I often find that a common source of confusion for in-experienced Cannabis consumers is the differences between vaping THC Distillate and Live Resin. “Which one will get me more high?” is always the most important question for potheads who’ve approached me, but often this question doesn’t consider what type of high they’re looking for! So, I must digress, the lingering question of penjamin users: What is the difference between smoking vaping Live Resin/ Rosin and Distillate?
Extraction of Live Resin vs. Distillate
We recently went over the definition of Resin in our comparison piece of Rosin vs. Resin, but in short, Resin is a Cannabis flower that is frozen following harvest, purified through a hydrocarbon extractor, and poured into a processor to obtain the final product. Live Resin tends to be sugary or battered to be consistent like a “budder”.
You can find a more detailed overview of this here, but it’s important to mention that Live Resin’s primary intent is to retain all the original cannabinoids and terpenes that would also be chemically found in the flower itself. It is the most “true to form” out of the extraction methods since it intends to replicate and purify the strain it’s extracting.
Distillate on the other hand goes through different steps in its extraction process—allow me to get a bit nerdy (yet again 😉.) The drying and extraction process of Distilling Cannabis isn’t too far off from other methods of extracting oil, but it differentiates itself in its Winterization, Decarboxylation and Distillation phase.
This is about to get chemistry heavy, so I drew it for you. You're welcome!
Post extraction, distillate processors move to the winterization and filtration phase. Winterization uses cold temperatures to filter out undesirable plant compounds like chlorophyll, sugars, waxes, and phospholipids which can reduce the potency and discolour the final product.
Filtration also ensures the formula gets stripped of residual solvents. Following winterization, it enters decarboxylation, which is essentially heating the mixture to manipulate the cannabinoid profile.
After extraction, winterization, and decarboxylation, processors finally distill the solution to its purest form. The fractional short-path distillation process uses heating and re-cooling to eliminate all residual solvents and separate the desired cannabinoids from the solution. Typically, processors repeat this step several times until they reach the intended result: a clear liquid free from impurities, terpenes, and flavours. In contrast to the ooey goey, buttery oil you get from live resin. So you will notice your carts getting much less thick and easier to pull, which leads us to the smoke experience!
Differences in smoking experience.
Live Resin will have more of a classic oily hash/dab taste and smell output from its smoke. It tastes terpy and loud, since the extraction process ensures these terpenes remain, so your smoke is dank and pungent as hell!
Due to the terpene retention, you will find that Resin is far thicker and requires more heat than distillate to burn through. As big of a fan and advocate I am of Resin, I find it to be a bit tougher of a 510 experience to pull due to its thickness. I recommend the Piccolo or Crossover for a higher temperature that makes no waste of your precious resin(s)! Especially considering the price points of 510 cartridges that contain it compared to distillate 510s.
Distillates will take on the taste of added terpenes, following the extraction process, generally from natural sources such as fruit. This allows producers to essentially produce any Distillate flavour their heart and fanbase desires. Rocket pop? It exists. Pumpkin spice or egg nog? That even exists. I’ve even had a London fog tasting 510 cartridge that left the room smelling better than I left it (like lavender!). You can get essentially tasteless options of Distillate but why would you?!
The customizability is endless, and this, to us, is the biggest “draw” of distillate. Unfortunately, the negative effects of flavour typically include sneezing or a cough, which is less likely with Live Resin. We recommend your any-day 510 battery for these bad boys, but we might have something up our sleeve for you connoisseurs in the future 😉.
Differences in high
Live Resin, typically, has a longer-lasting high than Distillate in its effect. This is due to the terpenes creating a lingering effect, that many desire for their therapeutic/medicinal benefit. Live Resin even in Sativas, tends to have more of a body high akin to hashish, that is strong but not overbearing. It’s recommended to smoke resin if you don’t want to be hitting your pen too often, other than for reason to get even more high (the effect doesn’t dissipate as quickly as distillate).
Distillate is more concentrated, so it is arguably stronger, especially when viewing the THC% you’ll be struck with. However, seasoned smokers tend to notice that the high feeling leaves much quicker; with reports of loss of effectiveness as early as 15-30 minutes after hitting your trusty vape pen. I like smoking distillate to taking a shot of heavy THC but with a short effect. It’s hard-hitting like a train, but the effect fades quickly, which is why users often find themselves going through carts quickly. The distillate high is thus THC-driven and not terpene-driven, so it is recommended for users who aren’t looking for anything fancy but THC out of their high.
What should I choose: Resin or Distillate.
If you’re strain-specific, or terpene-dependant it is prudent to suggest always going with Resin to meet your needs. Since the extraction process prioritizes cannabinoid and terpene retention, your favourite strains will be found in Resin form and will be more potent (win – win!).
If you’re a pink kush-head or a participant in Jack Herer summer, you won’t be left in the dust with Live Resin, your experience will actually be elevated. Furthermore, terpenes will give you the longer-lasting effect of terpenes that many cannabis medical beneficiaries will desire.
Stoners who yearn for a longer-lasting high and don’t want to be smoking as much (for health reasons or making your concentrates last longer) should certainly go with resin! This choice however, comes with a higher price point, and a more difficult smoking experience out of a cart due to thickness/consistency of resin. We highly vouch for the Crossover and Piccolo so you can smoke resin the way it deserves, enjoyable and smooth.
If you are THC percentage driven in your consumption or have a specific flavour in mind that you can’t get enough of: Distillate is your choice! For contrast, lemon haze in Resin will still have a weedy taste, but you’ll get a blast of lemon that is virtually weed-tasteless and odourless in its distillate counterpart without the same benefit of effect.
Essentially, Distillate is the choice of concentration of both potency and flavour, if you’d like to blend in and be more discreet. There’s nothing wrong with flavour and we’re huge fans of it, just remember you’ll be hitting your vape pen much more often to achieve effect when compared to Resin, so choose wisely based on high preference vs. flavour!
