Anyone out there heard of a new hemp product type in this industry known as ‘live resin’? There are a lot of things about live resin that make it really stand out compared to more standard types of extractions, and we’re going to cover them all to show you why it’s a must-try.
What are the Origins of Live Resin?
Live resin is relatively new to the hemp scene. Its origins date back to 2011-2013 with just a handful of growers and extractors based out in Colorado. Among them, William Fenger (aka “Kind Bill”) and EmoTek Labs founder “Giddy Up”, set in motion the live resin extraction process. They did so by originating a specialized BHO extractor, which has the ability of maintaining extremely low temperatures required to produce live resin. Together, they were efficient at maintaining the terpenes, flavor, and aroma during the extraction process.
So, What Exactly Then is Live Resin and How Unique is It?
Live resin refers to a process of preserving raw hemp material before it’s run through an extraction process to produce products like gummies, vapes, and tinctures. If you compare live resin-based extract with standard extract, you’ll instantly notice that it’s thicker, darker in color, and more viscous. How? Because it yields a higher level of terpenes and flavonoids that come off of the resinous glands that coat each bud of the hemp plant.
Most hemp products come from raw plant material that has undergone a dry-curing process after cultivation. This is great when you’re trying to make sure that the raw buds “keep” so that they can be smoked or vaporized at a later time. But, if you’re turning that plant material into an extract, then it’s not the ideal method, because it minimizes the impact of the trichomes which maintain higher concentrations of terpenes and flavonoids if left sticky, as they are in nature.
You see, during the processes of drying and curing, moisture and chlorophyll exit the plant. This permits trichomes to exposure of heat, oxygen, and light, all of which can degenerate terpenes. Trichomes also tend to break off a plant as it’s handled and moved around during harvesting.
And, that’s where live resin comes in. Live resin is raw plant material that has been flash-frozen when fresh, rather than dry-cured. Flash-freezing the resin preserves these trichomes exquisitely, allowing us to get more terpene properties as well as terpene flavor. The taste of a live resin product is notably richer and more complex, and fresher, thanks to this unique preservation method. After harvesting, frozen plants are placed through a solvent extraction process that utilizes either butane, propane, or another solvent.
What Types of Benefits Can Live Resin Offer?
As you can see, live resin is a form of cannabis concentrate produced using fresh hemp flower as opposed to dried and cured buds. This method retains the terpenes that are lost during the drying and curing process. Now, let’s talk about the benefits of live resin over other types of extracts.
Benefit #1: Live Resin is More Potent and Flavorful
Live resin is, as we said, more potent. It has much higher levels of the terpenes and flavonoids found in the plant’s trichomes, and this gives you stronger flavor, and allows you to enjoy the unique nature of a strain more strongly. Not only that, but it allows for an even more pronounced entourage effect, since live resin lets us consume hemp even more closely to how nature intended than anything else on the market other than raw flower.
Benefit #2: Live Resin is More Stable
Because live resin is made from fresh rather than cured flower, it has a better shelf stability. This means that live resin products may last longer than products that are made with other types of extraction methods – not that there’s any reason why you wouldn’t want to enjoy your live resin product all at once, since it offers such a phenomenal hemp experience.
Benefit #3: Live Resin is Perfect for Growers
Yes, growers do like producing plants for live resin. Fresh freezing plants at harvest means growers don’t have to go through the drawn out, taxing processes of drying, curing, and trimming plants; whole plants can be chopped down, frozen, and sent directly to the extractor. Producing plants for live resin saves growers a great amounts of time, labor, and money.
Benefit #4: Live Resin Offers More Value
With live resin, a little goes a long way. The enhanced potency that it provides often means that you get more potent effects out of smaller dosage amounts. This gives you more bang for your buck.
Types of Live Resin Products
A hemp product made with live resin will always specify that somewhere on the packaging. As for the product types that can be made with live resin, the answer is anything that is made with hemp extract can become a live resin product. Vapes are the most popular, because the thick, syrupy nature of live resin vaporizes beautifully. But, live resin can also be used to make gummies and other edibles, capsules, topicals, tinctures – you name it, and live resin can take it to the next level.
Just keep in mind that live resin products have a strong terpene flavor. So, if you’re used to gummies or tinctures made with purified cannabinoid distillates, you will notice a new taste.
Experience Hemp Like Never Before with Live Resin!
Overall, live resin is improving the way we enjoy our favorite hemp products with fresher, more potent, and more diverse compounds. And, because the flavorful terpenes remain intact, live resin is considered a high-quality, connoisseur-level product. So, you can find live resin products here at The Calm Leaf, to know you’re getting all of the benefits of this type of extract along with only lab-tested cannabinoids and clean, carefully sourced ingredients. Doesn’t get any better than that!