What is Live Resin, How is It Made, and How Do You Smoke It?

What is Live Resin?

Live resin is a type of cannabis concentrate celebrated for its high terpene content and potent aroma and flavor. This premium concentrate is made from fresh cannabis flowers that are frozen immediately after harvesting, preserving the plant's original flavor profile and potency. The result is a product that offers an enhanced, more authentic cannabis experience.

How is Live Resin Made?

The process of making live resin involves flash-freezing the cannabis plant immediately after harvesting, and then using solvent-based extraction methods, typically butane or propane. This method preserves the myriad of terpenes and cannabinoids present in the fresh plant. The extraction is followed by a careful purging process to remove the solvent while retaining the delicate terpenes and flavonoids that contribute to its unique properties.

What Does Flash Frozen (or Fresh Frozen) Mean?

Flash freezing, also known as fresh freezing, is a crucial process in the production of live resin. According to Leafly, this technique involves rapidly freezing freshly harvested cannabis before the extraction process begins. This method preserves the plant's rich array of cannabinoids and terpenes, preventing the degradation that typically occurs during drying and curing. The flash freezing process is fundamental in maintaining the original aroma, flavor, and potency of the cannabis plant, leading to a final product that is as close to the natural essence of the living plant as possible: live resin. This method sets live resin apart from other concentrates, ensuring a terpene-rich and flavorful experience.

What Does Live Resin Look Like?

Live resin can vary in consistency, from a sappy, oil-like substance to a more solid, buttery texture. Its color ranges from light golden to a deeper amber. The distinctive feature of live resin is its glossy, wet look, which hints at its freshness and potency. One thing to also note is that live resin will look a bit different between the live resin product types.

Types of Live Resin Products

Live resin can come in a variety of product types that fit your lifestyle and preference. When looking at live resin products, you can expect to find the following:

Live Resin Badder/Budder, Crumble, & Sugar

Live resin badder or budder, crumble, and sugar are all derivatives of live resin that vary in texture and consistency. Badder and budder feature a creamy, whipped texture, crumble adopts a drier, more fragmented form, and sugar resembles wet, granulated crystals, all maintaining the high terpene content and potent flavors characteristic of live resin.

Image shown represents live resin badder

Live Resin Vapes & Disposable Pens

Live resin vapes and disposables offer a convenient and discreet way to enjoy the full spectrum of terpenes and cannabinoids found in live resin. These devices are pre-filled with live resin extract, providing users with the rich, authentic flavors and potent effects of fresh cannabis in a portable, easy-to-use format. Ideal for on-the-go consumption, live resin vapes and disposables deliver the essence of the cannabis plant at your fingertips.

Live Resin Sauce

Live resin sauce is celebrated for its high terpene liquid fraction, which often separates from the THCA crystals, creating a product with a syrupy consistency rich in flavor and aroma. This type of live resin offers a harmonious balance between potency and taste, making it a favorite among connoisseurs for its full-bodied cannabis experience.

Live Resin Shatter

Live resin shatter stands out for its translucent, glass-like appearance, similar to traditional shatter but with a higher terpene content due to the flash-frozen starting material. This form retains a potent, aromatic profile that delivers the true essence of the original cannabis plant in a stable, shatterable form.

Live Resin Diamonds

Live resin diamonds are known for their crystalline structure, resembling tiny, shimmering diamonds. These THCA crystals are formed during the extraction process of live resin. The resulting product then undergoes a careful maturation process that allows THCA to precipitate out into solid formations.

Live Resin vs. Other Concentrates: What's the Difference?

Live resin distinguishes itself from other cannabis concentrates primarily through its exceptional preservation of the plant's original terpene profile and cannabinoids, achieved by using fresh, flash-frozen cannabis as the starting material. While other concentrates like shatter, wax, and distillate focus on THC or CBD potency, live resin captures a broader spectrum of the plant's compounds, offering a more complex aroma and flavor.

Live Resin vs. Rosin

Rosin is made without solvents by applying heat and pressure to cannabis material. In contrast, live resin is solvent-extracted (aka BHO) from fresh, frozen plants, resulting in higher terpene preservation.

Live Resin vs. Cured Resin

While live resin uses fresh, frozen cannabis, cured resin comes from dried and cured buds. This difference in starting material leads to a more robust terpene profile in live resin versus cured resin.

Live Resin vs. Distillate

Distillate focuses on purifying and isolating cannabinoids, often at the expense of terpenes and other compounds, whereas live resin maintains the full spectrum of the plant's original chemical profile.

How Do Terpenes Play A Role in Live Resin?

Terpenes are responsible for the aroma and flavor of cannabis. In live resin, the preservation of terpenes due to the flash-freezing process results in a concentrate that offers a more intense and diverse sensory experience, closely mirroring the original plant’s profile. The preservation of terpenes and the robust terpene profile's that live resin concentrates boast are what separates them from traditional cannabis concentrates.

How To Smoke Live Resin

Smoking live resin can be done through various methods, with the most popular methods being dabbing from a rig or vaping live resin using a THC vape or disposable pen.

Tools Needed to Dab Live Resin

To enjoy live resin using a dab rig, you'll need the rig itself, a nail/banger, a butane torch, a carb cap, and a dab tool. You'll then use the torch to heat the nail, let the nail cool to your desired temperature, and use the dab tool to drop the dab into the nail while capping with the carb cap.

Best Temperature to Dab Live Resin

Dabbing live resin at lower temperatures, around 315°F to 400°F, maximizes terpene profiles and flavors without burning the concentrate. While dabbing temperatures can be based on user preference, it's important to note that burning live resin too hot can degrade the terpenes and lead to a burnt, harsh hit.

Other Ways to Smoke Live Resin

If using a traditional dab rig isn't your preference, there are plenty of other options users can opt for when smoking live resin concentrates.

Vape Pen

Like mentioned previously, THC vapes and disposable live resin pens offer convenient and discreet on-the-go use. Additionally, vape pens designed for concentrates can efficiently vaporize live resin at the desired temperature.

E-rig/E-nail

E-rigs and e-nails offer users the ability to customize the heat setting while maintaining that level of heat for a steady, flavorful dab. Puffcos and Cartas are among some of the more popular e-rigs users tend to prefer.

Nectar Collector

A nectar collector serves as a simple, portable option for consuming live resin directly from the container.

Frequently Asked Questions About Live Resin

What is special about live resin?

Live resin stands out due to its preservation of terpenes and cannabinoids, ensuring a potent, flavorful, and aromatic product that closely mirrors the live cannabis plant.

Why do users like live resin? 

Users favor live resin for its superior taste, smell, and the full-bodied effects provided by the rich terpene and cannabinoid content.

Where did live resin originate from?

In the development of live resin, the pioneering work was carried out by a group that included Kind Bill and Giddy Up, who are credited with refining the flash-freezing technique pivotal to producing live resin. This innovation occurred around 2011 as they sought to preserve the full terpene profile of the cannabis plant, which they achieved by using freshly harvested, flash-frozen material for extraction. Their efforts were fundamental in creating the live resin concentrates known today for their potent flavor and aroma.

Purchasing Live Resin

For those looking to explore or purchase live resin, Zen Leaf offer a variety of quality live resin products along with guidance from our expert cannabis advisors. Visit a Zen Leaf dispensary near you to discover the distinctive flavors and effects that live resin has to offer.