What Is Live Resin & How Is It Consumed?

High Points

• Live resin is a terpene-rich cannabis concentrate made by flash-freezing fresh flower before extraction, preserving the plant’s natural flavors, aromas, and potency for a full-spectrum experience.
  
  
• It’s a very versatile concentrate, and easy to enjoy! Live resin is great for dabbing, vaping in a cartridge, adding it to a pre-roll, or topping off a bowl.
  
  
• Compared to other concentrates, live resin stands out for its freshness, higher terpene content, and aroma. It’s also typically more expensive due to its complex production process.
  
  

Live resin is a concentrated form of cannabis that uses a flash-frozen extraction method to preserve the cannabinoids and terpenes, creating a versatile, full-spectrum product. Live resin mimics the strain from which it is extracted, including the original aroma, flavor, and overall potency. The finished product is typically sticky and viscous, with an amber-colored hue, suitable for dabbing or vaping. It can also be added to other consumption forms for an enhanced experience.¹

Cannabis resin is one of those concentrates that can be enjoyed in a variety of ways, making it friendly to most cannabis enthusiasts. Here are some of the ways you can smoke live resin:

Dab: To dab live resin, you’ll need a dab rig and torch. Heat your nail (not too hot) and place a small amount of product on it. The live resin will be heated into a vapor that you can consume.

Vape: Live resin can be purchased in a cartridge that is simply attached to a battery, which heats the resin and allows you to inhale the vapor.

Infused Pre-Roll: For cannabis enthusiasts who enjoy pre-rolls, live resin can be added to the end of a pre-roll or along the sides of it, so as the pre-roll is consumed, you get both the effects of the flower and the live resin. You can also purchase infused pre-rolls at most dispensaries.

Add to Pipe: There are two ways to enjoy live resin in a pipe. You can add the live resin directly to a bowl and heat it (though this can get messy compared to a dab rig), or you can add a little bit of live resin on your ground flower in a pipe and consume it that way.

How do you store live resin?

The best way to store live resin is the same way you store your concentrates—keep it out of heat, light, humidity, and open air. This allows your live resin to keep its moist texture while preserving the cannabinoids and terpenes. We recommend using a silicone container because it’s significantly easier to get concentrates out of that versus glass.³

Choosing the right cannabis product for you is hard enough without having to research each individual difference between all of them! Here’s a rundown on how Live resin compares to other types of concentrates.

There’s one big difference between live resin and cured resin (or just resin)—live resin is made from flash-frozen cannabis and cured resin is made from dried, cured marijuana flower. As we’ve learned more and more about terpene science, there are some cannabis connoisseurs who suggest that both live resin and resin offer unique terpene profiles that can and should be enjoyed.

One of the reasons live resin is so loved among cannabis enthusiasts is that it has both terpenes and cannabinoids in it. This ensures a flavorful, scentastic experience. Distillate, however, is typically a concentration of a single cannabinoid—commonly THC. Distillates do not have any flavor or aroma unless terpenes are added back into them.

It can be hard keeping the different resins and rosins straight, but live resin and live rosin are easy to distinguish. Live resin requires solvent-based extraction techniques to be produced, and live rosin is made using solventless extraction.

There’s always more to learn when it comes to live resin. Here are a few frequently asked questions we’re regularly answering:

Why is live resin usually more expensive?

Making live resin is expensive. It requires solvents, state-of-the-art equipment, and a lot of time. These factors all add up to higher costs for cannabis consumers.

Does live resin have more terpenes?

Perhaps. Some research suggests that the drying and curing process can cause the final product to lose up to 55% of its terpenes. Flash freezing the plant right after harvest avoids much of this loss.¹

Is live resin more flavorful than cured resin?

This depends on your personal preference. If you love terpenes, don’t rule out cured resin in favor of live resin, or live resin in favor of cured resin, because you could miss out on a unique terpene experience.

Where did live resin originate from?

A Colorado native, William Fenger, wanted to preserve the rich smells of the marijuana plant that were often lost once the plant was cured. His first experiment involved a flash-frozen leaf and butane hash oil. The result? Live resin.²

Try Live Resin

Live resin is one of the many cannabis products you can find at your favorite dispensary. If you’re not sure where to find it, or if you have the right tools to consume it, talk to one of our cannabis experts. They can answer your questions and help you find the right products for your needs.