Live resin has become a favorite among cannabis customers and manufacturers. People choose it over other hash oils because it is strong and often more “terpy.” In addition, it smells and tastes better because it has a better terpene profile.
Manufacturers like it because they do not have to trim and cure the cannabis plant before getting the live resin out. Let’s talk about what live resin is, how it is made, and how it differs from other cannabis concentrates.
What is Live Resin?
Live resin is a potent cannabis concentrate made by flash-freezing freshly picked cannabis plants. These cannabis plants are frozen right away instead of being dried first. This helps to keep the terpenes and other compounds inside the plant from breaking down.
Since the plants were not cured, the finished product had the right amount of terpenes, which made it smell and taste great. Live resin is made by extracting cannabinoids from fresh cannabis plant material. This keeps most active compounds, especially terpenes and flavonoids, that would otherwise break down or degrade during the curing process.
What Does Live Resin Look Like?
The raw materials used to make live resin can change the consistency of the finished product. Live resin can be sticky and mushy or thin and runny. The amount and type of terpenes in living resin determine how it feels and how it stays together.
The strain of freshly harvested cannabis partly causes the golden color of the cannabis concentrate. Live resin is easy to shape. It can be ground up into crumbs, molded into wax, or whipped into butter.
History of Live Resin
Live resin was first made in Colorado in 2013 and quickly became a popular full-spectrum cannabis extract. People say that William “Kind Bill” Fenger and Jason “Giddy Up” Emo made the first batch of live resin in 2013.
Researchers found that when cannabis is dried and cured, more than half of the terpenes in the plant are lost. Kind Bill thought this was a waste of resources, so he and Giddy Up, who started EmoTek Labs, worked together to devise a different extraction process to get the natural plant compounds out.
Kind Bill, who made live resin, came up with the name because the finished product smells like a living flower. Do you want to know more about live resin? Check out everything you need to know about live resin here.
How Is Live Resin Made?
To start making live resin, buds are picked and frozen as quickly as possible after being picked. The primary cooling agent is liquid nitrogen, also called dry ice. After that, cryoprotectants are added to keep the terpenes and other natural plant compounds safe and ready for storage in a cryogenic environment.
Plants must be frozen as quickly as possible to limit the damage the freezing process could cause. Ice crystals form and break apart plant cells on the surface when the freezing process is slow. This includes the resinoid glands, which store cannabinoids and terpenes. This, in turn, throws off the osmotic balance of the area’s cells, leading to more crystallization, further dehydration, and more damage.
On the other hand, when plant matter freezes quickly, the number of ice crystals is significantly reduced. This helps to keep the cannabinoid and terpene profiles of the plant material intact at the molecular level.
After that, the frozen plant material is kept at cryogenic temperatures throughout the extraction process. Next, the plant parts are put into an extractor with butane, supercritical carbon dioxide, or another solvent. The process is repeated until the cannabinoids and terpenes have been removed from the plant.
The oil that is left is then heated to make any leftover solvent evaporate. Finally, emulsifiers and agents are added to the resulting mixture to achieve the desired consistency.
Types of Live Resin Products
- Live Resin Vape Cartridges: You can use live resin carts in vape pens. Inside is a battery that heats the cartridge so the cured resin can be vaporized.
- Live Resin Dab Pens: With a dab pen, you have complete control over the temperature, and you can heat any cannabis concentrate you want, such as oil, wax, crumbles, and more.
- Live Resin Sauce: Live resin sauce has a sticky and liquid consistency.
- Live Resin Butter, Badders, Crumbles, and Sugar: These are cannabis concentrates with varying appearances and textures. Most of the time, the effect has the same strength for the users. But people might prefer one over the other depending on how easy it is to heat up, how consistent it is, or how easy it is to get.
- Live Resin Shatter: Shatter is a concentrated form of cannabis, but it is very rare to find live resin shatter. Because the terpenes in live resin are like liquid, it is hard to heat it to the point where it becomes hard and brittle shatter without burning many active terpenes.
How Does Live Resin Differ From Other Concentrates?
Most cannabis concentrates come from cannabis plants that have been dried and cured. During the drying process, the cannabis plant is exposed to heat and loses water. These things can make the trichomes less effective or even make them fall off the plant. Moreover, most of the terpenes are lost.
On the other hand, live resin is made by skipping the steps of drying and curing cannabis. Instead, growers and manufacturers of live resin can keep all the terpenes in the plant by freezing it as soon as it is harvested. The result is something that smells better and more potent.
Is the Live Resin Extraction Process Better Than Other Ways of Extracting?
No one cannabis concentrate is better than the others. However, the methods used to grow and extract the cannabis could lead to different levels of quality. For example, consumers often prefer live resin because it has a higher concentration of terpenes.
