it gets me lifted for like fifteen minutes, but I love dripping the terps on the flower.\u201d<\/p>\n Kiwi Skunk from DabX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The science behind \u201cjar tech\u201d is relatively uncomplicated, but as with many facets of the emerging legal cannabis industry \u2014\u00a0particularly in California \u2014 the regulations concerning extraction are dense and sometimes a bit arbitrary.<\/p>\n Rodney Galgiani is the head of extraction at\u00a0Apex Solutions<\/a>\u00a0in Oakland, California and is responsible for their top-shelf products, including those from leading NorCal brands like\u00a0Terp Boys<\/a>. He says regulatory restrictions make \u201cjar tech\u201d as it\u2019s practiced illegal.<\/p>\n At issue are the glass jars used to store the crystallizing hash oil. These containers don\u2019t comply with the stringent process requirements for extractors under California\u2019s regulatory framework, and while Galgiani has experimented with other containers and workarounds, he says it\u2019s proven to be more trouble than it\u2019s worth. He said the profit margins are already so slim that creating compliant procedures is hardly worth it.<\/p>\n Mandarin Headband from DabX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Unfortunately, he says he doesn\u2019t see big sauce diamonds featuring in the legal market moving forward. During a visit to the Apex laboratory, he pointed to a 2-ounce jar filled with big, glimmering crystals sitting inside a vacuum oven.<\/p>\n \u201cThose are the last big diamonds that\u2019ll ever come out of this lab,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s all about applesauce [with smaller crystals] moving forward\u2026\u00a0when it comes down to it, you need the terps, and if you just have a couple of huge crystals in the jar, it\u2019s not getting distributed evenly.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, the regulatory hurdles that seem poised to slap the lid on jar tech won\u2019t affect producers like Guild, who create crystalline THCA diamonds using other proprietary methods, but if it becomes a little easier to distinguish your cannabis social media feed from a boutique in Antwerp in the coming months, you\u2019ll know why.<\/p>\n Chem Brulee from Dank Czar<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Industrial applications notwithstanding, carbon diamonds are predominantly valued for their dramatic appearance in jewelry, and it\u2019s really no different where THCA \u201cdiamonds\u201d are concerned.<\/p>\n From a practical standpoint, it doesn\u2019t make sense to chase large THCA diamonds. Most obviously, smaller crystal formations more evenly distributed throughout a terpene-rich base allow for more uniform potency. But also, the smaller crystals in terp sauce are quicker to produce, there are fewer testing and regulatory headaches for the extractor, and on balance, it\u2019s a more useful product for the consumer.<\/p>\n Killa Gorilla from DabX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Still\u2026 I find myself gazing into the glimmering asymmetry of a 2.5-karat THCA diamond, regarding its luminescent clarity with a dreamy smile I\u2019ve never given to a half-gram of hash before. I gingerly clutch the shimmering crystal with a pair of tweezers and raise it into a sunbeam that\u2019s captured and refracted into prismatic flashes of sparkling rainbow light. These become more intense and frequent as I subtly tilt the diamond in the light, and for a moment I\u2019m mesmerized, lost inside its jagged natural facets.<\/p>\n My hypnotic trance is broken by the insistent electric screeching of a timer I\u2019ve set for my dab. With just the slightest pang of regret, I drop the gem into a warm banger. It melts into a bubbling puddle and vanishes into a wisp of mist and rides the light once more, as I exhale upward and that same sunbeam illuminates an angular blade of vapor, framing the turbulent trajectory of whirling spectral serpents on their first and final flight.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/b>, do you think THCA diamonds are something special, or just another gimmick?<\/p>\n Originally published in Issue 34 of Cannabis Now. LEARN MORE<\/i><\/p>\n The post Diamond Mining: A Photographer\u2019s Journey Inside the Super-Shiny World of THCA Diamonds<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Diamonds have been considered the quintessential precious gems since the age of antiquity \u2014unadulterated expressions of the crystal form, prized both for their luminous clarity and all-but-unbreakable strength. This innate fascination with carbon diamonds is partially behind the rise of THCA \u201cdiamonds,\u201d the latest craze in cannabis extraction and theContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":32096,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7054,7055,7056,605,50,943,2965,240,115,263,6551,85,6599,585,7057,586,1598,420,7058],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32095"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32095"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32097,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32095\/revisions\/32097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/DABX_MIDDLEFORK.jpg\")
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<\/p>\nHow THCA Diamonds Are Mined<\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\nDiamonds Aren\u2019t Forever<\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\nBehind the Hype for THCA Diamonds<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Diamond Mining: A Photographer\u2019s Journey Inside the Super-Shiny World of THCA Diamonds<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"