What Is THCA Sand & How Do You Use It?

The 2018 Farm Bill completely changed the legal cannabis scene. While CBD was the hemp superstar for years, the Farm Bill opened the door for an abundance of “new” cannabinoids most people had never heard of.

One of the most popular is THCA, the acidic precursor to THC. THCA flower, edibles and concentrates are all abundantly available on the legal hemp market.

One of the newest THCA products to hit the hemp space is THCA sand. But what is THCA sand? How do you consume it? And what are its effects?

That’s exactly what we’ll look at here. Keep reading to learn all about this new, exciting, highly concentrated cannabis product.

Key Takeaways: Live Resin Beach Sand

• THCA is the acidic precursor to THC, and is non-psychoactive in its raw form but turns into psychoactive THC when heated.
• THCA sand is a high potency concentrate made from live resin.
• A couple different ways to use THCA sand include smoking it with flower and taking THCA dabs.

What is THCA Sand?

THCA sand is one of the newest legal cannabis products made from hemp.

But before we take a deep dive into this exciting new concentrate, it’s important to have a better understanding of THCA.

THCA (also known as tetrahydrocannabinolic acid) is the acidic precursor to THC. 

This non-psychoactive compound converts to THC when exposed to heat in a process known as decarboxylation. Essentially, this “activates” the THC molecule to offer the intoxicating effects that have largely made cannabis popular.

While THCA contains its own therapeutic potential, it won’t get you high on its own. 

Because THCA derived from hemp contains less than 0.3% Delta 9 THC, it’s legal under the 2018 Farm Bill. But as soon as it’s heated, it basically turns into regular old THC.

This has led to a plethora of legal hemp products that will get you high. THCA sand is one of them, and it’s making some serious waves in the hemp scene.

THCA sand is a live resin, high potency concentrate. Live resin is extracted from freshly harvested cannabis flowers that are flash frozen immediately after harvest. This preserves the plant’s trichomes that contain cannabinoids and terpenes.

Another product that can be produced by raw cannabis flower is known as kief, which is sometimes referred to as dry sift. 

It’s created by sifting trichome-rich flowers through extremely fine mesh screens. Gently sifting trichomes this way produces a very fine crystalline extract with a consistency very similar to beach sand.

The outcome is a concentrated cannabinoid content of up to 95%, resulting in a product known as THCA sand. 

It’s often referred to as live resin beach sand. THCA sand is one of many highly potent concentrates, and this beach sand is a specific type of resin that is made from cannabis plants.

Resin is a thick, sticky substance that different plants secrete.

When it comes to cannabis, the resin holds together the plant’s trichomes, cannabinoids, and terpenes. The process of collecting resin is the same for collecting cannabis extracts and concentrates like live resin.

One way of extracting live resin is through a process called closed-loop extraction, which involves keeping the hydrocarbon solvent in a sealed and pressurized system, allowing for the solvent to be reused in an endless cycle of extraction, purging and recovery.

The entire process of extraction and purging happens within the sealed system, ensuring that all the solvent used is recovered. The closed-loop system also enables precise temperature and pressure control, making it possible to create butane hash oil and live resin with great accuracy.

To make THCA sand, this live resin is turned into kief, which we mentioned is the powdery substance collected by sifting trichomes through a series of extremely fine mesh screens.

This extraction process removes as much of the coarse material from the resin as possible, resulting in a fine crystalline texture often referred to as THCA sand, a specific type of kief-like sand that is highly concentrated. With a purity of 95% or more, THCA sand is one of the most potent concentrates available today.

It is important to keep in mind that this type of concentrate should only be used by experienced cannabis users due to its high potency.

THCA sand-infused flower is also a thing, but it is not recommended. If you want to smoke THCA flower, stick to natural hemp buds instead. It’s far more safe (due to the manufacturing process of infusing sand) for an all-around good high.

How To Use THC Sand

There are various ways to make the most of your THCA sand, and more ways are sure to pop up in the future. But for now, there are basically three different ways to use the popular concentrate: dab it, smoke it with flower or use it in edibles.

Dabbing THCA Sand

Dabs are one of the most popular ways to consume this concentrated product, especially the larger crystals.

All you need to do is place the larger crystals on your dab tool, add it to your pre-torched dab rig or e-nail and dab as usual.

