Subscriptions - Maximum Yield Cannabis USA September/October 2020 | Page 64

Live
The
Champagne
Concentrate
R osin
by Michael Coffey
While live rosin is expensive and difficult to
make, it is oh so worth the effort. Michael
Coffey explains how live rosin captures
the essence of cannabinoid and terpene
profiles of cannabis like no other extraction.
Until about five years ago,
butane hash oil (BHO) was
the only way to fly high when
it came to concentrates and no
cannabis connoisseur would
accept any subpar substitute.
Shatter and wax were laying the smack down with ridiculously high THC
levels and solidifying a stranglehold on the top-shelf of most cannabis clubs
and dispensaries. If it wasn’t 70 percent THC (or better) budder, no ordinary,
decent dabber would even bother breaking out the blow torch.
Then a mind-blowing but often rather bland hit wasn’t enough anymore.
Something was missing from the experience and the extraction process
necessitated the use of dangerous compounds, primarily butane. The
hardcore firebreathers demanded more! More flavor, much more
flavor, was in demand to go along with all that raw THC firepower.
A solvent-free, sumptuously mind-bending extract sounds kind
of like a ganja Holy Grail. That’s because it is, and we’ve finally
hunted it down. Live rosin has arrived and just might be the answer.
What’s the Difference Between Live Rosin and Live Resin?
You’ve probably already heard the term “live resin” and may have
wondered if live rosin is the same thing? Sure, they are
similar but definitely not the same. Both are reliant on the
same fresh, frozen sticky green raw material, however,
it’s the refinement and processing of that sub-zero
sensimilla into gourmet goo where the two diverge.
Essentially, live resin resulted from the early crude
experiments from a decade ago of open blasting
freshly harvested frozen cannabis buds and
trim with cans of butane gas through fragile
glassware brought to its polished, perfected,
professional, health-and-safety-sanctioned
conclusion. These days the bud is flash frozen
to -292°F and refined with hydrocarbons in a
laboratory. Contemporary live resin is exactly
as described: a pure, fresh extract from a frozen,
freshly harvested cannabis plant. Packing all
the potency of conventional BHO derived from
traditional dried and cured buds with greatly
enhanced terpene profiles owing to the live or fresh cannabis.
Live rosin differs from regular rosin for the same reason
live resin differs from conventional BHO and BHO
derivatives… because the raw material is alive. The
trouble is you can’t exactly pack some fresh frozen
colas into a rosin press and make marijuana magic
happen. Live rosin requires a lot more finesse and
a producer really must go the extra mile to create
this tier-one live concentrate from fresh reefer.
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