Understanding the Difference Between Live Resin and Distillate
As with other things in life, when consuming Cannabis, balance is key. You want the right dose, for the right purpose, and in the right amount.
And when you think of it, Cannabis extracts cater to this need: They offer distinct experiences in terms of their potency, flavor, and their use. Since these factors will definitely impact your personal preference, it makes sense to know the differences for an enjoyable experience.
For instance, a cannabis user looking to vape and savor the rich terpene flavors may become disappointed if they choose a distillate cartridge. The flavor is subtle in the distillate cartridge because distillate doesn’t come with the aromatic and tasteful terpenes.
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Meanwhile, a new cannabis user who buys live resins for use in their edibles/THC-infused gummies may be surprised to find that the strong cannabis flavor overpowers other ingredients in their recipe in a way that creates a taste imbalance.
Spotting the differences (between these two cannabis extracts) helps you see how the products fits with your purpose, tolerance levels, and pockets. In this way, you can work your way to a productive, happy use.
What are cannabis concentrates?
You may hear the terms “Marijuana concentrate”, “Marijuana extract”, “Cannabis extract”, or “Concentrates” and “Extracts” used interchangeably. They are referred to as cannabis concentrates, which are basically powerful, +concentrated cannabis products derived from the cannabis plant.
They usually contain concentrated levels of cannabinoids and terpenes like THC levels that range from 50% to over 90% — significantly higher THC than that found in raw marijuana flower or other plant material. Generally speaking, Concentrates are created through various extraction processes, which can be:
- Solvent-based, using chemicals like butane or CO2; and
- Solventless, relying on physical techniques like heat and pressure.
The result is a highly potent product that delivers a more efficient and effective cannabis experience, often with stronger effects and longer-lasting benefits when compared to traditional flower.
Live resin cannabis concentrates
| Feature | Live Resin | Distillate |
|---|---|---|
| Extraction Method | Solvent-based (butane, CO2) | Distillation process (removes impurities) |
| Cannabis Source | Fresh frozen cannabis | Dried and cured cannabis |
| Terpene Profile | High in terpenes, strong aroma & flavor | Low terpenes, mild or neutral taste |
| Potency | High THC but balanced with terpenes | Extremely high THC (up to 99%) |
| Flavor | Rich, bold flavors | Little to no natural flavor |
| Texture | Saucy, sticky, sometimes crystallized | Thick, syrup-like, or watery |
| Purity | Contains natural cannabinoids & terpenes | Refined, often lacks minor cannabinoids |
| Consumption Methods | Dabbing, vape cartridges, mixing with flower | Vape pens, edibles, tinctures, dabbing |
| Best For | Flavor lovers, full-spectrum effects | Potency seekers, edibles, mixing with terpenes |
If you’re a cannabis explorer seeking something closer to the cannabis plant at its full freshness, then live resin is your jam. The reason for this lies in its unique production method: it’s made from fresh, frozen cannabis flowers which keeps the plant’s rich profile of natural cannabinoids and terpenes intact.
The initial freezing helps to prevent a terpene loss that can be commonly seen in drying and curing process, where moisture is carefully removed from the harvested cannabis plant to allow it to develop its full flavor profile.
When making live resin concentrates, this process is skipped, as the plant material is flash-frozen immediately after harvesting.
Live Resin extraction process
The extraction method relies on using solvents like butane or propane to gently extract the compounds, resulting in a highly potent concentrate with THC levels ranging from 45% to 90% depending on the strain.
Since it retains the full range of cannabinoids and terpenes, Live resin is generally considered the ideal choice for users who enjoy vaporizing, dabbing, or a richer, flavorful cannabis experience.
Now, you may ask: what really sets live resin apart from distillate? While distillate is known to be pure, live resin offers something unique that appeals to those who want an all-round experience due to its “full-spectrum.”
Simply put, “full-spectrum” refers to a cannabis product crafted to retain all the natural compounds found in the plant material.
It includes not only cannabinoids, but also terpenes and even lesser-known compounds like flavonoids. These components bounce off one another to create a more holistic cannabis experience.
Live Resin v Live Rosin
Since they often appear confusing, it’s crucial to distinguish between the two. While both are made with fresh frozen cannabis buds, live resin uses solvents in its extraction process.
Live rosin, on the other hand, uses a solventless procedure that involves using either a mechanical separation of trichomes and then pressing the trichomes (hash rosin) or pressing the fresh frozen buds (fresh press).
