Live resin, diamonds, distillate, rosin, and so much more. Between all of these cannabis concentrates, you might be a little confused as to what makes each of them unique. Yes, these cannabis concentrates are extremely potent, much more so than regular cannabis flowers.
However, just because concentrates such as live resin and diamonds are both extracted from cannabis or hemp plant matter does not mean that they are the same things.
Yes, some commonalities are shared between them, but there are some pretty major differences as well, particularly when it comes to manufacturing processes, potency, flavor, and effects. Today, we want to do a side-by-side comparison of live resin and cannabis diamonds to figure out what sets the two apart and which is better for you.
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Key Takeaways
- Live resin, cannabis diamonds, and cannabis liquid diamonds are all very closely related concentrates.
- Live resin is moderately potent with a full terpene content; diamonds are very high in THC and other cannabinoids but low in terpenes, and liquid diamonds contain both a lot of cannabinoids and terpenes.
- The manufacturing processes, potency, flavor, and effects of all three of these concentrates are slightly different.
What Is Live Resin?
Knockout HHC-R Live Resin 510 Cart 1.5 Grams
Pure CBD Now
Live resin is a type of cannabis concentrate that is made using freshly harvested cannabis. Most other concentrates are made using hemp or cannabis plant matter that is first dried and cured. This is one of the biggest differences between most other concentrates and live resin. Live resin is usually made with flash-frozen plant matter that is not cured.
This is why it is called live, because the plant matter used to make live resin is still relatively fresh, usually not more than a few days after harvest. Due to very fresh plant matter being used to make live resin, it generally has a much higher concentration of terpenes and flavonoids than concentrates that are made with cured hemp or cannabis.
This produces a much stronger and more complex flavor profile and also allows for a much better entourage effect, which is when cannabinoids and terpenes work together to produce additional feelings or effects on the mind and body.
Live resin is a relatively sticky and oily substance, kind of like light-colored, thick honey. Live resin may contain anywhere between 40% and 80% THC, or sometimes even more, depending on how it is made. This concentrate is ideal for dabbing, vaporizing, smoking, and for making edibles.
In terms of making live resin, fresh or flash-frozen plant matter is placed inside a metal tube or container. A solvent-based extraction process, usually using either carbon dioxide or butane, is used to extract the cannabinoids and terpenes from the plant matter.
This is known as a closed-loop extraction process. Then, using a vacuum oven, which applies great amounts of pressure and heat to the solution, removes the solvent from the equation, leaving behind the pure live resin. This can then further be processed and refined into other types of concentrates, with cannabis diamonds being one of them.
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Benefits of Live Resin
You might wonder why you would choose a live resin over other cannabis concentrates. The reason is very simple, and it’s because this concentrate contains more terpenes and flavonoids than virtually all others out there. Once again, this is because fresh or flash-frozen plant matter is used instead of cured plant matter.
Using fresh or flash-frozen plant matter allows the majority of the terpene and flavonoid content to remain behind in the final product. The result is a much more flavorful and complex concentrate with flavors that resemble the original strain. If you are somebody who enjoys the flavor and aroma aspect of cannabis and concentrates, then live resin would be ideal for you.
Furthermore, if you know anything about terpenes, you might know that when they combine with cannabinoids, they produce what is known as the entourage effect.
For example, one potential benefit of cannabis is acting as a calming agent, which some terpenes may also act as. Therefore, if cannabinoids and terpenes independently may be able to help make you feel less anxious, then together, they may provide you with more pronounced benefits on this front.
This synergistic interaction between cannabinoids and terpenes may provide you with various benefits, something that other concentrates that don’t contain as many terpenes just can’t do. Many people also just like the well-rounded high that live resin produces.
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What Does Live Resin Feel Like?
First, the high produced by live resin tends to be very strong and noticeable. Remember that this concentrate can easily contain over 40% THC and sometimes upwards of 80%. This should, therefore, produce an extremely strong, potent, fast-lasting, and long-lasting head high and body high. Most people report a combination of a body high and a cerebral high.
This may be characterized by feeling elated, happy, euphoric, giggly, talkative, creative, energetic, mentally relaxed, or even sedated in some cases. As for the body high, you might feel as though your limbs are heavy or tingly, you may experience general pain relief, or you might feel like you are buzzing or floating.
