What is Live Resin – Extractions Explained

28 Aug 2023
resin

What is Live Resin? 

With all the new cannabis concentrates available on the market, it can be hard to figure out what is what. Whether you’ve never heard of live resin or smoke it but want to learn more, you’re in the right place!

The popularity of this modern high terpene full-spectrum extract (HTFSE) is only growing, and those who have tried live resin understand why! The flavor, smoking experience, and quality of these concentrates.

Why is this product so unique? The answer lies in the fact that the term ‘live’ means fresh cannabis buds are used instead of dried and cured buds. Furthermore, this fresh bud is flash-frozen to preserve the precise profile of that bud. 

You won’t find any other product that provides such a true and accurate experience of perfectly ripe and fresh weed.

Keep on reading to find out the difference between live resin vs shatter, how to make live resins, and take a look at its unique terpene profile.

What is Live Resin?

As a long-time consumer of cannabis, you may use ‘resin’ to describe the sticky burnt resin that is leftover in pipes, bowls, and bongs. The term has also been used to describe the fine dusting of crystals found on buds. 

Neither of these definitions applies here, as this term defines a type of concentrate, like rosin or shatter.

Resin can also describe the cannabis plant’s trichomes, which produce this cannabinoid and terpene-filled substance. Also known as kief, you can find all the valuable therapeutic and recreational compounds such as cannabinoids, terpenes and flavanoids all contained within. 

Today, however, we won’t be talking about this fine dusting of THC, we’ll be talking about “live” resin.

Don’t be fooled – this substance isn’t actually living. This resin is ‘live’ because it does not go through a dry or cure process. If dried bud is like dried fruit, then live resin is like freshly frozen fruit. Yet, the product is not sold in that form. 

These frozen cannabis buds are then put through an extraction process to remove the plant matter and to create a final product with cannabinoids and terpenes only.

After a grower obtains their fresh buds, they bypass the drying and curing process. Instead, the fresh plant material from the cannabis plant is flash-frozen. This involves using extremely low temperatures to rapidly freeze the plant matter while maintaining the same terpene profile and cannabinoid content.

What Makes it so Special?

There are several key features that make live resin so special. By now, you already know most of them, but we’ll discuss them in more detail now. 

For example, you have already know that the difference between live resin and other concentrates is the use of fresh-frozen cannabis buds. 

By avoiding the drying and curing stages, this method is said to produce the most accurate representation of the perfectly ripe cannabis flower.

Live Resin

Another incredible result of this process is the terpene content of this concentrate. The low-heat extraction method maintains the full chemical profile of the frozen buds. In fact, the entire terpene profile, along with the cannabinoids, are extracted to create live resin. 

This makes for a full-spectrum product with a nearly unbeatable terpene profile.

We should note that with live resin, the starting plant material is essential to the final product. 

To be fair, this could be said of nearly all cannabis concentrates. But, due to the features of live resin discussed, you can probably see how the original cannabis plant would be far more important here than with distillate products. 

As this extraction process creates a nearly identical product to the cannabis plant itself, picking the right plant is critical. This means that when you’re buying live resin, pay close attention to the cannabis plant strain used.

Unlike with other weed products, no drying and curing process are used to make Live Resin. When people first try live resin, most are blown away by the amazing combination of cannabinoids and terpene profile.

Combining all these features make for a potent, aromatic, and flavorful cannabis concentrate unlike any other. This modern creation requires advanced technology and a complex extraction process, but live resin is so worth it. 

Try some out for yourself if you don’t believe us.

Shatter vs Live Resin – What’s the Difference? 

When exploring the different cannabis concentrates, gaining an understanding of the process helps to explain the product itself. We have already learned much about live resin, but now it is time to compare it to another, concentrate on the market, shatter.

For those who don’t know, shatter is often grouped together with wax and budder. All these products are similar to live resins in the sense that they involve solvent-based extraction. 

Essentially, at early stages, all of these products go through similar processes, often labeled as Butane Hash Oil (BHO).

Where live resin stands out from the rest of these concentrates is the starting material. Out of these extractions, live resin is the only one that started with fresh-frozen cannabis buds. 

Other differences between these products include the number of terpenes and cannabinoids packed inside. Often, these products will be isolated, focusing on one cannabinoid like THC and CBD, or full-spectrum, trying to capture the entire chemical profile of bud.

High Voltage – HTFSE Sauce

For example, HTFSE sauce from High Voltage Extracts preserves all available terpenes maintained from harvest to vaporization. During the extraction process, the live plants are frozen, and as a result of this extraction, a sauce of small THC-A crystals and terpenes is made. 

While many products are full-spectrum, live resin still stands out from the pack due to the fresh bud starting material.

You may be wondering if any other concentrates are made with fresh-frozen buds?

The answer is yes! There is also live rosin, which is worth exploring (note the ROSIN versus RESIN). Live rosin is also made from frozen buds. 

But there are some differences beyond that. 

First, live rosin is made using a solventless extraction method that requires a mechanical press. Second, frozen buds contain too much moisture to be pressed this way, and so, bubble hash is made first from the frozen buds before making live rosin.

Bubble Hash

Bubble hash is made using ice water, micron bags, and physical shaking. It is known for its brown, somewhat crumbly solid. This type of hash is an excellent addition to a bowl and can also be for dabbing. Your smoking experience will be pure and smooth, with a long-lasting buzz. 

This bubble hash is then pressed to create live rosin, but it’s important to note that only bubble hash that has been made with freshly frozen, ”live” flowers can be made into live rosin. 

Live Resin – Now You Know Why It’s Special

By now, you should have a solid idea around what makes live resin so special. Made from the fresh-frozen cannabis buds and processed with keeping the full cannabinoid and terpene profile, this concentrate is a special star on the cannabis market. 

Smoking live resins is an amazing experience that all stoners must try. You may just find yourself unable to go back to regular flowers after inhaling this potent and aromatic concentrate. 

Also, this concentrate can help you develop a fresh appreciation of the cannabis plant. With live resins, you’ll get the most accurate representation of fresh buds possible today.

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