Cured resin vs Live resin

Live resin is extracted from flower frozen at harvest. Cured resin is extracted from flower that was dried first. The freezing is what keeps the lightest aromatics alive, and that is nearly the whole difference.

Live resin is extracted from flower frozen at harvest. Cured resin is extracted from flower that was dried first. The freezing is what keeps the lightest aromatics alive, and that is nearly the whole difference.

The short version

How each one is made

Cured resin is extracted with a solvent from flower that was dried and cured first, the ordinary way. The solvent is hydrocarbon, purged afterwards.

Live resin is extracted with a hydrocarbon solvent from flower frozen at harvest, before it is ever dried. The solvent is hydrocarbon (butane or propane), purged afterwards.

What that does to the flavour

Cured resin: rounder and less sharp — some of the lightest aromatics are lost in drying, and what remains is deeper.

Live resin: bright and close to the living plant — the terpenes that fade during drying are still there.

Strength

Cured resin — high; curing costs flavour rather than potency.

Live resin — high, and the effect tends to be described as fuller than distillate because more of the plant survives.

What each costs, on this site

The two land in much the same place here — a median of $25.33 against $26.88.

We stock 367 cured resin products from $10.97 to $78.85, and 2138 live resin from $6.50 to $130.00.

Which should you buy

Choose cured resin if you want rounder and less sharp without paying solventless prices. A cheap cured resin and a good one are further apart than the label suggests.

Choose live resin if you want high. It scorches at voltages distillate shrugs off, so keep the battery low.

Questions people ask

Which is stronger, cured resin or live resin?

Neither, reliably. Curing costs aroma rather than THC, so two extracts from the same plant will test in much the same range whichever way the flower was handled. Live resin often feels stronger because the terpenes are still there, but that is the flavour doing the work, not a higher number.

What is the difference between cured resin and live resin?

When the flower was frozen. Live resin goes into the freezer at harvest and is extracted from there; cured resin is dried and cured first, the ordinary way, and extracted after. Freezing preserves the lightest aromatic compounds, which are the first thing lost in drying.

What we stock

Coldfire Extracts Cartridges 1g290 flavours · from $22.00Rove Premier Cured Resin Cartridges62 flavours · from $27.97Connected Cured Resin Cartridges 1g43 flavours · from $10.97West Coast Cure Live Resin Concentrates 1g211 flavours · from $10.44Rove Premier Live Resin Cartridges176 flavours · from $21.76Almora Cartridges139 flavours · from $17.28