Live Resin vs Rosin – Differences, Effects and Uses

This live resin vs rosin vs distillate guide is designed to illustrate the differences, similarities and uses of these marijuana concentrates. We also prepared simple-to-follow, quick-to-understand discussions about other concentrates, so we started calling this our live resin vs rosin vs shatter guide. Nevertheless, our objective here is to instantly provide you with salient answers to questions like live resin, rosin, shatter, distillates, live rosin batter, live rosin worth it, and other exciting things. So dig right in!

Marijuana concentrates have come a long way since they were first used. They’ve rapidly grown in popularity all around the country for the past few years, thanks to the Canadian government’s decriminalization, regulation and legalization of cannabis-derived and infused products for medical, therapeutic, educational research, commercial and recreational use. This also resulted in higher quality CBD and THC products.

What Are Concentrates?

In this context, we’re talking about marijuana concentrates. This also goes by names like “wax,” “710” (“oil” flipped and spelled in reverse), “ear wax,” “budder,” “butane is hash oil,” “honey oil,” “butane honey oil,” “dabs,” “shatter,” “errl” and “black glass.” It’s a type of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) concentrated mass, which is highly potent and has the same physical appearance as butter or honey. This is, of course, where it gets its nickname “budder” or “honey oil.” 

These concentrates usually contain high levels of THC. This starts from 40 to 80% THC, to put that in perspective. That’s at least four times stronger than Canada’s top-quality weed strains this 2022. Plus, keep in mind the average strain of marijuana usually contains no more than 20% THC. 

These marijuana concentrates contain other organic compounds that interact with the human CNS (central nervous system), such as terpenes and cannabinoids. These naturally occurring compounds are isolated from the marijuana plant after its buds and leaves are harvested and dried. Also, lots of marijuana concentrates come in many forms. For example, non-psychoactive types of marijuana concentrate need to be heated up for you to be able to experience its effects.

Sometimes, concentrates that come with active cannabinoids are further distilled and gradually infused into products like topical creams, tinctures, and edibles. This can let you experience its effects without having to first heat it.

Where Do Concentrates Come From?

By simply looking at marijuana plants, you’ll notice fine, tiny hairs covering its leaves. These often give the plant a sticky appearance, like liquid sheen covers it. These are known as glandular hairs or trichomes.

Trichomes produce and store a marijuana plant’s terpenes and cannabinoids. Also known as concentrates, these gather and eventually isolate various compounds coming from trichomes. Simply put, these concentrates are filled with all the delicious stuff that people love about marijuana. And, these concentrates are more potent than those extracted from its flower. This is why these marijuana concentrates have been growing in popularity throughout Canada for the past several months rapidly.

Some Canadians incorrectly assume that extracts are the same products as concentrates. But there’s an array of differences between them. An extract is a certain concentrate that people make with the aid of a solvent. So put, not all concentrates are extracts. But all extracts are concentrates.

What is Live Resin?

So for the meat and potatoes of our live resin vs rosin vs distillate guide. Live resin is a popular marijuana concentrate known for its high terpene content. It’s relatively new compared to other types of marijuana concentrates. It has since become very popular among marijuana growers and consumers alike all around the country, as the resin naturally retains its aromas and flavours compared to other concentrates. It’s also relatively inexpensive, not to mention quick and straightforward to produce.

Also, these concentrates usually contain more comprehensive terpene profiles. This is among the most salient reasons why live resin continues to gain popularity across communities of weed lovers in Canada.

So what does live resin look like? Sometimes, marijuana concentrates acquire their name from their consistencies or their textures. For example, some concentrates look brittle and are also quite firm and hard to the touch. And these concentrates are called shatter. Meanwhile, some have a waxy look, and others are practically liquid.

Plus, the live resin has a malleable consistency. Its appearance has been described as similar to putty or clay, not too wet like butter or sauce, but quite different from wax or taffy. It also sports a dark yellow shade. But sometimes, the live resin can have a white or bright yellow shade.

Similar to other marijuana concentrates, the finished product can be pretty sticky. A dab tool is often required for you to handle it. They can also differ in inconsistency, with some appearing like jellies, sugar or saps. The number of terpenes found inside live resin can affect the viscosity in the end. Other types of live resin can include terpenes, such as mycrene and pinene. Variations can also occur in live resin. That’s because the extraction process can sometimes fail to acquire all terpenes. 

Live resins are very potent as they usually contain high amounts of THC. Those who ingest live resin say they typically enjoy the experience because its aromas and flavours are pretty intense.

How is Live Resin Made?

Live resin stands out from other marijuana concentrates because growers usually harvest fresh frozen cannabis to make it. This is when marijuana plants that have been cut down after harvesting are immediately frozen. The plants are then stored at cold temperatures during the extraction process and don’t go through the usual drying, curing, and trimming harvesting phases. 

Drying out and curing marijuana plants can affect terpenes, along with their aroma compounds and the plant’s flavours. Terpenes can be found in trichomes, covering the plants themselves and the surrounding foliage. 

