Live resin refers to preserving raw hemp material before it's extracted 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, more viscous, and the smell of raw hemp fills the room. 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.
PRESERVING LIVE RESIN TERPENES
Most hemp products come from raw plant material undergoing a dry-curing process after cultivation. This is great when ensuring the raw buds are "kept" to be smoked or vaporized later. But, if you're turning that plant material into an extract, then there are better methods than this because it minimizes the impact of the trichomes, which maintain higher concentrations of terpenes and flavonoids if left sticky, as they are in nature.
DRYING AND CURING KILL LIVE RESIN
During the processes of drying and curing, moisture and chlorophyll exit the plant. This permits trichomes to be exposed to 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.
TASTE AND SMELL THE DIFFERENCE WITH LIVE RESIN
Live resin is raw plant material that has been flash-frozen when fresh rather than dry-cured. Flash-freezing the resin exquisitely preserves these trichomes, allowing us more terpene properties and flavor. A live resin product's taste and smell are notably richer, 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.