CBD Live Resin
Everything You Need To Know About CBD Live Resin
CBD live resins are becoming a popular choice for consumers looking for a quality form of CBD. Compared to other CBD products and forms for resins, they are fairly new. What makes them special is how they preserve the flavors and aromas of the original plant. Making them a higher quality product that is also easier and cheaper to make compared to other extractions.
What is a live resin?
A live resin is a form of cannabis concentrate. These concentrates are generally called or referred to by their texture, or their consistency. This is how you end up with names like dab, wax, etc. For a live resin, it’s more malleable, so it’s not as hard as wax, but not as runny as a sauce. Live resins can range from dark yellow to white in color, depending on their age. The fresher they are, the closer they will be to that dark yellow color. Live resins come in all kinds of forms; waxes shatters, dabs, and preloaded vape pens and cartridges.
What is a live resin?
What makes live resins special from other cannabis concentrates is the way they are made. They are made with cannabis plants that have been freshly frozen from harvesting. Keeping them frozen skips all of the regular work of drying, curing, and trimming. The reason why they are kept frozen is to preserve the terpenes, which contain the plant’s flavor and aroma compounds. Terpenes are in the trichomes, which are generally damaged and degraded by the usual methods of harvesting and processing cannabis plants. Freezing preserves the trichomes, which keeps their terpene profile, flavor, and aromas to the final product.
The frozen plants will be put through a process that uses solvents for extraction. These solvents can include butane, propane, or another type of solvent. Specialized machines like an OBE-Dos unit work with a closed-loop system of cooled butane that makes it perfect for resin from a live plant. Once the resin has been extracted, it will be heated in a vacuum over, then packed in containers or put into cartridges for vapes.
How are live resins made?
What makes live resins special from other cannabis concentrates is the way they are made. They are made with cannabis plants that have been freshly frozen from harvesting. Keeping them frozen skips all of the regular work of drying, curing, and trimming. The reason why they are kept frozen is to preserve the cannabis terpenes, which contain the plant’s flavor and aroma compounds. Terpenes are in the trichomes, which are generally damaged and degraded by the usual methods of harvesting and processing cannabis plants. Freezing preserves the trichomes, which keeps their terpene profile, flavor, and aromas to the final product.
The frozen plants will be put through a process that uses solvents for extraction. These solvents can include butane, propane, or another type of solvent. Specialized machines like an OBE-Dos unit work with a closed-loop system of cooled butane that makes it perfect for resin from a live plant. Once the resin has been extracted, it will be heated in a vacuum over, then packed in containers or put into cartridges for vapes.
Are there live extracts from hemp?
Yes, while the original push for live resin came from recreational marijuana users looking for higher THC strains, you can find live resin extracts that are made from high-CBD hemp strains. Hemp plants also have terpenes like marijuana, although they carry the benefits that hemp provides, with CBD and terpenes being the most prevalent. Not only that, but consumers will also get a better taste of the flavor profile through the live resin. Eating vs Smoking THC Article
What are the benefits of live resins?
Their higher Terpene Profile
Live resin extracts are amazing for getting a rich volume of terpenes. Compared to other methods of extraction, terpenes will end up evaporating because of harvesting, drying, and processing. This only leaves about 5% left of the original terpene profile. Live resin extracts can contain up to 90% of the original amount of terpenes in the plant. This is all down to the cooler temperatures helping preserve the terpenes.
Possibly higher concentrations of CBD
The CBD profile of live resins also benefits from the process. The harvesting and processing of the plant will also cause CBD (cannabidiol) to break down into another cannabinoid which is CBN (cannabinol). This can be less ideal for some as CBN gives that sedative-like effect, which tends to make you lazy. Not only that, there’s less CBD which makes the final product less effective.
They force producers to use quality plants
With a product as fresh as live resin, its quality will depend on the quality of the plants. Just like cooking, the dish is just as good as the ingredients. The way that live resins preserve the original quality of the plant will make it easier for someone to find out if the plants were low quality from the start. These forces produce to work with quality plants when creating live resins, as their terpenes and CBD contents will be carried over to the final product. So you’ll be at better odds of getting a quality product if you’re choosing live resin. As they can’t use lower quality plants.
How is live resin used?
There are different ways of consuming live resin. Dabbing is the most popular way to consume live resin, where you’ll need a dab rig, torch, or some sort of nail and dab tool. Some choose to put live resin in a dab pen or cart and vape it. Others can choose to just put some live resin on top of a bowl, joint, or blunt. Live resin should be stored in a cool, air-tight container. Fridges are ideal as they keep the terpenes in the live resin from degrading.
How are live resins compared to other products?
When you look at the CBD products out in the market, they are made with either CBD isolates or broad-spectrum extract. These products work well, although a third-party lab assessment will be what determines their quality. Full-spectrum extracts do preserve some of the terpene profile of the plant. What makes them lack in comparison to living resins is their use of dried plants. They won’t match live resins in terms of taste and aroma, and it will be hard to tell if the starting material was good or not.
Conclusion
Live resins aim to give you the freshest CBD product you can consume. With its specific method of extraction that focuses on preserving the terpene profile of the source plant. You’ll be sure to enjoy the quality terpene profile and CBD concentration that you won’t find in other products.