Live resin is a kind of cannabis concentrate that is prepared using a technique that takes freshly harvested cannabis and freezes it in particular temperatures prior to and throughout the extraction process. Where these methods are different from other extraction processes is in the amount of time harvested cannabis plants are allowed to dry and cure before the extraction.

The drying and curing process that a cannabis plant typically undergoes can have a devastating affect on terpenes, the flavorful factory molecules present within the trichomes that line virtually every corner of a mature cannabis flower and its surrounding foliage. With cured concentrates, the cannabis plant is allowed a certain amount of time to wick itself of moisture and chlorophyll before the extraction occurs. During this time, trichomes are subjected to conditions not conducive to terpene preservation. Interactions such as increased exposure to heat, oxygen, physical agitation, and light all play a role in degrading terpenes.

However with live resin, the plant is flash frozen immediately following harvest and kept at freezing temperatures throughout the extraction process.. By doing this, the cannabis plant prolong its valuable terpene profile, thus retaining the plant’s original flavor and fragrance that can then be carried over into the final product. (Learn more about live resin extraction in Episode 1 of our “The Art of Extraction” series, and explore how other concentrates are made in other episodes as well.