Sugar

Sugar is a grainy, crystalline BHO concentrate consisting of small THCA crystals suspended in a terpene-rich oil, visually resembling wet raw sugar. The texture arises from nucleation of the BHO extract — triggered by temperature fluctuation, residual moisture or solvent, or intentional agitation — during which lipids form crystal nuclei and THCA crystallizes out of solution. Sugar consistency often occurs spontaneously in un-winterized BHO and is also deliberately produced. Sugar can be made from either cured or fresh-frozen starting material; the fresh-frozen variant is marketed as "live sugar." Finished sugar is wet and grainy; color ranges from yellow to deep amber, with some strains producing pink, gold, or brown sugar tones. Potency runs 60–85% THC with highly variable terpene content. ⚠️ "Sugared up" shatter — shatter that has crystallized out of its glass-like state in storage — is sometimes regarded as a storage defect, but connoisseurs argue the crystallized product tastes better because the extract was never winterized and therefore retains more of its original terpene and lipid profile. The dispute captures a broader tension in concentrate aesthetics between visual clarity and chemical completeness. → See also: Sauce, Diamonds, Shatter, Wax, BHO