Wax
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.