Live Rosin: What It Is, How It’s Used, and Where to Get It
As concentrates continue to rise in popularity, so too do our expectations for quality: from color and flavor to aroma and effects. So, it’s no wonder that live rosin has quickly become a favorite for both medical and adult-use consumers alike. But what exactly is live rosin, and what sets it apart from regular rosin, wax, or shatter?
Keep reading for a practical guide on live rosin, including how it’s made, why it’s so special, and various ways to enjoy it.
What Is Live Rosin?
Rosin is a concentrate that’s gained much popularity over recent years as a high-quality, solventless, and aromatic alternative to other concentrates. It’s made very simply with cannabis flower, heat, and pressure.
Live rosin is also a concentrate made very simply with cannabis, low heat, and pressure—but the “live” in live rosin signals one major difference: the use of freshly harvested, flash-frozen cannabis.
In fact, any cannabis or hemp concentrate that contains the word “live” in the name was made using plants flash-frozen right after harvest in order to preserve peak cannabinoid and terpene content, resulting in a uniquely flavorful and aromatic final product.
What Is Live Hash Rosin?
You might have also heard of “live hash rosin.” Live rosin is live hash rosin. Live rosin begins with flash-frozen fresh cannabis that is turned into hash before it's pressed into rosin. Let’s discuss how live rosin is made to explain this further.
How Is Live Rosin Made?
Rosin itself is simple to make, you just need enough heat and pressure to press the cannabis flower or hashish until the sticky resin that’s inside the trichomes is released.
Live rosin is a little more complicated since you can’t heat-press frozen cannabis flowers without boiling the water within them. Doing that would cost you all those precious cannabinoids and other compounds you worked so hard to preserve through freezing the just-harvested plants.
Instead, the frozen cannabis flower is agitated in an ice water bath. This allows the trichomes to be mechanically removed from the plant, filtered through a series of screen bags, and then collected to create cold water hash or ice wax.
Then, the ice wax or cold water hash is pressed with just enough heat to create the live rosin.
Solvent vs Solventless Extraction
You might have heard the terms “live resin” and “live rosin,” but what is the difference between live resin and live rosin, exactly? There is a big difference between them, and it’s not just one letter!
When producing many common cannabis concentrates, including resin and live resin, solvents such as butane or ethanol are used to extract cannabinoids, terpenes, and other compounds from the plant material. Once extracted, the solvents are purged, and a concentrated extract remains.
Rosin and live rosin, by contrast, are solventless concentrates made very simply by applying heat and pressure to extract the cannabinoids, terpenes, and other compounds from cannabis plant material or hash.
What Is Cold Cured Live Rosin?
Cold curing is an additional technique that can be applied to live rosin to change its consistency while further developing the flavor and aromatic profiles of the final product. Cold curing is typically done in temperatures ranging from 40-70°F for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. The final product typically has a wet badder-like consistency.
How To Smoke Live Rosin
Live rosin can be used in the same way that you would expect to use most cannabis concentrates. Most often, live rosin is consumed with a dab rig, a nectar collector, a concentrate-friendly handheld vape device, or a tabletop vaporizer.
You may want to try a few methods before you decide on the one that you most enjoy because it really comes down to personal preferences. Some may prefer the larger hit that a dab rig or volcano vape can provide, while others may prefer the more controlled inhalation that a nectar collector or vape pen offers.
Consuming Live Rosin in a Dab Rig
A dab rig is a water pipe, not unlike a bong, that is used to consume cannabis concentrates. Instead of a bowl piece, you’ll find what is referred to as a banger. You’ll also have either a metal or quartz wand or dab tool. Your “dab” is the small amount of concentrate used.
You can either heat the banger bowl itself and put the concentrate on your dab tool or put the concentrate in the bowl and heat your dab tool. Again, this is based on preference, and you should experiment to see what seems to work best for you.
If you have decided to heat the dab tool, pack the banger with a small amount of live rosin. Remember, this may seem similar to packing a bowl or bong, but a little goes a long way with live rosin. Once your dab is ready to go, heat the dab tool to the desired temperature (usually using a butane or propane fire source). Put the heated tool to the concentrate and inhale like you would a bowl or bong.
If you are choosing to heat the banger, then you should set up your dab on the tool ahead of time. When that’s ready, heat the banger to your desired temperature and then put the dab in the heated bowl and inhale like you would a regular bong or bowl hit.
Consuming Live Rosin from a Nectar Collector
If you don’t want the entire setup that a dab rig requires, then a nectar collector is a great alternative for live rosin and other concentrates. It is a simple device that comes with a small dish. You put your dab in the dish, heat one end of the nectar collector and simply touch the heated end to the dab and inhale.
Depending on your preferences, there are two different styles of nectar collector: traditional (non-electric) and electric. If you’re using a non-electric nectar collector, you’ll need to heat the end with a butane or propane torch.
On the other hand, if you’re using an electric nectar collector, the process is usually as simple as packing your dab on the provided dish or tray and holding a button to heat the end of the nectar collector. Typically, these devices are designed for vaporizing and better temperature control, which can determine which cannabinoids and terpenes are activated and how they affect your experience.
Other Ways to Use Live Rosin
Though the popularity of desktop Volcano vaporizers may have faded, they are still commonly sold in dispensaries and smoke shops. There are also a variety of handheld, portable vape devices that can be used with concentrates. You can even enjoy live rosin in 510 threaded vape pens. Prefilled vape cartridges are sold at most dispensaries.
Explore a New Age in Live Rosin with Nasha
Always committed to providing the highest quality and cleanest cannabis products we can, Nasha offers a variety of live rosin products.
Our live rosin is made from our signature hash and cold cured to retain as many cannabinoids and terpenes as possible, producing a flavorful, aromatic concentrate with a beautiful wet badder consistency. You can also vape our live rosin in 510-threaded vape cartridges or our all-in-one disposable vape pen.
Regardless of how you enjoy it, our live rosin offers a fresh, flavorful, and fragrant experience that will transport your senses to the day our plants were harvested, and we are incredibly proud of the hard work that goes into creating our cold cure live rosin products.
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