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With each year that passes, it seems the cannabis industry continues to boom and grow worldwide. And thanks to the recent string of legalisations across different states in the USA, the full legalisation of cannabis in Canada, and several other American nations who have also legalised cannabis, we’ve seen an even broader increase in popularity and consumption.
There are even some states that are now deemed as Cannabis Tourist destinations, similar to Amsterdam.. Hello Colorado!
The legalisation of cannabis has also opened up the market for more in-depth research to be conducted. Information and resources are no longer nearly as limited as they may have been in times gone by, and there are plenty of platforms to discuss findings.
As a result, we’re seeing a much broader and more diverse range of products available, including some really interesting ones.
We are seeing lots of different products entering the market. Some may not be new inventions, but them being available on a mass scale certainly is new to consumers.
Take Live Resin, for example.
Live what?
What is it and how is it made?
If you’re into cannabis, this unique technique used in the industry to create a cannabis concentrate should surely peak your interest.
To produce Live Resin, freshly harvested cannabis is immediately flash-frozen to a subcritical temperature (below freezing), both before and throughout its extraction process, and by doing this the step of drying the plant is skipped entirely. This saves the producer some time, and also creates a different product, called a Live Resin.
Skipping these steps, instead, the cannabis is either placed into a freezer made up of dry ice or dipped into a container of liquid nitrogen. Once completely frozen, the plant material is ready for extraction which needs to happen within 36 hours of the plant thawing.
Next, the plant matter is passed through an extremely cold solvent (it must be -40?) which is then vaporised and evaporated out of the end-product. There are various techniques to this, with the safest being a closed-loop system, not open blasting through a tube.
How to consume it
So how exactly does one use Live Resin, can you just roll one up and smoke it in a joint, no tobacco/mix needed?
Well, not exactly, although you can add it to a joint – we’ll get to that in a second.
The two best consumption methods for flavour delivery when it comes to Live Resin is either dabbing or vaping using a dab pen. Let’s break it down:
Dabbing Live Resin requires a few tools. See our article on getting your dab rig set up here to find out what exactly you need.
Vaping requires a Dab Pen, which is just like an ordinary vape pen, but instead of a vape cartridge, you’ll have a compartment for concentrates – which you’ll place the Live Resin in.
Both these methods offer the user fast-acting effects, taking mere minutes until you feel a difference/ symptom relief. If looking for a discreet option, vaping using a dab pen is a really good option.
Don’t have a dab pen? No worries, some consumers prefer to add a sprinkle of Live Resin to a joint when rolling for additional flavour/high. This will ‘supercharge’ the joint and may even improve flavour, but is not an economical way to consume extract when compared to dabbing.
What makes Live Resin different to other concentrates?
So why not just go out and purchase shatter, wax, dabs or any other cannabis concentrate? What makes Live Resin so special?
For starters, this cannabis product’s terpene and flavonoid profile is going to be higher as none of these gets destroyed or even changed by the usual drying process – remember, it skips this process.
What this means in simple terms is that many more of the volatile constituents that make up the flavour profile of the cannabis plant are preserved, as well as those delicious sticky, icky trichomes.
Live Resin, therefore, holds a notably different fragrance and flavour/taste profile to the same strain extracted with other techniques.
So for all you cannabis-flavour-loving-connoisseurs, I’m sure your taste buds will get a tingling.
So, what’s the difference between a THC distillate and Live Resin for vaping?
Whilst the extraction process focuses more on creating a maximum purified end-product when it comes to THC distillate, Live Resin is more concerned with safeguarding the flavonoids and terpenes within the plant.