While these marijuana plants are being dried out and cured, moderate amounts of moisture leave the plant, along with chlorophyll. This will eventually expose the trichomes to harsh elements like light, heat and oxygen, causing them to degrade. They can also break off the plant by themselves, especially when the plant itself keeps getting handled and moved around a lot while it’s being harvested. 

When you freeze a marijuana plant straight after harvest, the trichomes are saved, and the plant itself retains the value of its terpenes, together with its original flavour, how it smells before it was harvested, and right after the live resin comes out. Once this process is complete, frozen marijuana plants are soaked in a solution using chemicals like propane or butane.

What’s Good About Smoking Live Resin?

And in this section of our live resin vs rosin vs distillate guide, let’s move from answering the what and the how down to them why. Many of the Canadians we’ve interviewed about this for the past several months say the more robust flavour and high that they get from live resin, compared to other marijuana concentrates, is what sets this apart for them. Now this added oomph, so to speak, can be attributed to trichomes and terpenes being capable of preserving and thereby maintaining much of the flavour profile you’d find in the original plant. And preserving a marijuana plant’s trichomes also helps retain much of its cannabinoids. This, in turn, makes live resin concentrates more potent than other weed-based products in Canada this year. 

Lots of marijuana growers throughout the country enjoy growing the plant just for the sake of making live resin. Fresh-freezing the plants right after they’ve been harvested means that you won’t have to go through that lengthy and sometimes tiring process of curing, drying and trimming marijuana buds and leaves. This is because the whole plant itself can be chopped down, frozen, then sent straight to the extractor. Producing and growing marijuana plants to create live resin concentrate will save you plenty of time, money and effort.

How is Live Resin Stored?

Ensure you store your live resin inside an air-tight container and keep it cold – Preferably inside a fridge. This helps retain its terpenes and maintain its delicious smell and taste for a very long while. If you mistake leaving a jar of live resin out in the open without its lid tightly in place, then the concentrate will be exposed to heat, light and air, thereby degrading the terpenes and lessening its flavours. It’ll also dry out the terpenes and harden them, making them tough to handle.

What is Live Rosin Batter?

Rosin is a marijuana concentrate made without the help of solvents or chemicals. Instead, it relies on pressure and heat to extract those compounds from the cannabis plant. This is why the extracts from rosin are considered “cleaner.” But it comes with a price, as rosin is known to be one of the most expensive marijuana concentrates in the country’s cannabis market today. 

As mentioned, rosin is a type of marijuana concentrate crafted using pressure and heat. The plant material is placed inside a press that comes with heated pads. It is then compressed and squeezed, in which hot oil comes out. The entire process is simple and doesn’t use any solvents or alcohol, so no chemicals or solvents are used when making the concentrate. The process originated from how violin bows are made, so rosin gets its name. 

Since it is easy to make, rosin concentrate is ready in minutes. There aren’t any necessary steps to dilute or purify the oil. Anyone can make their rosin concentrate, even with the help of household tools. This makes rosin different from other cannabinoids because other marijuana extraction processes are further refined to remove other compounds in the plant. Rosin is already considered a full-spectrum extract from the get-go since it contains the cannabinoid and the terpene profile from the plant it came from.

How is Rosin Made?

So now, this portion of our live resin vs rosin vs distillate guide talks in more detail about the process of making rosin. One good thing about rosin is that you can safely make it at home with no further costs by just using a couple of household tools. You can make rosin concentrate using hash, keif and marijuana buds. The better the quality of the plant you use, the higher the concentration of rosin will come out. Meanwhile, pressing plants that have already been trimmed won’t result in good rosin concentrate. 

When you press down the marijuana plant, hot oil in a light yellow or amber-like shade will come out. Please don’t touch it because it’s all sticky and hot! Make sure you have a container ready once it starts pouring from your mix, and check to see that the oil doesn’t get all over your clothes or floor. And whatever press you use to extract rosin, be careful when using that as well, as it’ll be hot to the touch. 

The tools that you’ll need are marijuana plants (its buds), a hair iron set to around 300 degrees Fahrenheit or lower (anything more than that will ruin the flower’s flavour and terpenes), a collection tool, heat resistant gloves and parchment paper. 

• The first step is to set the hair iron to its lowest setting – Preferably 280 degrees to 330 degrees Fahrenheit (or 137 degrees to 165 degrees Celsius).
• Second, cut out a small piece of the parchment (4 x 4), then fold it into two.
• The third step is to place the marijuana plant inside the folded paper.
• Fourth, position the iron surrounding the marijuana inside the parchment. Check if the whole plant is in the middle of the hot iron. 
• The fifth step is to place firm pressure on the plant for up to seven seconds. You should be able to hear a loud sizzling noise before you release the pressure. This usually means that the oil has melted off the plant and will begin pouring. 
• Sixth, with the help of a dab tool or any other device, throw away the marijuana plant, then pick out the remaining pieces from the iron, if any. 
• The final step is to scrape your new rosin batter into a jar or any container. Make sure that it is air-tight, then allow it to cool and harden a bit.

