How to Make High Quality Live Resin
Making live resin is a lucrative option for cannabis extractors in today's market. Live resin is a cannabis concentrate extracted from fresh frozen cannabis material using light hydrocarbons. Other concentrates made with hydrocarbons—including butane hash oil (BHO)—are extracted from dried and cured plant material.
Live resin enthusiasts love these cannabis concentrates for their high terpene content (which results in a rich flavor), full-spectrum cannabinoid profile, and high THC percentage. Knowing how to make live resin with excellent results will enable you to capitalize on this trend.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Making Live Resin
The following outlines the basic process for making live resin for anyone thinking of starting a cannabis extract company or wanting to expand their current offerings. The exact steps you use may vary depending on your equipment and the final products you intend to make.
Step 1: Choose an Aromatic Strain
The best strains for live resin production are trichome-heavy and have a rich terpene profile. Fruity and citrus strains (such as those in the Cake and Zkittlez families) are especially popular for live resin thanks to their desirable flavors and aromas.
Step 2: Harvest the Plants at Peak Ripeness
Harvest the cannabis plants just before peak maturity to ensure the best flavor profile. The trichomes should be fully developed and starting to turn amber.
Step 3: Freeze the Freshly Harvested Cannabis
Freeze the freshly harvested cannabis immediately to lock in the cannabinoids and terpenes and prevent them from changing or degrading due to air, heat, and light exposure. Trim off the fan leaves, stems, and roots, and package the buds and sugar leaves in turkey bags. The buds should be packed loosely enough so that the trichomes won't be squashed or damaged.
Tie off the tops of the bags with clips or ties to prevent air exchange. Then, stand the bags upright in a large freezer at 0°F or below and freeze them for 24-36 hours. Liquid nitrogen (dry ice) is only recommended if you need to transport the frozen buds. Be sure to keep the dry ice away from the bagged plants so that it doesn’t damage the trichomes.
Step 4: Extract the Live Resin
A closed-loop live resin extraction process involves several stages.
1. Blend Your Solvents
The live resin extraction process is typically performed with a blend of butane and propane. This blend could contain 30% butane/70%propane, 50% butane/50% propane, or 70% butane/30% propane. The more propane in the blend, the more terpenes will be pulled out of the plant material.
2. Chill the Solvents
The solvents need to be pre-chilled just like your cannabis plant material. Extremely low temperatures allow you to extract the most desirable compounds (found in the trichome glands) without extracting moisture.
Your solvents must be chilled to at least -13°F. A lower temp would be preferable, if possible. The lower the temperature, the more selective the solvent and the better your end product will be. Insulating your extraction equipment with jackets keeps the contents cold and prevents your frozen biomass from thawing. This also prevents the need for an inline dewax column and winterization equipment.
3. Run the Solvents through the Biomass
Take the frozen plants out of the freezer and immediately pack them into the extraction column. The plant matter should be packed so that it springs back when you press on it but not too tightly or you could have problems with channeling.
Run the solvent blend through the frozen biomass. The resin will form a solution with the hydrocarbon and pass to the collection vessel. When you can see through the viewing window that the solvent runs clear (rather than amber), turn it off.
4. Purge the Residual Solvents
You will now remove the solvent from the crude extract in the collection tank. This is typically done by raising the temperature slightly so that the solvent evaporates and applying vacuum pressure to collect the evaporated solvent for reuse. We recommend using a temperature of 70-85°F (around room temperature) for this stage for maximum terpene preservation.
It's important to note that solvent recovery can be "active" or "passive." Active solvent recovery uses a gas compressor and condensing tank whereas passive solvent recovery uses recirculating heaters and chillers.
Alternative: An alternative pathway involves separating the crystalline THCA from the terpenes prior to purging. The solvents are purged from the terp sauce after separation has occurred. You can then use both of these substances to create a range of other live resin products.
Step 5: Craft Live Resin Products
Purged live resin extract comes out with a sugar-like consistency made of crystalline THCA and wax. This live resin can then be processed further—with techniques like whipping, homogenization, and separation with a centrifuge—to make a range of products:
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Live resin dabs (live resin wax, pull-and-snap, budder, sugar, and caviar) - Diamonds and sauce
- Live resin vape cartridges (separate the THCA, decarboxylate it, and then mix the decarbed THC with the terpenes for flavor)
Step 6: Measure Out, Package, Store, & Distribute
Cannabis extracts are typically sold in small airtight glass jars in quantities of 1 gram. Vape cartridges contain either 0.5 or 1 gram. Measuring out your live resin products accurately is vitally important for several reasons:
- Extracts like live resin are extremely potent (containing around 90% THC) and consumers need to be able to dose these products with great precision.
- Legal states have defined concentrate purchase and possession limits. For example, adults in the State of Colorado are allowed to purchase up to 8 grams of cannabis concentrate (page 337 of the PDF). Single-gram concentrate jars and carts make it easier for dispensaries and consumers to track how much cannabis is being purchased.
- Uniform dosing ensures a more consistent experience when consuming live resin, which builds trust with consumers.
Pro tip: The best way to ensure a consistent dose is to use a concentrate dispenser. The Lowtemp Concentrate Dispenser is a groundbreaking innovation designed to eliminate the packaging bottleneck of solvent-based and solventless concentrate manufacturing, all while preserving the intended essence of your dababble SKUs.
Unlike other machines, it uses no heat or gasses and can dispense upwards of 1,000 shots per hour with a single operator. It also has an advanced machine-learning interface that automatically self-calibrates and flags underweight or overweight jars to ensure consistency of filling across every batch.
After packaging your live resin products, put them in a fridge or cool room so the live resin remains fresh until it is purchased and consumed. You could also provide branded mini-fridges for the dispensaries where your cannabis extracts are sold to ensure optimal storage and build brand awareness.
Provide an Aromatic Experience with Live Resin
Live resin offers an aromatic and flavorful experience as a hydrocarbon extract made from fresh frozen cannabis that hasn't undergone the traditional drying and curing process. Cannabis connoisseurs consume live resin in several different forms, including vape carts and dabs of various consistencies.
You'll get the best results by starting with a trichome-rich strain with a delicious terpene profile and freezing the fresh buds immediately after harvest. Then, extract the resin at the lowest possible temperatures, purge the crude extract gently, and measure out your products using an accurate concentrate dispenser for a consistent, high-quality product your customers can count on.