Cannabis 101: Live Resin
Live Resin is an exciting development in the cannabis extraction world. This new technique preserves the strain specific essences of flower within the cannabis oil more effectively than any other method. In this post, we will examine the components of Live Resin, and compare and contrast it to some other High Terpene Extract, or HTE, types.
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Live Resin’s unique quality comes from two key criteria: Fresh Frozen Cannabis & Full Spectrum Extraction.
Live Resin Key Criteria 1: Fresh Frozen Cannabis
First, while cannabis is traditionally dried and cured prior to extraction, Live Resin requires cannabis that is fresh frozen directly after harvest. This helps to preserve the full array of compounds within the living cannabis plant, hence the “Live” part of Live Resin. More simply, it captures the freshness of the cannabis plant at its peak.
Live Resin Key Criteria 2: Full Spectrum Extraction
Second, the cannabis must undergo a low temperature BHO full spectrum extraction. Many of the compounds of the flower deteriorate under high temperatures, so this method preserves those compounds with a lower extraction temperature than those found in traditional methods.
The Result: Fresh Flower Flavor, Aroma, & Effects
These two key criteria result in a cannabis concentrate that preserves the full essence of the plant at its most fresh. In other words, the Live Resin oil in your cartridge or dab rig has flavor, aroma, and effects that could make you swear you’re smoking fresh flower.
Glossary
Because of these factors, Live Resin has become a major product trend. With this trend, a surge of new products & terminology are appearing on cannabis store shelves. Here is our understanding of the different terms associated with Live Resin.
Live Resin A high terpene extract produced from fresh frozen cannabis. Also referred to as Sauce, Terp Sauce, Terp Layer, or Holy Water.
Live Resin Hybrid Live Resin blended with distillate. Live Resin Hybrids aim to provide the best of both worlds: the taste and flower essence of Live Resin with the potency of Distillate. May also be referred to as Live Resin Blend or Live Resin +.
Full Spectrum Extract - A cannabis extract that aims to preserve the complex range of compounds within the raw cannabis plant. These compounds include cannabinoids like CBD and THC, terpenes like Pinene and Linalool, and the fats, waxes, lipids, flavonoids, and other compounds that make up the cannabis plant. This is in contrast to distillate, an extract which targets single cannabinoids like THC at large percentages, resulting in a potent, yet somewhat bland, extraction of cannabis.
High Terpene Extract, or HTE
A product that prioritizes high percentages of terpenes, usually ranging from 8-20%. Live Resin is a High Terpene Extract, but not all High Terpene Extract is Live Resin. Full Spectrum extracts of dried and cured cannabis, solventless rosin sauce, and distillates with re-introduced cannabis terpenes can also fit within the High Terpene Extract family, but only fresh frozen cannabis that is full spectrum extracted can truly be called Live Resin.