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Open up a container of live rosin, and it has already distinguished itself from every other cannabis concentrate out there: It smells amazing.
Live rosin preserves and intensifies the aroma and flavor of the plant it came from. It’s not just an elevated cannabis experience, it’s a satisfying sensory journey that will have you pointing out flavor notes like a wine sommelier.
At äkta, we tap into traditional hash-making processes, with a modern twist. We start by flash-freezing our cannabis directly after harvesting to preserve everything that makes that strain and individual plant unique—namely its cannabinoids and terpenes—and how they play off one another when consumed.
Terpenes, the plant compounds responsible for fragrance and flavor, are particularly vulnerable post-harvest and can be easily lost through off-gassing in the traditional curing process that removes moisture, and through handling of dried flower that damages the plant trichomes that house the terpenes and cannabinoids. That’s why live rosin is able to maintain the enticing smells one can detect in fresh flower, versus regular rosin (which is not frozen after harvest) or solvent-extracted hash oil.
This means that one can get a better sense of the live rosin’s full profile just from the smell in a way that’s simply not possible with other concentrates. Terpenes such as earthy myrcene, citrusy limonene or woody caryophyllene readily make themselves known in the aroma. Live rosin has a full and delectable taste for all the same reasons.
So that’s the reason why live rosin preserves the smell of fresh flower so well, but many consumers also find it to be just more intense overall than the flower it comes from.
That’s because the components of live rosin are not masked or diluted by other parts of the plant. The hay-like smell of chlorophyll is almost entirely absent in live rosin, letting the terps shine through. This creates a smoking, vaping or edible experience that is both true to the original plant, and a bright realization of its more salient elements.
You may be wondering about the difference between similarly named live rosin and live resin. There are many distinctions, starting with how they’re made.
Live resin is typically extracted using butane or another solvent to separate the trichomes from the plant to make hash, whereas live rosin does not use any solvent.
At äkta, we don’t rush the process. Our artisanal method for making live rosin starts with ice water and agitation to separate the trichomes from the rest of the plant. The hash is then gently heated and pressure is applied to make the final concentrate.
But here’s the biggest differentiator: With live resin, the hash may be obtained from lower-quality plants. The solvent extraction process homogenizes the overall product to some degree, so if the hash you start with isn’t perfectly treated and refined, you can get away with that.
Live rosin, however, is more demanding. Because the final concentrate is a faithful translation of flash-frozen flower, any inconsistencies in the hash would end up in the live rosin itself. That’s also why live rosin shines through as an authentic representation of both the flower and process that created it, with no unwanted extras or impurities.
Even better, instead of stripping the flower of its character the way some types of concentrates can, live rosin lets it shine through in a way that is both easy to appreciate and full of nuance. It takes extra work and time to make äkta live rosin, but the results are well worth it.