It’s clear the cannabis industry is constantly pursuing the next big thing. In years past, the main ways to consume cannabis were smoking flower or eating edibles. That was it. Boy, have things changed!
The cannabis space today features all kinds of products for consumers to try, including a wide array of cannabis concentrates. Concentrate is a broad term for products that have been extracted from the cannabis or hemp plant and can take a number of forms.
While there are many different forms, including live resin vs rosin vs distillate, live resin has steadily become one of the most popular. It’s not hard to see why - it’s as true-to-strain as you’ll find, producing the most balanced, complex high you’ve ever felt.
But how you do smoke live resin? You’ve come to the right place. We know how intimidating it can be to try a new cannabis product so we’ll show you how to smoke live resin concentrate few different ways:
- Dabbing
- Vaping
- Topping bowls
- And more!
While each of these ways to smoke live resin has its place, we encourage you to spoil yourself with live resin gummies for a safer, longer-lasting experience without putting your lungs in harm's way.
Whether you’re interested in the indica gummies effects or the best sativa gummies for energy, Evn has you covered!
What is Live Resin?
Before we can show you how to smoke live resin concentrate, what exactly is live resin?
Many cannabis concentrates are produced using heat, combined with other solvents. However, these processes can strip the final product of many of the compounds that make cannabis so great - not just cannabinoids, but also terpenes and flavonoids.
Enter live resin, a fairly new concentrate produced through a unique technique that preserves all of the precious, flavorful terpenes that not only add to the flavor and aroma but even shape the strain’s effects.
Live resin isn’t heated. Rather, it’s made from the fresh flower of the cannabis plant. This is different from other approaches that first dry and cure the flower. But again, the process of live resin extraction is designed to maximize terpene preservation.
Extractors use a solvent like butane or carbon dioxide (CO2) to strip away the good stuff - cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids - from the plant matter. So, is live resin dangerous? Not at all! There’s a purging process to remove any residual solvents from the final product, backed by lab testing.
The end result is a flavorful, potent, and fast-acting concentrate that has gradually grown in popularity over the past decade to become one of the most highly sought-after cannabis extracts today.
It’s far more expensive than flower, vapes, or edibles - but a little goes a long way, making live resin one of the best bangs for your buck in the cannabis realm. Just one question: can you smoke live resin?
Can You Smoke Live Resin?
Yes, there are actually quite a few ways to smoke live resin - but we want to be clear that for the sake of this conversation, we’re using the term smoking interchangeably with dabbing and vaping. Technically, smoking live resin isn’t the best way to consume this concentrate.
The reason is that the butane in a lighter can mess with the flavor of your extract and detract from the experience. In this sense, dabbing or vaping live resin is the way to go.
Frankly, eating edibles beats dabbing, vaping, or smoking for that matter - but we’ll touch on that more in a little while. In the meantime, how do you smoke live resin?
How Do You Smoke Live Resin? 5 Ways to Smoke Live Resin
As extracted plant material, concentrates like live resin look far different than cannabis flower. Live resin has a heavy, honey-like appearance, and a gram is generally sold as a plump blob in a small glass container.
Needless to say, you can’t simply pop live resin into a pipe or joint and get to smoking. There are a few different ways to smoke live resin, and each has its pros and cons. We’ll show you how to smoke live resin concentrate through each approach below.
Dabbing
Dabbing is the go-to approach for smoking live resin. It’s a great way to truly take in the flavor of the product and can lead to immediate and intense effects.
But as similar as a dab rig may look to a bong, the process of using one is definitely distinct. Like bongs, dab rigs have water in their base and a mouthpiece at the top. That’s where the similarities end.
Instead of a bowl that would be filled with ground cannabis flower, dab rigs have a glass “nail,” which is a small reservoir to drop your concentrate in. You’ll scoop up a tiny bit of concentrate onto a dab tool (less than a grain of rice to start with).
Then, you’ll heat up the nail with a torch until it is red hot, wait a bit for it to cool (to avoid burning the concentrate), apply the live resin to the nail while inhaling, cover it with a glass carb cap, and exhale a potent, flavorful cloud.
There are also e-nails, which as the name suggests, give you precise control over temperature and save you from having to use a torch.
Dab rigs can be bought at local smoke shops or online, but be aware that they’re not cheap. You also need to source all the other tools like a dab tool, torch, and carb cap.
