Understanding Extracts: Live Resin [Part 2]
Understanding Extracts is an ongoing series covering the different types of extracts offered on the legal cannabis market.
LIVE RESIN
The most common question I receive from consumers is; “What is Live Resin and why is it more expensive than a regular vape cartridge?”
Greybeard’s director of extraction explains;
"Live resins are extracts or concentrates made from [cannabis] plants that were cut down while they were alive. They’re never dried and are typically flash-frozen.”
When dealing with these specifically, the magic behind the name is that the cannabis plant is taken during the peak of its harvest and imminently turned it into an extract while keeping all aspects of it intact all the way through to the final product.
Unlike distillate, Live Resin contains cannabinoids and terpenes and is made from the entire plant rather than the discarded parts like in distillate vape cartridges. These are never exposed to the amount of heat, air, and light needed to cure the cannabis plants.
Making authentic products can come with a great set of challenges, for example, required storage space has to be much larger since plants are still in the growing phase and not hanging to dry. Resin must also be kept frozen because if thawed, according to Mr. Pridham, the extract becomes a waste. The equipment for making extracts is based upon volume; dried cannabis plants can fit nearly twice as much into the chamber than compared to the fresh, frozen plant needed in resins.
Summed up, it takes twice as long to get the same amount of oil compared to using dried flower.
This added time and effort adds to the additional cost of live resin cartridges, but the quality of these products when done right, are apparent immediately and held at much higher standards then most products. [1]
Find Live Resin products in the Minerva shop from Greybeard, Nith & Grand and more.
