Live rosin and live resin are fan favourites in the cannabis world that lives up to the hype. Often found at or near the top of an experienced smoker’s tier list, they’re typically recognized for its flavour, appearance and strength.
But what is live about these products anyway?
It’s not “live” in the sense that it is made from anthropomorphic cannabis plants (and we also really hope you didn’t think it was). It is, however, typically made using cannabis that is frozen immediately after harvesting in order to preserve the flavours and aromas that are much more potent in fresh cannabis.
You could say the cannabis is frozen while it’s still “live,” hence the name.
Rosin vs. Resin
So, now that we understand the “live” part, you may be asking yourself what is rosin? Is there a difference between cannabis rosin and resin?
The difference is the process used to extract the final product from the cannabis flower, explains HappyValley.org and sqdc.ca
Resin is made using solvents such as ethanol or butane to extract the active components in the trichomes in order to make them soluble. The mixture then gets purged in a vacuum to remove the solvents, leaving a crude oil-like mixture that can be used to make your finished resin products.
Different resin products are then sorted by use and physical consistency. There would be a slightly different process to make resin for a vape cartridge and for making resin wax or butter. To try and keep it as simple as possible, the former “just” separates and decarbs the THCa, while the former does the same before they are combined again, are then whipped and homogenized to the preferred consistency, sometimes even using a centrifuge.
For rosin, instead of using a solvent, heat and pressure are typically used for cannabis flower, or hash – more on that later.
Big operations will use something akin to a large hydraulic press for extraction, but a classic stoner DIY can be made by using parchment paper over top of flower, then using a hot clothes iron to press down and extract your rosin. These days there are even small presses you can buy to make your own concentrates from home at a much smaller scale.
For better flavour profiles, rosin can also be made by extracting hash instead of dried flower. Ice water hash, the seemingly-sacrilege practice of getting your weed soaking wet, is created by using carefully sized filter bags to sift the material down to a level of microns, or, thousandths of a millimetre, to separate the trichomes from the cannabis flower.
Filter bags – think cheesecloth, for the home chefs out there – are layered in descending filter sizes into a large bucket with the finest filter size at the bottom, then ice and cannabis are alternately layered over top until the bucket is almost full, leaving enough room to be able to stir the melted mixture.
After roughly 20 minutes the trichomes become brittle enough to separate from the flowers. After straining the unwanted plant material out, plus some more stirring, and a little bit of rinsing, then drying; you’re done! It’s just that easy.
Concentrated products are a true testament to stoner engineering meeting impressive scientific methods, and the more research done on making them slowly justifies the increased price tag that comes along with them, if the better potency and flavour didn’t already sell you.
To get the week’s latest must-read stories from the cannabis world direct to your inbox, sign up for our weekly newsletter at canadianevergreen.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.