How Should You Use Rosin Concentrate?

Rosin is an excellent way for you to create refined and pure yet low-grade marijuana, such as low-grade hash and trim. Plus, this works well if you happen to grow your marijuana plants.

Here in our ultimate guide to tinctures, we discuss rosin used as a dab for e-cigarettes, dab rigs, dab pens and e-rigs. This is often done at lower temperatures. This is because rosin, unlike live resin, doesn’t require you to be at a specific temperature as other concentrates, so any temperature is bound to preserve the flavour and terpene profiles in it. Also, some choose to dry out rosin concentrates then sprinkle them into a marijuana joint or bowl to enhance their smoking experience.

Live Resin vs Rosin vs Shatter

As mentioned earlier, we initially developed this as a live resin vs rosin vs shatter guide. So here’s the stuff we prepared for this focused topic:

Live resin, rosin and shatter are all great marijuana concentrates. But each does come with its own set of unique features. Let’s look at live resin vs. shatter first:

Earlier, we discussed how live resin is made and how terpenes and trichomes are preserved in the concentrate. Because the live resin is usually stored inside cold temperatures, you’ll be able to experience a full-spectrum effect when you smoke it. Live resin is also more flavorful and has a stronger aroma. However, due to the presence of cannabinoids and terpenes, the amount of THC found in it might not be as high compared to shatter.

On the other hand, shatter uses marijuana plants that have gone through the traditional curing and drying process. This increases the amount of THC in the final product, although some of the Canadian bud lovers we interviewed about this say they don’t like its flavours that much. 

Marijuana products are constantly evolving as more concentrates are being discovered and sold. Rosin has been gradually growing in popularity among many marijuana enthusiasts in Canada for the past few years. That’s mainly because of the way it’s made. And despite its price, it doesn’t use any alcohol or solvents when being made. Meanwhile, much like most marijuana concentrates, shatter requires plenty of solvents for it to be formed. Live resin isn’t exempt from requiring alcohol or any strong mixture of chemicals to extract the compounds from marijuana. 

This is why rosin is very special for many bud lovers all around Canada this 2022. Even though the marijuana plants used in making rosin are also dried and cured, there aren’t any extra chemicals or alcohol needed to make that potent marijuana concentrate. Instead, you can apply pressure and heat to the cured marijuana plants, then compress them together with two hot plates. Soon enough, a sticky and gooey substance will come out of the plant. 

Rosin also sports a lighter or darker greenish colour, instead of the usual yellow. Just like live resin, it looks syrupy in appearance. But contrary to shatter, rosin has a unique taste, which is very close to how marijuana plants smell.

Live Resin vs Rosin vs Distillate

Because you can find many marijuana concentrates in Canada’s local market today, distinguishing and telling these products apart can quickly be confusing. Of course, this makes it challenging for many of us to decide which suits us best. So generally speaking, live resin and rosin, as well as another concentrate called distillate, can all make you high. But this high varies, depending on how they’re extracted. More so with the types of plants and buds you used, among other factors more relevant to your current physiological state and tolerance levels. 

A distillate is composed of isolated cannabinoids, similar to THC. This is why it’s such a potent marijuana concentrate. It is perhaps the concentrate that contains the most amount of marijuana. Meanwhile, after it’s been made, live resin still retains the flavours and aromas of the plant used. This is why smoking lives resin tastes and feels like you’re smoking the plant’s fresh buds. Particularly, this is the result of the way they concentrate and how it’s extracted.

Distillates are similar to rosin, in which heat is used to extract THC cannabinoids from the marijuana plant. Meanwhile, live resin does the opposite, i.e. Stalks are frozen after a fresh harvest, then the oil is extracted from the buds and leaves of those frozen stalks.

These are the fundamental differences and similarities of these three products. When making distillates, cannabinoids are extracted with the help of heat and chemicals. Then, cannabinoids are purified, thanks to a process known as “Winterization.” When this happens, everything is burned off from the plant, so the only thing that remains is its THC content. Afterwards, all of the other stuff removed from the plant during the extraction process will then be reintroduced to the isolated THC, along with terpenes and flavours. 

Meanwhile, rosin is a type of marijuana concentrate created using hot temperatures and pressure. It’s gradually growing in popularity in Canada, particularly across the country’s vapers and dabbers. Lots of these bud lovers say they like the more organic taste of these products. Plus, the country’s local marijuana markets, specifically those geared towards edible consumption, enjoy rosin more than these two other concentrates. That’s primarily because they prefer solvent-less edibles. 

According to a guide to delta 8 distillates, the most common base material utilized for distillates is a lower-end dried flower trim. The process of creating distillate doesn’t focus on the marijuana plant’s terpene profile and instead goes more for the levels of THC that’ll show up in the concentrate. As a result, distillate is filled with THC, while the plant’s essence is often lost.