LIVE RESIN VS ROSIN BADDER: IS ONE BETTER THAN THE OTHER?

If you’re stepping into the world of cannabis concentrates, then you’re probably doing your best to get familiar with all the different types and consistencies. There are all types of concentrates, like resin, rosin, live resin, and live rosin, in addition to a whole slew of consistencies, like badder, budder, waxes, and the list goes on.

With minimal education, it can be pretty tough to know what all these different types of concentrates will mean for your consumption experience. We’re here to make that process easy for you. Let’s discuss live resin vs rosin batter, and which of them is better.

What is badder and how is it prepared?

Cannabis concentrates are made by extracting trichomes from the cannabis plant and processing them into many different consistencies with unique textures, one of which is badder.

Badder is a texture of cannabis concentrate that is made by whipping up the extracted trichomes into a thick, waxy consistency that people can dab. It is often blondish-yellowish-goldish in color, depending on the starting material used to create it.

Badder often comes from cold-cured resin (solvent-based) and cold-cured rosin (solventless). It involves curing a jarred extract at a room temperature of 60°F and 70°F or refrigerated at around 40°F.

On the other side of curing, when concentrates are heat-cured, they turn into a jam-like consistency. That involves curing a jarred concentrate at a temperature in the 90°F to 120°F range.

How is live resin different from rosin badder?

To better understand what the product's badder comes from, we must first understand resin and rosin.

When a cannabis nug makes your fingers feel greasy and sticky, that is plant resin on your hands. That resin comes from the trichomes on the plant smearing on your hands.

Rosin is when you take those plant trichomes and press them up until oil. This can be done with a rosin press. To make rosin, you can press raw plant material and/or raw trichomes (kief).

Both resin and rosin come from plants that have been harvested, dried, and cured. Concentrates with “live” in the name are produced from plants that were freshly harvested (and then flash frozen), versus concentrates that were made from plants that were dried and cured. That is the difference between live resin from resin, and live rosin from rosin.

The belief is that freezing plants after harvest immediately locks in the cannabinoids and terpenes that may otherwise evaporate during the drying/curing process, thus making “live” products more potent and flavorful.

In terms of the consumption experience, both live resin and live rosin badder are full of cannabinoids and terpenes. That means no specific form of them gets you “higher”; that is all based on the different combinations of cannabinoids and terpenes in the product, not simply its physical consistency. 

What differentiates live resin from live rosin badder is that live resin uses chemical solvents — like ethanol, butane, and carbon dioxide, to extract the trichomes from the cannabis plant and then process them into dabs. Rosin and live rosin badder simply use heat and pressure to extract trichomes, then whip up into badder. 

For many dab connoisseurs, solventless rosin and live rosin are seen as superior products to resin and live resin, since rosin leaves the original chemical profile of the plant completely untainted by added solvents.

It is important that all chemical solvents are properly purged from resin and live resin products. Purging dabs of solvents makes sure that they are safe to consume, and that the flavor of your resin and live resins won’t taste like residual solvents.

How is badder consumed?

You consume badder the same way you consume other concentrates: by dabbing it.

To dab badder, whether made from (live) resin or (live) rosin, you will need a dab rig. Dab rigs are (normally) glass devices made up of a base, a dab nail (banger), a mouthpiece, and various accessories that help you get the most out of your badder, like carb caps and terp pearls, for example. You can also use dab pens like the Puffco Plus to consume badder and other types of extracts.

In addition to glass dab rigs, there are also electronic dab rigs that are very popular. These devices include the Puffco Peak, Ispire’s Daab, and the Carta 2 from Focus V.

These devices are extremely helpful when dabbing extracts because they don’t require a torch, have electronic heating systems, are extremely portable, and are easy to clean.

So if you’re a beginner, just now stepping into the world of dabs, these e-rigs could be an excellent entry point.

Cannabis extracts have to reach a certain temperature to turn into vapor. When dabbing both live resin and rosin badder, you want to maintain a high temperature that will melt the concentrates, but not so high that it burns off all of the terpenes.

Terpenes are the aromatic oils that give cannabis flower and dabs their smell and taste, so it’s very important to preserve them throughout both the extraction and consumption processes.

Different badders will have different optimal temperatures for dabbing, based on the quality of starting plant material, and the genetics of the strain used. In general, people like to dab at a temperature between 320 and 500 degrees, with 400-450 degrees Fahrenheit often being the sweet spot.

What’s great about badder?

The great thing about dabbing badder is the same great thing about dabbing any concentrates: they’re extremely potent, they’re extremely flavorful, and they let you experience the maximum potential of a cannabis strain’s genetic profile. 

 

Think about when you’re smoking some Jack Herer flower, for example. When you put your nose to the flower, you may detect a mix of piney, lemony, and earthy tones. 

However, the joint’s taste is still going to be hugely influenced by all of the plant matter. It may result in a harsher smoking experience than if you were dabbing some nice live resin or rosin badder.

 

Dabbing concentrates like badder make it much easier to smell and taste those big piney and lemony Jack terps. So that’s what’s so great about dabbing badder: it makes cannabis consumption all about smooth hits, big flavors, high potency, and a full-profile strain experience.

Which is better: live resin vs live rosin badder?

Better is subjective in cannabis. The choice in products always comes down to consumer preference and the experience they seek. 

That said, it is true that most cannabis connoisseurs lean towards solventless products like live rosin vs live resin badder, when they’re purchasing dabs. 

 

That is because solventless products never contained extra chemicals at any point in the extraction process. Because of that, live rosin badder is considered the most natural, robust, and enjoyable expression of the original strain used to make it. 

That means if you bought some Gelato solventless dabs, you can expect it to truly remind you of the original Gelato flower’s aroma and flavor profile. 

 

With solvent-based products that have been poorly purged of chemical solvents, you may still taste a little bit of the butane/propane/ethanol in there, ultimately distorting the taste, effects, and overall consumer experience.

 Luckily, you never have to worry about that with any of STIIIZY’s live resin products. They were all properly vacuumed and purged of chemical solvents.