Cannabis Distillates
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Extraction Method | Distillation process removes impurities, isolating cannabinoids |
| Cannabinoid Content | High purity (up to 99% THC or CBD) |
| Terpene Profile | Often lacks natural terpenes, but terpenes can be reintroduced |
| Flavor & Aroma | Mild to odorless, depends on added terpenes |
| Potency | Extremely potent due to high cannabinoid concentration |
| Consistency | Thick, syrup-like, or watery |
| Color | Clear to golden-amber |
| Purity | Free from plant matter, fats, and waxes |
| Consumption Methods | Vapes, edibles, tinctures, dabbing, topicals |
| Effects | Highly customizable based on cannabinoid and terpene content |
| Best For | Discreet use, high potency, edibles, vape cartridges |
On the other hand, Distillates are a purified, well-refined cannabis extract that is made from dried and cured cannabis flowers and then stripped down to bare cannabinoid molecules.
Drying and Curing
Remember the drying and curing phase we earlier talked about? In producing distillates, it is necessary to dry and cure the fresh cannabis plant before extraction to strip it of its moisture and chlorophyll.
In this way, the cannabinoids and terpenes and fully mature and stabilize, which means a more satisfying smoking experience and an enhanced flavor profile.
How it’s done
One the fresh cannabis is harvested, the cannabis buds are placed under a regulated environment with precise temperature and humidity levels. This allows them to dry slowly over several days or weeks.
What is the impact of drying and curing on live resin or distillate?
In the case of live resins, this process preserves the fresh plant’s terpenes, the cannabis is typically flash-frozen or placed under extremely cold temperatures immediately after harvest, bypassing the traditional drying and curing process.
Processing distillates is where the process has a real impact, as the cannabis flowers are first dried and cured to remove moisture before extraction. This yield a concentrate with a more neutral flavor profile due to some terpenes loss.
Distillate extraction process
After drying and curing, the distillation process involves extracting isolate cannabinoids, often THC, from other compounds/plant matter and impurities, using solvents like hydrocarbons or alcohol.
This is then followed by an extraction method that involves the use of purification techniques like factional distillation, winterization, and decarboxylation, resulting in a nearly pure extract.
The texture comes out as a thick liquid high in THC, and clear enough to suggest its purity, making it the ideal option for vape cartridges, concentrates, topicals, and edibles, where flavor and aroma may not be so important.
With THC content typically ranging between 90% and 99%, distillates remain one of the most potent forms of cannabis concentrate available. Unlike live resin, distillate lacks terpenes and other minor compounds, which gives it a neutral flavor/aroma.
Live Resin v. Distillates: How do they compare?
To help you know which of the concentrates rock your boat, let’s look at where they get similar and their key differences:
Similarities
In terms of potency, both cannabis concentrates can be quite the heavy hitters you want them to be. Both also offer a lot of flexibility in how you can consume them.
Some of the common ways cannabis users take them are: Dabbing (Dab rigs), Smoking (joints or off the top of a bowl, which is probably the most convenient option out there), Vaping (vape pens). Whichever method you use, you can be sure to get a decent hit of cannabinoids thanks to how they are extracted.
Using solvents or heat to isolate the good stuff from the cannabis plant, creates a powerful experience for both recreational users, as well as those seeking therapeutic benefits. Their versatility is a big part of their appeal, making them go-to options for a wide range of cannabis enthusiasts.
Differences
While they share many things in common, live resin and distillates differ in a few areas. The extraction process in making live resins help to preserve the plant’s essence. This sophisticated process starts with freezing the plant, and then continuing the extraction steps.
Distillates requires doing things a little different – precisely, the process takes things up a notch in the extraction process by heating the plant back up to isolate a specific cannabinoid. This is why cannabis users seeking out higher THC content should go for cannabis distillate.
Another difference lies in the terpene content preserved through each extraction method. The solvent extraction method to make live resin gives it a rich-terpene profile bursting with aroma and flavor.
But this is not the case with distillates. In fact, distillates’s highly refined process starts out with dried and cured cannabis flowers and further processing to strip away impurities.
The neutral end-product makes Distillate a smarter choice for a newbie cannabis user, as it offers a blank slate to customize their experience. That said, since distillates are not full-spectrum, its does not have the entourage effect that live resin may have.