Remember, a little goes a long way, so start small before jumping in on a high you may not be able to control.

Smoking Live Resin Sand

Some of the best ways to use THCA sand is by sprinkling it in your joints or on top of the bowls of your pipe or bong. THCA sand is extremely fine and can be a bit difficult to handle, so use the right tool to sprinkle it evenly.

The taste of the terpenes will hit you fast when smoked. In your joint or blunt, the crystalline THCA sand will slowly melt due to the combustion, converting to psychoactive THC, while your tastebuds light up joyfully at the rich terpene taste.

You can also coat your joint or blunt by rolling it in oil or distillate and then into the THCA sand. Remember, when you smoke THCA it automatically converts into THC, meaning smoking THCA sand with flower will produce an even more potent high than either product on their own.

Cooking With Live Resin Beach Sand

If you don’t like to smoke THCA sand, there is always the edible route.

You can purchase THCA sand, heat it up to activate the THC, then incorporate it into baked goods by making butter or oil.

There are many different ways in which you can use THCA sand in the kitchen; your imagination is the only limitation.

Or if you’re not the baking and cooking type, you can always try to find THCA beach sand edibles online.

They are rare at this moment, meaning you’re better off making these stony cannabis edibles yourself.

THC Sand Concentrate Effects

THCA sand is just like any cannabis concentrate. As mentioned, it turns into THC when decarbed. As THCA is the precursor to THC, you will feel the same effects once you have smoked, dabbed, or eaten a decarbed edible.

That being said, THC can also cause some unpleasant feelings. Especially if you’re new to cannabis. Anxiety and paranoia are common, but these negative reactions are more likely when you’re inexperienced or take too much.

Stronger cannabis products can trigger a stronger reaction. That is why we recommend going slow and low with your dosing. Especially with a concentrate as potent as live sand.

THCA Companies

While THCA sand is relatively new to the hemp space, there are some legit hemp brands that carry various THCA dabs and other related products.

Following you’ll find some of the top companies we’ve found that produce excellent THCA products safe for consumption.

To determine which brands are the best, we always look at the following aspects:

• Unique customer service policies: Like money-back guarantees, first-time order discounts, subscriptions and free shipping.
• Brand reputation: If they are well-known for excellent products, that is a plus.
• User feedback: We check forums and product reviews to see what people say about the companies and products.
• Third-party lab testing: If they don’t have these on the products or site, run away fast.

1. Binoid

Binoid has been a in-house favorite for years. They have an excellent history of selling the top cannabinoids on the market. Including potent Delta 9 gummies and now THCa carts along with concentrates.

Binoid carries vape cartridges, diamonds, disposables, tinctures and mixed combo cannabinoids like Delta 8 and THCP.

All their products are third-party tested and they have the lab results readily available on their website.

With Binoid, you’re their priority, and their great customer service and policies demonstrate that.

2. Vivimu

Vivimu doesn’t stock THCA sand products at the moment, but they’ve got a great selection of other products, including THCA isolate, diamonds, live resin badder and THC crumble. 

This highly respected hemp brand is well-known in the industry for their high-quality, lab-tested hemp goodies. With lab tests readily available of all their products, users can enjoy peace of mind when consuming anything Vivimu has to offer.

With their extensive selection of hemp-derived cannabinoids and commitment to customer service, it shouldn’t be long before Vivimu starts carrying THCA sand. Until then, enjoy their remaining high-quality assortment.

3. Secret Nature

Secret Nature has a great selection of premium THCA hemp flower, vapes and pre-rolls for sale. They are 100% federally legal, hemp-derived and dispensary-grade THCA products. “Classy” is the perfect word to describe the quality THCA products Secret Nature has to offer.

While flower is more their thing than THCA dabs or other extracts, you’ll find this brand carries some of the highest-quality hemp flower you can find. And their THCA disposable live resin vapes are straight fire. If you’re looking for artisan THCA products made with rare, landrace genetics, definitely give Secret Nature a try.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can You Dab THCA Sand?

Yes, you can dab THCA sand. The kief-like crystal can be dabbed just like a cannabis extract would be. It can be tricky to get it on the tool, but the high is legit. If you don’t do dabs, just sprinkle it on your bud in a joint or bowl for a powerful experience you won’t regret.