Diamond strain cannabis is a new strain for me. This Diamond strain review features two cultivars; Grapes and Dust. Diamond Grapes, with it’s unique fruity qualities and smooth smoke earned a 91, while earthy and traditionally appealing Diamond Dust rated 81 on the Canniseur 100 point system. Diamond Grapes produced a good 45-minute burst of brainy energy, then settled into a pleasant body buzz, while Diamond Dust produced a relaxing indica-style body experience.
Diamond Strains: Appearance
Diamond Grapes consisted of a beautiful cone shaped bud with lots of sparkly pastel purple trichomes all over. It was loosely trimmed (which I like) and seemed well grown. The bud was pliant to the touch and rolled up a terrific joint. Loved the way it looked and felt.
Diamond Dust consisted of teensy little buds that were overly trimmed and were very tight, which leads me to believe the plants were grown with PGRs (plant growth regulators), while not necessarily bad in and of themselves can be harmful to human health if the wrong ones are used. They are not allowed at all in the EU, but in our unregulated markets (for cannabis) we have no control over this issue. They were also dry and crumbly. Too dry to roll up a good joint and not moist enough to smoke smoothly.
SCORES: Grapes 18 & Dust 10
Diamond Strain: Aroma
Diamond Grapes – This particular strain has a marvelously fruity aroma that, as it’s name suggests, is reminiscent of concord grapes (like Welch’s Grape Juice) and other fruits. I loved the aroma, but it did not have that rich scent that great cannabis seems to always possess. It could be a particular rare terpene is missing, and that doesn’t mean the bud isn’t good, it just means it that little something was missing.
Diamond Dust – This was much earthier. Unlike the Diamond Grapes cultivar, there was no fruity aroma. Since both cultivars were these are supposed to derive from the same lineage, I was surprised that there were no similarities at all in the scent. Dust was a much more traditional cannabis aroma. That’s not a bad thing and I really enjoyed smelling the different strains side by side.
SCORES: Grapes 18 & Dust 18
Diamond Strain: Taste
Diamond Grapes – There was a lot of fruit in the taste. It wasn’t grapey, but it was fruity (we recently wrote about five undeniably grape-flavored strains). The bud smoked smooth and was easy on my throat. The ash was white, which tells me it was well dried and cured. Drying and curing are two different things in flower production. This was well done for both things. Nice.
Diamond Dust – Much more “traditional” in its taste. The earthiness in the aroma came through in the taste. The smoke was a little more ragged on the throat, but not so much so that it was cough worthy. I couldn’t rate either of these higher than the other. Both were good.
SCORES: Grapes 17 & Dust 17
Diamond Strain: Effect
Diamond Grapes – The effect took about 3 or 4 minutes to start and was energizing at first. It created a very lightheaded feeling with focus. It was energizing for about ½ hour, then it got a bit more body oriented and began to make me sleepy. Diamond Grapes is supposed to be a hybrid and it’s a good hybrid in the sense that it had me thinking creatively. It was very focused for about 45 minutes when the body buzz started taking over from the brain buzz.
Diamond Dust – Very much more of an indica body buzz. Relaxing, This particular strain makes a good sleepy time addition to the Dosi Dos I use for sleep. WAY better than Ambien for sure. Other than a terrific sedative effect, Diamond Dust didn’t produce as much giggly fun time as Diamond Grapes.
SCORES: Grapes 18 & Dust 16
Conclusion
What strikes me as unusual, is the huge difference between these two strains. Although the parents are supposed to be at least 50% the same, the other parent seemed to be the dominant part of this cross. I liked both cultivars, but the Grapes was a lot more fun. It was also better grown, cured and trimmed as well. I do need to note that reviews I’ve now read about these Diamond cannabis strains say the Dust flowers were supposed to be light green and fluffy. These were hard unforgiving nugs that could have benefited from a little TLC. The Grapes variety demonstrates how much growing and curing make a difference when it comes to Diamond strains and cannabis in general.
TOTAL SCORES – Grapes 91 & Dust 81
An additional note on the packaging and handling of the bud: Both strains, Diamond Grapes and Diamond Dust were purchased at Ann Arbor dispensaries. Diamond Grapes was purchased from Arborside Compassion and Diamond Dust was purchased from Liberty Provisioning Center. Both dispensaries package their buds up in resealable plastic bags, which tends to dry out the bud. This does not alter the effectiveness of the strain for the purposes of review.
Arborside Compassion is strictly a medical dispensary and Liberty Provisioning is both adult-use and medical. Sadly, both dispensaries package their buds up in resealable plastic bags, which I detest. This is the quickest way to turn your nice, moist and pretty bud into dried out shake. Not that it matters in terms of the effect, but it’s a cheap way to package bud and not very consumer friendly either.
Liberty was the worst and they used to be the best until the original owner sold to a large multi-state chain. All their bud is now prepackaged in opaque black bags. That’s a problem and I probably won’t be going back to Liberty. Arborside Compassion on the other hand, even though the product is put in the same type of opaque plastic envelope, at least lets you choose the buds and then they package it. Even the budtenders in these locations know that it’s terrible way to package cannabis flower. OK, rant over. Let’s get back to the strains.
