Distillate, also called liquid gold, is a highly refined form of hemp extract that contains a very high concentration of Delta 8. Unlike other extracts, hemp distillate is purified to remove all the plant compounds, including terpenes, flavonoids, and other cannabinoids, leaving only Delta 8 behind. The process results in a clear, odorless, flavorless, and thick golden-amber-colored product that can be used in various ways.

It’s a meticulous process to create distillate. Not only does this process require specialized equipment, but the extraction process and refinement must be completed in a highly controlled lab setting.

Here’s an overview of how the process works:
Extraction: hemp plant material is soaked in a solvent, such as ethanol, to extract the cannabinoids and terpenes. Next, the extracted material is mixed with ethanol and frozen to remove lipids, fats, and waxes.
Purification: The solution is filtered to eliminate any impurities.
Heated Fan Extraction: The solution undergoes a rotary evaporation (“rotavap”) process to further remove contaminants, concentrate the cannabinoids, and evaporate the ethanol.
Decarboxylation: The filtered extract is heated to activate the Distillate.
Distillation: The extract is distilled using a specialized vacuum distillation method that separates Distillate from other compounds based on their boiling points, and the result is a pure Distillate distillate. For higher purity levels, the distillate may be further refined.

Basically, live resin is a cannabis concentrate extracted from freshly harvested marijuana plant material that’s been flash-frozen (or fresh frozen) at sublevel temperatures, blasted with solvents like butane, propane, or butane hash oil (BHO), and pressed. This unique extraction technique is exactly what makes this concentrate so valued. It allows the curing and drying steps to be skipped. Instead, the fresh or “live” plant is frozen soon after the harvesting. This explains why certain cannabis products you may have seen in the market are categorized as “live.”

People often describe live resin as “terpy,” and its easy to see why. Live resin contains the fresh aromas of monoterpenes, the heavier flavors of sesquiterpenes, and significant amounts of delta 8 live resin. The production of live resin is not easy and trying it at home definitely isn’t recommended. It requires specialized equipment and a deep understanding of the process. The bottom line: making live resin is best left to the professionals. For centuries, growers have harvested cannabis buds and other plant material separated and left to dry out for up to ten days, and finally cured. Smokable flower, edibles and many oil extracts are developed during the curing process.

What is Live Resin?

Back in the day, hash would be as close as you could easily get to live resin. And Kind Bill was a master hash-maker. He’d sift dried cannabis to separate and collect the terpene-rich trichomes, heat them, and press them into tightly compacted hash. Here’s where things get a bit technical. Terpenes are in the trichomes, right? The terpenes are incredibly volatile, and a large amount evaporates when plants are hung and dried out. To make live resin, you need to separate the trichomes from the plant in a way that won’t compromise the terpenes. Kind Bill took freshly harvested cannabis and froze it at a critically low temperature. Using butane or BHO as a solvent, he separated the beneficial cannabinoids from the trichomes of a “live” flower.

The result? A super fresh concentrate known as “liquid gold” by live resin connoisseurs. Luckily, technology caught up with Kind Bill. Growers now freeze cannabis at harvest with liquid nitrogen or dry ice to prevent evaporation. Extractors use specialized lab equipment to heat butane, BHO, or other hydrocarbon solvents and apply pressure to release live resin.