Live resin diamonds bring a unique and compelling experience to the concentrates market. These stunning crystals usually come with a heavy price tag, but users feel they’re worth every penny for the clean, potent, controlled high they bring.
What is Live Resin?
First, let’s look at live resin itself. The usual drying and curing processes that cannabis undergoes after being harvested can destroy many of its precious terpenes — the compounds on the surface of each bud that produce the plant’s aroma, flavor, and many therapeutic benefits.
Live resin is a type of concentrate made by freezing freshly harvested cannabis both before and during the extraction process. This technique omits the stages that expose the buds to adverse conditions helping the plant retain its full terpene profile.
How are Live Resin Diamonds Made?
Live resin diamonds can be made from any cannabinoid, but THCA is the most common choice. Interestingly, if you leave any cannabis concentrate for long enough, its consistency will usually change. Live resin can separate over time into a terpene-rich liquid called terp sauce and solid cannabinoids called diamonds. THCA wants to bond with itself, so it will naturally form diamonds within the live resin.
But diamonds can be intentionally formed and perfected too, in a process called “diamond mining” or “recrystallization.” The most common method of diamond mining is to extract the live resin using butane hash oil (BHO) and purge it using heat. This live resin is then left in a sealed vacuum environment for up to three weeks to separate. A layer of terpenes will float to the top of the live resin. Whereas THCA crystals will start to form along the bottom.
How Should You Consume Them?
Unlike other concentrates, the process for extracting diamonds doesn’t convert THCA into THC. This means it must be heated, like flower, to transform the chemical and produce any sensation of being high.
However, because concentrates are usually heated to be enjoyed anyway, cannabis diamonds can be treated in pretty much the same way. The process of smoking or dabbing diamonds is very similar to wax, hash oil, or shatter.
What are the Benefits of This Concentrate?
They’re stronger than other concentrates
Diamonds can be distilled and concentrated down to an amazing near-100 percent concentration of THC. This consistent purity makes dosing a lot easier. You can learn your ideal dose and repeat the same experience time and time again.
They can be mixed with terp sauce
However, pure THCA diamonds have little flavor on their own, and can only produce the effects of that one cannabinoid. Remember, they’ve been separated from the terpenes and other cannabinoids that together give cannabis its wonderful effects. By mixing diamonds back in with live resin terp sauce, you can gain control over your cannabinoids to terpenes ratio and customize your experience.
They’re useful for science
As diamonds are almost 100% pure extracted cannabinoids, like THCA, scientists can study the effects and potential therapeutic value of individual cannabinoids. This will be particularly valuable as cannabis gains greater state legalization and we start to see more research being funded into its effects.
What Does Diamond Mining Look Like?
Take a look at this photo collection that documents the process of live resin diamonds forming over a few weeks.