The traditional drying and curing processes cut down the number of terpenes in the cannabis extracts. Terpenes can be broken down when high temperatures and pressures are used in some extraction methods. Researchers think that terpenes, which are found in cannabis, could make the medical effects of cannabinoids even better.
How to Properly Use Live Resin
When people buy concentrates, they see live resin in several colors and shapes. The live resin extract can look different and have various chemical makeup depending on the cannabis strain, how it was grown, and how it was extracted. Live resin has more terpenes than other concentrate types, making it more watery.
Live resin has a texture similar to sap, sugar, sauce, or budder. It can be used with vape pens and dab rigs. Dabbing is done by putting a “dab” of concentrate on a hot glass nail or ceramic bowl. People who dab live resin can use a spoon-shaped dabber to move the dab from the container and into their nail or bowl. Dabbers can keep the temperature of their nails consistent by preheating them with a torch or using an electronic nail.
Most of the time, the live resin has more terpenes than extracted resin, so dabbing is best done at lower temperatures. The high heat could burn the product’s terpenes, making it smell less good. Keeping the temperature between 300 and 400° F is recommended to vaporize live resin terpenes and enjoy more of the product’s flavor.
In addition, you can put live resin in the vape pen’s bowl to make it easier to dab at various temperatures. You can also buy live resin cartridges, making the device easier to carry around. Not only do the strong smells of live resin concentrates stand out, but they also have the same amount of cannabinoids as traditional concentrates and are just as strong.
Conclusion
Cannabinoids and terpenes are both chemicals that break down quickly when exposed to heat and light. When the harvested plants are frozen right away, the cannabinoids and terpenes are preserved.
Live resin keeps all of the essential parts of cannabis that make it more enjoyable to use, leading to the best smell and taste. Because terpenes are so crucial to how we experience cannabis, using live resin makes sure that you won’t miss out on any of your favorite strains’ unique smells and potential benefits. Tribe Tokes offers the highest quality cannabis products, such as CBD and Delta 8 THC. Make sure you also check out the Tribe Tokes Affiliate Program if you want up to 15% commission for every product purchased through your referral code.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cannabis concentrates come in many forms, with live resin and wax being two popular options. However, they are not the same, as the production method and resulting properties are different. Live resin is created using freshly frozen cannabis plants. The process includes flash freezing the plant material right after harvest and extracting the resin using a solvent such as butane. This results in a highly potent and flavorful concentrate rich in terpenes.
On the other hand, wax is made from dried and cured buds. The resulting concentrate is less flavorful than live resin but still highly potent.
A significant difference between live resin and wax is that live resin preserves the terpenes present in fresh plants. On the other hand, terpenes are often lost during the drying and curing process for wax. Thus, live resin is known for having a more complex and nuanced flavor profile than wax.
Yes, it is possible to get high from live resin. Live resin boasts high THC levels, often reaching above 90%. This is due to the presence of trichomes, the small glandular structures on the surface of the cannabis plant that contain the majority of the plant’s psychoactive compounds.
The high THC content implies that consuming live resin can lead to a strong and intense high. However, it is essential to remember that the effects of live resin can vary based on the individual and the specific strain of cannabis used to make the live resin.
Additionally, live resin contains terpenes, which can impact the high’s effects and add to the product’s flavor and aroma. Thus, it is recommended to start with a small dose and wait for the effects to occur before consuming more.
The production of live resin dabs requires a specific method involving using fresh, frozen cannabis plants. The process includes several steps: harvesting, freezing, and extraction.
The cannabis plants are picked at their prime and immediately frozen to maintain the terpenes and cannabinoids that contribute to the plant’s taste, fragrance, and effects. In addition, freezing the plant material preserves a more significant amount of terpenes, which are responsible for cannabis’s distinct scents and flavors.
Then, the frozen cannabis plants are placed in a closed-loop extraction system where a solvent, such as butane, is used to extract the resin from the plant material. Finally, the butane is evaporated, leaving behind the resin, a highly potent and flavorful concentrate.
It is essential to note that creating live resin dabs requires specialized equipment and knowledge. It is also not recommended for individuals to make live resin dabs at home. It is vital to ensure that the product is safe for consumption, and you should only purchase from a reputable and regulated source.
Many cannabis enthusiasts believe live resin to be a more natural form of concentrate when compared to others. This is because live resin is made using fresh, frozen cannabis plants rather than dried and cured plants.
The flash-freezing process preserves a more significant amount of the plant’s terpenes. As a result, live resin often has a more distinct and natural taste and aroma. Additionally, making live resin typically involves using solvents like butane, which are then purged out of the final product, making it safer for consumption.
It is crucial to note that making live resin requires specialized equipment and knowledge. Thus, making your own live resin at home is not recommended.