Choosing Between Distillate and live resin
| Factor | Choose Distillate If… | Choose Live Resin If… |
|---|---|---|
| Potency | You want high THC concentration (90%+). | You prefer a balanced potency with more natural compounds. |
| Flavor & Terpenes | You don’t mind a neutral or mild flavor. | You want full-spectrum flavor with rich terpenes. |
| Effects | You need a strong, clean high with less entourage effect. | You want the full entourage effect with enhanced effects. |
| Consumption Method | Best for vaping, edibles, and carts. | Ideal for dabbing and flavorful vaping. |
| Medical Use | You need precise, high-dose THC for medical purposes. | You want natural cannabinoids for holistic benefits. |
| Price | You want a more budget-friendly option. | You don’t mind paying more for quality. |
| Purity & Refinement | You prefer a highly refined product without plant matter. | You like minimally processed, full-spectrum extracts. |
Granted, there’s not been a lot of scientific study to differentiate between the benefits of distillates and live resins. Although, there’s been more than enough studies to support the argument that whole-plant cannabis offer more benefits over isolates (e.g., distillates).
For recreational users, this tilts the scales of the debate in favor of live resins, especially as cannabis users look to enjoy the full spectrum of effects (i.e, the entourage effect).
But if you’re a medical cannabis user, then you’re likely to get more bang for your buck with distillates. Don’t be fooled by its neutral taste — distillates come with a higher THC content, which means they pack a punch, and last longer!
In answering the big question: live resin or distillate?, you must consider certain factors, like your tolerance and experience level.
For instance, if you’re an inexperienced, cannabis user, live resins may be a more suitable option for you, as it helps you avoid the possibility of getting the “bad high” with its lower THC levels.
The Bottom line
If you’d see yourself as somewhat of of a cannabis connoisseur that desires an authentic and true-to-strain experience OR, if you’re eager to try out the exciting complex flavours and suble high, you should try out live resins.
But if you have a higher tolerance level or you’re looking for something cheaper, then the stronger effects that come with distillates will help you get more bang for your buck!
Popular Consumption Methods
For cannabis users looking to smoke a concentrate like live resins, the possibilities are endless. You could consume it using a dab rig or purpose-made concentrate vaporizer.
If you’re a cannabis user looking to take concentrates in edible form, you’re in luck: there’s a swell of options. Although, you must know that distillates work better as an edible — despite its high potency, it doesn’t carry the typical strong weed flavor that could ‘knock off’ your food’s.
Away from edibles, you can take distillates through sublingual oils, topicals, beverages, and suppositories. However, Live resin offers more options — It comes in crumble, sugar, sauce, vape oil, butter, badder, and shatter.
Final Thoughts
Both of these cannabis concentrates utilize solvents in the extraction process, and they come with a high level of potency. However, the purity, taste, effects, terpene content, and usage are extremely distinct.
You only need to compare distillate vs. live resin to see why you might prefer one to the other. There is no right or wrong, and it comes down to personal preference. This preference all boils down to factors like the cost, experience level, your intended use, e.t.c.
FAQs
What is the difference between live resin and distillate?
These two offer distinctly different experiences. Live resin concentrates are heavy on preserving the plant’s natural compounds, including cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids.
At the other end, purity and efficiency is what cannabis distillates stand for, isolating not only the desired cannabinoids, but also other plant compounds, making it nearly flavorless and odorless.
How are live resin and distillate made?
In making live resins, the frozen cannabis flowers lock in the natural compounds of the cannabis plant,leading to a full-spectrum extract. On the other hand, making distillates entails heating up and then filtering cannabis oil to remove impurities, terpenes, and other compounds, leaving behind a pure, highly refined cannabis extract.
What are the side effects of using live resin and distillate?
It doesn’t take being a pundit to know that Cannabis concentrates, due to their effect (especially considering that it’s easy to overdose on THC) are not for every Jack and Jill.
If you’ve ever been caught up in the high of overindulgence, you can expect side symptoms like:
- anxiety,
- paranoia
- dependence
- impaired sense of time,
- memory loss.
To avoid this, a bit of moderation is required. For instance, if you were to use a dabbing rig, make sure it contains the minimum amount possible per dose. Then, wait at least 10 minutes between doses.
Live resins or distillate: Which one moves faster?
While both cannabis concentrates move relatively slow, cannabis distillates are known to move slower due to their thickness and density. But don’t be fooled: This doesn’t take anything away from its hard-hitting potency due to its high terpene content and minimal processing.
