What is live resin?

Increasingly, the cannabis world is confusing. There are a million different ways to consume THC, CBD, and related cannabis products — and there are new terms to learn and products on the market every day. So, what is live resin? Worry not, young grasshopper, we're here to ease your confusion.

Live resin is fairly new on the cannabis market, and it has quickly become popular for its superior flavors and aromas due to its production method. Let's take a deeper look.

What Is Live Resin?

Live resin is a form of cannabis concentrate known for its high-caliber freshness, aroma, and flavor. The texture of live resin is generally sticky and malleable, without being too runny, or, alternatively, being hard or brittle — you will certainly want a dab tool to handle live resin. Generally, live resin is an amber color, and customers love it for its potency.

How Is Live Resin Made?

Have you ever heard that frozen vegetables can sometimes be better for you because they are frozen right after harvesting, thereby maintaining peak nutrients? Well, that's pretty much what's going on with live resin. Live resin is made from cannabis plants that are flash-frozen immediately after harvesting.

While most cannabis extracts are made from dried and cured plant material, live resin's technique of flash-freezing gives the product a distinctly exceptional aroma and flavor consistent with the original cannabis plant. Because the process skips the typical drying, curing, and trimming steps of other extracts' production, live resin retains much, if not most or all, of a cannabis plant's terpene profile — thereby preserving the original flavor and fragrance.

After freezing, frozen plants are put through a solvent extraction process to create the final live resin product.

Benefits of Live Resin

Smokers enjoy live resin, as said before, because of its superior quality in regards to flavors and aromas. Live resin is described as being "terpy," since the extract retains the terpene profile of the original cannabis plant, producing the potent flavors. Flavor isn't all that's potent in live resin, though; the extraction process also retains more of the plant's cannabinoids, resulting in a more overall potent product.

Producers of live resin also reap its benefits! After flash-freezing, producers of live resin do not have to go through the arduous tasks of drying, curing, and trimming pounds of bud that other extraction processes require. Simply chopping down their plants and freezing them saves uncountable time, labor, and money.

Is Live Resin Full-Spectrum?

Well, maybe. "Full-spectrum" describes an extract that maintains the exact cannabinoid and terpene profile of the original cannabis plant. So, depending on the extraction, a live resin product may or may not be full-spectrum. Alternatively, there are many full-spectrum products that are not live resin. Read your labels, folks — and talk with the staff at your local Mr. Nice Guys to ensure you know your product.

How to Consume Live Resin

Live resin can be consumed by smoking with a manual dab rig or an electronic dab pen. You can also top off a bowl, joint, or blunt with a but of live resin for an extra kick — just remember how sticky it is!

That being said, remember that one of the best parts of live resin is its fantastic flavor and aroma — which are best enjoyed at low temperatures; higher temperatures can ruin some of these flavors. So, remember to watch your heat (if using electric, set your temp low!), pull slowly, and enjoy the fullness of live resin extract.

How to Store Live Resin

Storing your live resin in a silicone container will make your life 1000% easier — trust us, this stuff sticks. And to keep your live resin as tasty as when you bought it, its recommended that you store it in a cool, dry, and dark place — your fridge is a perfect spot. This will ensure that your live resin keeps its quality and consistency until you use it.