With a host of new recreational cannabis laws on the books and fresh dispensaries popping up like weeds, the concentrates market is exploding with new products. Live rosin is the delectable, solvent-free concentrate connoisseurs are eager to get their hands on.
Heat and pressure combine to produce thick, resinous sap from trichome and terpene-rich cannabis plants. The resulting “rosin” is pure cannabis, untainted by the solvents usually used in concentrate production.
Rosin vs. Live Rosin: What’s the Difference?
Rosin is simple. Apply enough pressure and heat to a thick nug of a cannabis or a sprinkling of kief and gooey rosin will seep out. You can even make it yourself; all you need is a hair straightener and some parchment paper.
Rosin production forgoes the chemical solvents used in other concentrates.
Live rosin, created from frozen flower, contains more terpenes and offers an even more dynamic experience. The pungent monoterpenes present in fresh cannabis flowers are preserved. Freezing halts, the metabolic processes that normally degrade the plant material. It’s like buying a fresh cut of meat from the grocery store; popping it into the freezer when you get home preserves its freshness.
How Is Live Rosin Made?
Unlike rosin, live rosin production is a complicated process requiring professional machinery such as a rosin press. You can’t simply press frozen weed with a hair straightener, since the moisture clinging to the flower would boil away its terpenes and cannabinoids, destroying the quality.
There are couple steps necessary to transform frozen cannabis into live rosin. First, you need to create “ice wax.” Next, you need to allow the rosin wax to dry out completely before pressing it.
Ice wax needs to be top quality, or “full melt,” if it’s going to be used. A full melt extract completely dissolves when heated. Lesser grade extracts only partially melt, leaving behind residual plant matter.
Master cultivator Kyle Kushman notes that “the main reason fresh trim is more likely than dried trim to yield full-melt is because it doesn’t disintegrate when agitated. You can get super clean full melt from dry trim. But you must be careful not to agitate it too hard.”
Should You Try It?
Live rosin is a potent, solvent-free hash oil marketed toward discerning tastes. The use of fresh frozen flower elevates live rosin’s terpene and cannabinoid count to unusually high levels. The rich, nose-tingling aromas that emanate from fresh flower are preserved in the manufacturing process.
Live rosin tends to be expensive but devotees swear that it’s worth it.