Whether the high from the live resin is more sedative or energetic in nature depends more on the strain that the concentrate comes from than anything else. If the live resin is extracted from a pure sativa strain, you can expect the effects to be more cerebral and uplifting in nature. If the extract was taken from an indica strain, you could expect the high to be more body-focused and sedating.
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What Are Cannabis Diamonds?
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Our Legend OG Kush is gas! It comes with a tart, floral orange fragrance that has a smooth draw. The Indica in this strain is perfectly balanced so it has that mellowness without leaving you too couch locked. This is a true legend in its own right that h
We then have cannabis diamonds, another type of concentrate. Cannabis diamonds mostly start off in the same way as live resin, by using plant matter and a solvent-based extraction process to remove the cannabinoids and other compounds from the plant matter.
In most cases, at least if they are very high quality, cannabis diamonds should be made using live or freshly flash-frozen plant matter, just like live resin. Cannabis diamonds should not be made out of cured plant matter.
Until the part of the manufacturing process where the solvent is removed from the concentrate, making live resin and cannabis diamonds is much the same.
A closed-loop extraction process, using either CO2 or butane, is used to extract the relevant components from the plant matter.
However, instead of using great amounts of heat and pressure to cause all of the solvent to evaporate and dissipate out of the concentrate at once, a much slower process known as diamond mining is used to remove the solvent from the concentrate over several days or even weeks.
This produces the perfect circumstances for the THC molecules to bind together and form what are essentially crystals or small diamonds.
This effectively produces two different concentrates, the cannabis diamonds, and the terpene resin sauce. The diamonds are crystal-like structures, whereas the terpene sauce is a thick honey-like substance. The diamonds are generally separated from the resin sauce, thus leaving you with an extremely potent product.
Due to the way in which the diamonds are made, mainly because they are separated from the terpene sauce, they generally don’t have the most complex flavor profile. They usually don’t really resemble the original strain in terms of flavor. However, the refinement process also makes this a very potent concentrate, often up to 90% potent in THC or even higher.
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What Are Liquid Diamonds?
Pre Rolls Infused Liquid Diamonds - 5pk
Delta Extrax
Our Strawberry Cough is reminiscent of sweet strawberries that can make even the most experienced smoker cough. This potent Sativa strain has a skunky, berry aroma paired with more uplifting and euphoric terpenes. You’ll love the rich fruity notes along
What can get really confusing here is that cannabis diamonds, liquid diamonds, and live resin are all very similar. Remember that cannabis diamonds are technically made from live resin, specifically by separating the crystal-like structures from the rest of the terpene sauce.
The next step of the process, which utilizes both the diamonds and the live resin terpene sauce they were separated from, involves combining the two back together.
Liquid diamonds generally consist of relatively small crystal or diamond-like structures that are suspended in a thick and viscous sauce, the original live resin terpene sauce.
The result here is an extremely potent concentrate that can be well over 90% in THC and also contains a whole lot of terpenes and flavonoids, which many people say provides you with the best of both worlds: potency and flavor.
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How Are Liquid Diamonds Made?
To make liquid diamonds, the THC diamonds (or technically speaking THCA diamonds) that were created by diamond mining the live resin are then reintroduced back into the live resin terpene sauce they were removed from, usually after undergoing the decarboxylation process.
How these diamonds are made generally does not allow for the decarboxylation process to take place. This means the concentrate is usually THCA dominant, not Delta-9 THC dominant. However, through the decarboxylation process, the THCA in the diamonds activates and converts into the active form, Delta-9 THC.
The decarboxylation process also causes those diamonds or crystals to melt a little bit and become more liquid in nature.
These decarboxylated cannabis diamonds are then added back into the live resin terpene sauce from which the diamonds were originally separated, creating what we know as liquid diamonds. Thus, liquid diamonds combine two types of concentrates: diamonds and live resin terpene sauce.
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Live Resin vs Diamonds
As you can tell from everything we have discussed so far, diamonds are technically a refined version of live resin.
Once again, live resin is taken, and using a diamond mining process, the THC crystals are forced to adhere to each other, therefore forming diamonds. This leaves behind the diamonds with most of the cannabinoids and the rest of the live resin terpene sauce with the majority of the terpenes.
THC diamonds are there for just a more refined version of live resin. Due to the manufacturing process, THC diamonds don’t really have many terpenes or much of a flavor, especially not one that resembles the original cannabis strain. On the other hand, live resin is known for being very rich in terpenes and therefore having a rich and complex flavor profile.
