What is live resin?
The newfound freedom of the cannabis industry has led to an accelerated development of new ways to get high. They’ve also advanced novel consumption practices, including vaping and dabbing, and novel substances like shatter, wax, and a newer form of marijuana called live resin.
Live resin has been growing extensively popular among cannabis consumers since its origin in 2011-13. It is a form of cannabis concentrate that is extracted from fresh flowers of the cannabis plant instead of dried and cured buds. This preserves the living plant’s flavor and aroma better than other cannabis extracts.
Since this process of extraction retains the terpenes of the cannabis plant, smoking live resin has more medicinal and therapeutic value. It is considered a high-quality THC product that tends to alleviate various disorders such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, etc.
Benefits of smoking live resin
Smoking live resin is preferred by many dabbers as it has more flavors and feels more ‘terpy’ because of the retained trichomes and terpenes. Some of the significant benefits of live resin are:
Highly Potent
Since live resin is a higher-quality cannabis extract, it is highly potent. It means that it gives quick results with minimum concentrate. Thus, for smokers, less is more.
Captures Flavor
Live resin is made from flash freezing of the fresh cannabis plant. Thus, it doesn’t end up losing the actual flavor like other medicinal marijuana.
Stronger aroma and taste
Live resin has a higher concentration of terpenes as it is extracted from fresh plants. So, it has a stronger aroma and taste because of the presence of terpene.
Therapeutic benefits
It also has more substantial medicinal and therapeutic benefits as the plant’s freshness is retained more than that of other dried and cured cannabis.
Preparing to Smoke Live Resin
Now that you know the benefits, you must wonder how to smoke live resin. Here is a short example of how to make a live resin joint to enjoy its flavors thoroughly and avail of its benefits.
a. What You Need
You can smoke live resin in numerous ways, including vaping, infusing it in a joint, topping it off in a bowl, etc. So, the things required to smoke may vary depending on your preferred choice.
For example, to make a live resin joint, you need:
- Grinder (you can also use your hands to crush)
- Your favorite flower, half or one gram, as per the size of your joint
- Your favorite rolling papers, half or full length
- Live resin concentrate
b. How to Prepare the Material
Similarly, preparing the material also varies according to your smoking method. To make a joint, you need to:
1. Grind the flower or herb you chose or crush it using your hand. Ensure that the flower is enough to fill the joint completely; otherwise, it could be too loose, ruining the entire experience.
2. Keep the composition of flower and resin concentrate uniform so that the joint burns evenly.
3. Fill the joint cone with this mixture. Load the resin concentrate into the pre-rolled cone by hand. Keep packing the joint while adding more cannabis as required to fill it completely.
4. Twist the end of the cone to seal it and enjoy the infused smoke.
Methods for Smoking Live Resin
How do you smoke live resin is a common question. To answer the question, here are a few popular methods that most people choose to enjoy live resin smoke:
a. Smoking with a Pipe or Bong
Using a pipe or bong is the simplest way to smoke live resin. The process applies heat to the outer surface of the pipe or bong until the resin vaporizes, which is then toked. However, everything in this process becomes very hot because of the higher heat requirement of live resin. So, ensure you have a potholder, tongs, and oven mitts to stay safe.
To smoke using a bong, you can remove the resin by scraping it with the help of a bobby pin or paperclip. Warm the outer surface so it doesn’t stick on the inner side as hard and becomes easy to scrape. Collect the scraped resin on a plate and roll it into a ball. Then pack it in the bong bowl and smoke away by applying the usual heat.
b. Vaping with a Dab Rig or Vaporizer
Another efficient method to smoke live resin is through dabbing. Using a dab rig or multipurpose vaporizer, you can extract the smoke. The process requires a dab rig (kind of a water pipe) and a nail (which is like a flat bowl). Nails are made from any material that is more resistant to higher temperatures than the glass bowls used to smoke the resin.
You can use a butane torch to light the nail safely. However, resin vaporizes at a much higher temperature than THC. It usually requires a temperature ranging from 315 to 400 degrees (F). Less heat would not properly activate the terpenes and cannabinoids, while overheating the nail is also harmful as it can damage the cannabinoid molecules.
Tips for Enjoying Your Live Resin Experience
Here are some general tips to help you enjoy your live resin experience to the fullest.
- Stick to the mentioned ideal temperature requirements while vaporizing or dabbing live resin to enjoy the terpenes fullest taste.
- Don’t burn live resin to higher temperatures directly. Terpenes evaporate and die off easily, refraining you from enjoying the actual taste. So, start from 350 degrees and gradually increase it by 10 degrees until you reach the sweet spot and experience the ultimate aroma and taste.
- Store the live resin in the refrigerator or a cool dark place outside the fridge to retain its freshness for a longer time.
- Use dab pens with exact temperature settings or e-rigs with a temp gauge to measure temperature accurately for a perfect taste.
Conclusion
Live resin is continuously becoming popular among cannabis consumers because of its versatile qualities and benefits. The concentrate has a unique flavor and fragrance that is definitely worth trying. It also has an authentic natural flavor, more potency, enhanced taste, and more medicinal value than other THC products.
With various flavor options, the live resin also has endless consumption methods. From smoking it through vaping, dabbing, cartridges, and pens to topping it over a joint or bowl, it is a delightful and affordable cannabis alternative preferred by many these days. Thus, smoking live resin is now an advanced way to get high with more fun and flavors.
