What’s The Difference Between Resin, Live Resin, and Rosin?

These days there’s a ton of cannabis out there, especially when it comes to concentrates. It can get a bit confusing when it all comes in a million different textures and goes by many different names that all sound the same. One particular area of frustration is determining the difference between resin, live resin, and rosin. Below, we’re diving deeper into each of these dabbable products to highlight what makes each of them unique.

Resin

Resin

If you smoked weed back in the days before legalization, you’ve experienced resin. Technically, you still experience it today every time you smoke, though there’s a good chance you’re no longer scraping resin to smoke on its own. Resin is the brown or black tar that builds up in your pipes and bongs when you smoke cannabis through them. However, resin is also a term given to the sticky “sap” made of trichomes and terpenes found on cannabis flowers and sugar leaves.

Cured Resin

Cured Resin

What is cured resin, and how does it differ from regular “resin”. While the term “resin” typically refers to the trichome sap found on cannabis flowers, resin is also a term for specific hydrocarbon-extracted concentrates. When you see the term resin in a dispensary, it’s typically referring to concentrates instead of plants. Cured resin, also known as dead resin, is made with cured and dried cannabis flowers. They are processed in a solvent-based hydrocarbon extraction that utilizes heat and pressure which leaves behind a terpene sauce and a few THCa diamonds.

Live Resin

Live Resin

Live Resin is made the exact same way as cured resin with one key difference: starting material. While cured resin utilizes dried flowers, live resin is made using still-living plants. Live concentrates are made by taking the trichomes from the still-living plants. This is accomplished by harvesting the plant and getting the flowers and sugar leaves into a flash frozen state before the plant has any time to dry or decay. It allows for a more flavorful end product since it prevents the terpenes from being damaged or destroyed before extraction.

Rosin

Rosin

Rosin is a unique concentrate that is made much differently than live or cured resin. While resin concentrates, along with other concentrates like wax, shatter and distillate, are made in a solvent-based extraction process, rosin is made solventless. Solventless extractions utilize heat and pressure or mechanical methods to separate the resin glands (trichomes) from the plant material while solvent-based extractions require the use of a chemical solvent such as butane or propane. Rosin is made by squishing cannabis trichomes with heat and pressure, leaving behind a concentrate that is milky white to orange. It goes by many other names, including sap, jam, solventless hash oil (SHO) and rosin batter. When comparing rosin vs resin, rosin extracts are a purer, more terpene-rich product.

Live Rosin

Live Rosin

Much like the difference between cured resin vs live resin, live rosin uses living starting materials. When comparing live rosin vs rosin, live rosin is more flavorful and potent since it’s made with the “live” materials. Almost any type of extraction consistency can be made using live plants, including favorites like live resin, live sugar, live batter, live butter, and live rosin.

All in all, these concentrates can be a little tricky to understand, though once you know the difference between the three, it becomes easier to tell them apart. What’s your favorite type of concentrate? Let us know below.