This also means that THC diamonds, because they don’t contain many terpenes, also aren’t the best for producing the entourage effect, which live resin is known for.
Because THC diamonds are so refined, they generally have a much higher THC and cannabinoid content than live resin. Live resin may contain anywhere between 40% and 80% THC, whereas cannabis diamonds may contain close to 100% THC, or in other words, are extremely pure.
What it comes down to is that THC diamonds are the more potent of the two, whereas live resin is more flavorful and balanced.
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Liquid Diamonds vs Live Resin
We then have liquid diamonds, which are an even more refined version of THC diamonds. As mentioned above, liquid diamonds are made by taking the THC diamonds that were extracted from the live resin, which are then reintroduced back into the live resin terpene sauce that was left over from the diamond mining process.
Therefore, liquid diamonds contain both a high cannabinoid content from the diamonds and a high terpene content from the live resin terpene sauce.
If you are somebody who wants an extremely potent concentrate, around 90% THC, combined with a whole lot of terpenes and a great potential for the entourage effect, liquid diamonds are probably your best bet. You should also notice a difference in appearance, especially because they may still contain small chunks of crystals or diamonds.
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How to Consume Live Resin Diamonds
There are various ways to consume live resin diamonds, with one of the most popular ones being in a vape cartridge. This type of concentrate is an excellent candidate to put in any kind of reusable or disposable vape cartridge. Vaporizing this type of concentrate results in a near-immediate high that hits you very hard and lasts a long time as well.
If you would rather dab your concentrates than vaporize, live resin diamonds are also a prime candidate for this. Dabbing is somewhat similar to vaporizing, although you’re more likely to get an even bigger and stronger hit. Therefore, vaporizing, and especially dabbing, is best reserved for professional connoisseurs who know what they are doing.
Another way to consume my resin diamonds is by smoking them, specifically by infusing your joints, bowls, blunts, and anything in between. You can put this concentrate in with your regular hemp or cannabis flower. This is generally considered a bit better for beginners because it doesn’t hit as hard or last as long. Remember that a vape pen produces a much stronger high than a regular cannabis flower.
The other option is to infuse live resin diamonds into your edibles. There are many different types of edibles, such as brownies, cookies, candies, gummies, lollipops, and more, that can all be made using this concentrate.
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Live Resin vs Diamonds: Which Is Better?
Whether live resin or THC diamonds are better is a very subjective question because it depends on what you’re looking for.
If you want a less potent concentrate that may contain anywhere between 40% and 80% THC, and you want something that is very rich in terpenes and flavor, then it is the live resin that you want.
If your main goal is to have a concentrate that is as potent as humanly possible, regardless of flavor or entourage effect, then THC diamonds are the better option.
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Where to Buy the Best Live Resin Carts Online
Ready to dive into the world of cannabis concentrates? Check out our expert reviews on Live Resin and Diamonds to find your perfect match, and our choices for the best live resin carts:
Delta Munchies LLC.
Golden Goat CBD
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Live Resin: Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s quickly answer some of your most frequently asked questions about live resin.
Are Live Resin Carts Better?
If you are looking for a moderately to very potent concentrate that is full of flavor, specifically resembling the original strain, then yes, live resin carts are good.
What Does Live Resin Do in Carts?
Inside of vaporizer cartridges, live resin vaporizes into an airborne vapor that you can inhale.
How Much Stronger Are Live Resin Carts?
How much stronger live resin carts are than other types of cartridges really depends on the exact concentrate in question. Due to the way in which live resin is made, however, the cartridges using it may actually be a little less potent than others.
Does Live Resin Get You High Faster?
Live resin gets you high very quickly if you vaporize, dab, or smoke it. Due to the terpenes it contains, and thus the resulting entourage effect, you may also feel slightly different sensations.
Is Live Resin the Best High?
Whether or not live resin produces a better or more enjoyable high than other concentrates is another highly subjective question. If you are looking for a very potent concentrate that may also produce the entourage effect, then it would be the best high for you.
What’s the Difference Between Live Diamonds and Diamonds?
Technically speaking, regular diamonds may be made out of cured cannabis or hemp bud, whereas live diamonds are made out of live resin or live (freshly flash-frozen) plant matter.
What Is the Live Diamonds THC Content?
Live diamonds usually contain between 90% and 99.9% % THC, whereas liquid diamonds usually contain around 90%.
What Are Live Resin Diamonds?
Live resin diamonds are THC diamonds made out of live resin.
