The selection of cannabis extracts available today might be overwhelming. Sugar, jelly, shatter, wax, and a plethora of other things are available. Live resin is one of the concentrates that is now receiving a lot of attention.
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What then is the reason behind this product’s stellar reputation? In short, live resin is a type of cannabis concentrate that is highly prized by enthusiasts because to its superior quality, strong scent, and strength.
Read our explanation to find out more about what makes live resin so special; we’ll go over important details, possible advantages, and more.
What precisely is live resin?
Basically, live resin is a cannabis concentrate made from newly harvested marijuana plants that have been blasted with solvents like butane, propane, or butane hash oil (BHO), flash-frozen (or fresh frozen) to sublevel temperatures, and then pressed.
This concentration is highly prized precisely because of its distinctive extraction method. It permits omission of the drying and curing processes. Instead, shortly after harvesting, the fresh, or “live,” plant is frozen. This explains why certain cannabis products that you might have seen labeled as “live” in the market.
How therefore may this be advantageous to you?
Before it is transformed into the product you see on the shelves of your neighborhood dispensary, the cannabis plant can go through a very wide range of operations. These can involve any number of procedures required to prepare or preserve the finished product, such as trimming, curing, drying, and extraction. Nearly 55% of terpenes and other naturally occurring plant chemicals are often lost during these because the unique terpene profile of marijuana is harmed.
Its terpene profile is kept as near to the genuine fresh plant as possible thanks to the special extraction method used to acquire live resin, which usually results in a stronger scent and flavor.
What role do terpenes play in living resin?
The majority of things, is the response.
Cannabis naturally contains substances called terpenes, which give it its distinct scent. These chemicals are classified into two primary classes in marijuana: sesquiterpenes and monoterpenes.
Lighter and fresher scents are caused by monoterpenes, which are smaller molecules. Terpenes such as myrcene, limonene, terpinolene, and linalool are among them.
Cannabis’s stronger, more fragrant overtones are attributed to sesquiterpenes, which are bigger molecules. Humulene and caryophyllene are two examples of these.
Monoterpene concentrations are greater in new marijuana plants than sesquiterpene concentrations. Due to their smaller size, monoterpenes evaporate first during the curing process, and the finished product’s terpene profile is often higher in sesquiterpenes.
According to High Times, items such as living resin have a fresher scent than those that have undergone curing because they are 2% higher in monoterpenes. “Live resin contains 11% less sesquiterpenes by weight than non-live resin,” the same study states.
Live resin’s beginnings
Kind Bill Fenger and Giddy Up Emo are credited with producing the first batch of living resin in 2013. Although dabbing, waxes, flavored edibles, cannabis oil, and live resin carts are relatively new, hemp has a long history.[Reference]
To provide some background, Fenger was the first legal cannabis farmer in Colorado and he happened to adore the scent of marijuana. Kind Bill is considered a kind of cannabis hero. The terpenes of the marijuana plant give it a very unique flavor.
The sticky resin glands called trichomes, which cover almost the whole plant, are home to terpenes. All plants, including lemon, pine, and mint, have a pleasant perfume that comes from these fragrant chemicals.
Researchers at the University of Mississippi have shown that the drying and curing processes cause cannabis to lose over half of its terpene concentration. Kind Bill thought this was a waste, so he and Giddy Up, the creator of EmoTek Labs, collaborated to develop an alternative extraction method.
How is living resin produced?
It makes sense why live resin is sometimes described as “terpy.” Significant quantities of THC are present along with the stronger smells of sesquiterpenes and the crisp scents of monoterpenes seen in live resin.
Making living resin is a difficult process, and doing it at home is not advised. It calls for certain tools and a thorough comprehension of the procedure.
In summary, it is advisable to leave the creation of living resin to the experts.
Growers have been harvesting cannabis buds and other plant material for generations, separating it, letting it dry for up to 10 days, and then curing it. During the curing process, delicacies like as smokeable flowers and many oil extracts are created.
Hashing used to be the closest thing one could easily get to real resin. Kind Bill was also an expert hash creator. He would heat and press the terpene-rich trichomes that he had separated and collected from the dried cannabis into a compressed hash.
Things get a little tricky at this point. The trichomes contain terpenes, correct? Because terpenes are so volatile, a lot of them evaporate when plants are hung and allowed to dry. You must extract the trichomes from the plant without jeopardizing the terpenes if you want to produce living resin.
benevolent Bill used recently picked cannabis and froze it at a temperature below freezing. He extracted the advantageous cannabinoids from the trichomes of a “live” flower using butane or BHO as a solvent. What was the outcome? A very fresh concentration that experts in live resin refer to as “liquid gold.”
Fortunately, Kind Bill was caught up by technology. In order to stop cannabis from evaporating, growers now freeze their crop using dry ice or liquid nitrogen. To liberate living resin, extractors heat butane, BHO, or other hydrocarbon solvents and apply pressure using specialized lab equipment.