Hot Sugar a sweet commodity for Grow Op Farms

What’s better than a cold beverage on a hot day? How about a cold beverage infused with Hot Sugar, a powdered THC product that can turn just about any food or drink into an edible or a drinkable product. “You can put it on anything,” said Sean Mooney, director of edible products at Grow Op Farms in Spokane Valley. “You can put it on a donut, you can put it in your coffee.” Mooney has been working for the past six years in Grow Op’s lab to develop and fine-tune Hot Sugar. Grow Op Farms is also the producer of the well-known Phat Panda line of cannabis product plus Sticky Frog and other cannabis product brands. To make the “sugar,” ethanol is used to extract THC distillate oil, which reduces it to a water-soluble form that the human body can process quicker and more easily than the standard oil-based edible products. Oil-soluble extracts have to be metabolized by the liver before the effects kick in. This can cause delays in a user’s enjoyment of edibles and sometimes can cause an unpredictable roller coaster ride of a high. Mooney said he hopes Hot Sugar can prevent another common edible miscalculation: thinking that something isn’t working because it hasn’t kicked in for an hour. Then you have another one right as the first one takes effect, resulting a double dosage, twice as much relaxation and a big loss of productivity. “People go from feeling nothing to feeling everything all at once,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is get the water solubility to speed up the effect… It’s more predictable in a shorter time.” This known quantity and faster effect can allow consumers to measure and moderate their experience so there’s no bad trip and they’ll have an enjoyable high with no surprises. “It gives you a more consistent product,” said Mooney. “If oil or butter gets too hot, it gets too thin and can run around in a product. Too cold and it coagulates and bunches up in a product, making pockets where it’s too strong and others where there’s no THC.” Hot Sugar breaks down evenly because it is water based, making for a more balanced treat. Users can eat it straight or sprinkle it on your favorite non-edible treat. Hot Sugar also comes in a variety of flavors, including plain, citrus, warm marshmallow, creamy caramel, chocolate, Pomtini, and Blue Raspberry Weed Rita. “We’ve designed some of the flavors so that they can be used in the drinking environment,” said Mooney, who previously managed a large chain of night clubs. While he says he would never encourage people to consume alcohol and cannabis simultaneously, some of the flavors can be used to make some impressive looking “mocktails.” “You can rim the glass with Pomtini or Blue Raspberry Weed Rita,” he said. “In that same type of way you can dip fresh fruit in it and use it for a beautiful garnish. Or sprinkle it right in the drink.” There are also flavors that are only available seasonally. “Now that we’re in fall, we’re talking about pumpkin spice as a popular flavor,” he said. Hot Sugar is proving to be one of Grow Op Farm’s most popular items, according to Mooney, who came up with the idea based on his experience with alcohol distillation while in his nightclub days. “It’s an extract of cannabis,” he said of Hot Sugar. “Very high clarity. We got rid of the unwanted tastes, fat and liquid.” Hot Sugar has also become the chief ingredient for Panda Candies. “Once the sugar is made for the infusion, it is very easy for the candy makers to work with it. There’s no measuring required on their part,” he said. One serving of Hot Sugar contains 10 miligrams of powdered THC and can be picked up at most of the shops that sell the Phat Panda brand.