The process of dabbing itself does take some time to get used to and can be intimidating to some users. It’s also really intense - not necessarily a great way to simply “take the edge off.” It’s hard to control how big a dab you’re taking, and it’s easy to end up in a coughing fit.
Nectar Collector
A nectar collector is a unique smoking instrument that involves a similar process as a dab rig, with a few differences. These have a long straw-like shape to inhale the concentrated vapor directly. Think of them more like a pipe that you use to dab.
You’ll heat the tip of the nectar collector with a torch until it reaches the ideal temperature, touch the device to your live resin (even directly in the glass container), inhale, and enjoy a nice helping of live resin vapor.
The appeal here is that nectar collectors can be taken on the go with you much more easily than a dab rig would be. The downside is that you can easily get carried away with how much you consume, so it’s wise to set aside the full “dab” you want to take to prevent this.
Live Resin Cartridges
If you’re looking to try out some live resin without stocking up on new tools, a live resin cartridge is a good solution. These are pre-filled cartridges containing live resin, which then screw into a chargeable battery.
The mechanisms can vary, with some batteries simply requiring an inhale to release vapor and others with various heat settings and buttons to prompt the action. Cartridges are great for folks who are on the go, are generally incredibly simple to use, and fairly accessible.
But the real benefit is how discreet these are. You can fit it in your pocket or your purse and take a hit off to the side and nobody will know. They do produce some odor, but not nearly as much as a dab would.
Dab Pens
We know what you’re thinking - aren’t live resin cartridges and dab pens the same thing? Not exactly. Though the consumption method is fairly similar, these are two distinct ways to enjoy live resi.
Rather than using a prefilled cartridge, vape pens compatible with concentrates have a coil to stick live resin or other concentrates in directly. Then, you’ll take a hit and smoke the entire “dab” you placed on the coils. You’d need to reload the coils for a second hit.
Simply use a dab tool to round up a bit of live resin, drop it into the coil, click the button on the dab pen, and enjoy. A dab pen is often more expensive than a standard cartridge-compatible battery, but it allows you to experiment with concentrates sold in raw form by the gram.
In this sense, it’s a more “true-to-strain” experience than a live resin cartridge. It’s going to be more in line with “dabbing” than “vaping” for most users.
Combine With Flower
If you’re generally more of a flower user, you can elevate your experience by sprinkling some live resin onto a bowl or wrapping it around or inside a joint.
You want to avoid putting your lighter directly to the concentrate, allowing it to burn as you continue to smoke, but this can be a great way to enjoy the perks of both flower and concentrates!
Just be aware that the effects of combining live resin with flower can be intense. These are ways to smoke live resin we really only recommend for advanced users. Truthfully, it can be overkill for most people!
Introducing a Cleaner Way to Enjoy Live Resin
We know you came here to learn how to smoke live resin, but hear us out. Your lungs are designed to filter air, not smoke - or even vapor, for that matter. Why not breathe easier enjoying something cleaner, like our live resin gummies here at Evn?
From our hybrid gummies to our indica gummies and sativa gummies, you can expect the finest Mother Nature has to offer with single-strain extracts sourced from elite cultivars here in the USA. All our products are lab-tested so you can rest assured you’re getting the pure, potent gummies you deserve.
If you’ve never tried live resin gummies, you’re in for a real treat. How long do live resin gummies take to kick in, though? While effects may not take hold for up to an hour, they’ll last way longer than if you were smoking live resin.
These are also more convenient and discreet - no need to load up a dab or stress about charging your pen. Just pop a gummy, kick back, and enjoy!
Final Words on How To Smoke Live Resin Concentrate
That does it for our guide on how to smoke live resin concentrate! As you can see, there are so many great ways to smoke live resin - from the classic approach of dabbing to more convenient methods such as vaping. You can even put live resin on top of a bowl of flower and blast off.
But at the end of the day, you can’t beat the clean, convenient, and discreet approach of live resin gummies. It’s easier to get the effects you want since you can be more precise in dosing, and you aren’t putting anything in your lungs that shouldn’t be there.
Learn more about live resin vs liquid diamonds, how to make live resin gummies, live resin vs wax, sativa vs indica for female arousal, runtz strain, and other topics in our blog.
Otherwise, it’s time to spoil yourself at Evn - from live resin gummies to CBN THC gummies and even THC tincture, we have something for everyone. Treat yourself today and see what keeps our customers coming back for more!