【Live Resin】What are the best ways to consume cannabis?
Although relatively new in the cannabis market, live resin is quickly becoming a newfound favorite of dabbers and vapers. It is a highly aromatic concentrate made to preserve the natural flavors and aromas of the cannabis plant better than any other cannabis extract.
Because the extraction process of live resin skips the drying and curing phases of cannabis, it is considered to be a high quality and cheap to make concentrate by many consumers and producers. If you’re intrigued by live resin, its pros, and possible cons, here is a quick guide.
What Is Live Resin?
As its name suggests, live resin is a form of cannabis concentrate made using fresh cannabis flower. Unlike most other cannabis products, which are made using dried and cured buds, the starting plant material used in live resin extraction includes fresh cannabis buds and sugar leaves that haven’t been dried or cured.
Drying and curing cannabis buds can alter their flavor and destroy as much as sixty percent of their natural terpenes. The plant material from which live resin is extracted is flash frozen immediately after harvest. This method retains as much of the plant’s natural terpenes as possible, resulting in a concentrate with a more complex terpene profile than other extracts such as shatter, batter, or wax.
Besides being chock full of the natural flavors and aromas from the original plant, live resin also tends to be loaded with a lot of THC. Hence, it delivers a more enjoyable dabbing or vaping experience that offers unique benefits.
What are the differences between live resin and full/broad spectrum?
Full-spectrum extracts aim to retain as much of the active compounds (cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids) in fresh cannabis plants as possible. Full/broad-spectrum products are sourced from the raw trichomes of the plant, where terpenes and cannabinoids are stored.
Utilizing the resinous trichomes in their raw form retains the whole composition of the plant. This includes all cannabinoids such as THC, CBD, CBN, CBC, CBG, and more. Consuming a full-spectrum product provides the full benefits of the cannabis plant through the synergetic interplay of cannabis compounds.
This mechanism by which cannabis compounds work synergistically to enhance the overall effects of the plant is referred to as the entourage effect.
Live resin is easily distinguished from other types of cannabis concentrates because it is made using freshly harvested cannabis plant material.
The plant is immediately flash frozen after harvest and kept frozen throughout the extraction process. Freezing the plant material immediately after harvest preserves the trichomes and retains their original flavor and aroma, plus the complete cannabinoid and terpene profile. Depending on how it’s extracted, live resin can be considered a full-spectrum extract.
But it’s important to note that some full-spectrum extracts, such as Kief, are made using dried and cured plant material. These products are referred to as full spectrum whole-plant extracts, while those made using fresh, frozen plant material are labeled full-spectrum live resin concentrates.
Pros and cons of live resin
Terpenes are the aromatic compounds that determine a strain’s flavor and aroma. Preserving them provides an enjoyable experience for the medical marijuana user. In addition, when terpenes, flavonoids, cannabinoids, and other cannabis compounds work together, they offer more potent therapeutic benefits. Below are more benefits of live resin:
Highly potent
Live resin is highly potent due to the high THC concentration that can easily go over 90 % THC. This means that a user only needs a small amount of the concentrate to experience its effects.
Has an intense flavor profile
Many cannabis products are made using dried and cured cannabis plants, meaning that most of the plants’ flavor vanishes. Comparably, consumers love the intense flavor profile of live resin. Flash freezing the plant immediately after harvest means that the final product contains the freshest and most potent version of the plant.
Captures a strong aroma
Because live resin maintains the complete and original terpene profile of the cannabis plant, it offers its users a robust and enjoyable aroma.
The cons of live resin
It cannot be made at home
Making live resin requires a lab environment and a highly trained professional because the plant material must be flash-frozen immediately after harvest.
It’s expensive
The complicated process of making live resin results in a highly-priced concentrate compared to other extracts.
Ways to enjoy live resin
Live resin can be consumed in the following ways:
Dabbing
Dabbing is one of the most popular and preferred ways to consume live resin. This method involves preheating the nail with a torch powered by butane.
Because live resin has a goopy consistency, you’ll use a dab tool to place it in the nail. The nail’s temperature is crucial— an extremely hot nail may combust the terpenes and alter the flavor and effects of your live resin.
On the other hand, a cold nail will not vaporize the resin or adequately activate the cannabinoids and terpenes.
Vaping
Live resin can also be vaped using a dab pen. Also called a wax pen, a dab pen is a device similar to a vape pen or a dab rig, except it allows you to inhale concentrates easily.
Topping off
Topping off involves adding live resin on top of your joint, blunt, or bowl to give you that extra kick.
That’s it for this time. Thank you so much for reading.
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References:
https://hightimes.com/grow/what-is-live-resin/
https://hightimes.com/grow/its-alive-the-origins-of-live-resin/
https://www.leafly.com/learn/cannabis-glossary/fresh-frozen
https://weedmaps.com/learn/dictionary/live-resin#is-live-resin-considered-a-full-spectrum-extract
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8984153/