There are numerous medicinal and recreational cannabis products on the market today. Concentrates are gaining popularity, including a unique one known as live resin. Just what is live resin, and what makes it different? Here’s what you need to know.
What Is Live Resin and Why Do People Love It?
Live resin is a type of cannabis concentrate. It gets its name from the fact that it’s extracted from fresh plant material, instead of dried and cured buds. Extractors only use the buds and sugar leaves, leaving out the larger leaves and stems. The goal is to preserve the most desirable compounds in the plant, creating a high-quality product.
They come in a variety of viscosities, the most common being:
- Sap
- Jelly
- Butter
- Shatter
The terpene profiles of the various strains of cannabis play a significant role in the viscosity of live resins. Mechanical post-extraction processes can change the form of the live resin as well, such as whipping a sap or jelly into a butter.
The Process of Making Live Resin
The first step to making a live resin is flash-freezing fresh cannabis flowers immediately after harvest. The process also requires the use of a solvent chilled to -40 degrees Fahrenheit, which passes over the plant material to create a solution. Finally, extractors apply a little heat to evaporate the solvent and separate it from the concentrate.
While it may be tempting to make your live resin, the process should only be done by professionals. Extraction requires special equipment and safety measures, as well as precision and accuracy.
Why Fresh Cannabis?
Where other concentrates require dried and cured buds, live resin requires fresh. Using fresh flowers and keeping everything chilled helps to preserve the terpenes, including more delicate ones that may be destroyed by heat. As a result, the concentrate retains more of the chemical profile of the live plant.
Ways to Use Live Resin
One of the most common ways to use live resin is by dabbing. The process involves using a special type of water pipe known as a dab rig. After heating the nail of the dab rig to a temperature of between 315 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit, you apply a very small amount of resin to the surface. A vapor forms and moves into the rig, which you inhale through the mouthpiece.
You can also vape live resin, as well as sprinkle a small amount over flower packed in a bowl or joint. No matter how you choose to enjoy it, keep in mind that you only need a very small amount. Live resin is a concentrate, and therefore extremely potent.
How to Store It
Live resin is a fragile product. Proper storage is essential for maintaining its freshness, potency, flavor, and quality. Heat, light, open-air, and moisture can all promote the degradation of your product, which affects its taste, texture, and color. Ideally, you should store your live resin in an airtight, lightproof container in the refrigerator or a cool room in your home.
Like other cannabis products, live resin should only be purchased from a licensed dispensary, which helps to ensure that you get a safe, high-quality product. If you’re interested in trying it out for yourself, speak with one of your budtenders for recommendations.