Rosin is cannabis resin extracted mechanically. The starting material is warmed and squeezed between plates so the resin flows out, usually through a fine mesh filter bag that holds back plant matter. No solvent is used, so it is a solventless product. The result ranges from a translucent sap to an opaque, buttery texture, depending on starting material, processing and any post-press handling.
In practice
What goes into the press largely decides what comes out. Rosin pressed from flower, called flower rosin, carries more plant lipids and is usually lower in quality and yield than rosin pressed from ice water hash (hash rosin). Rosin made from fresh frozen material via ice water hash is called live rosin. Post-press, rosin may be left to "jam" or "butter" as the cannabinoid acids crystallise. GenetixBay defines rosin but doesn't provide temperatures, pressures or methods.
Don't confuse with
- Pine rosin (colophony): the resin used on violin bows, unrelated.
- Resin (extract): live resin and cured resin are solvent-based.
- Pressed hash: resin compressed as a solid, not squeezed out as oil.
Hash rosin is rosin pressed from hash, usually ice water hash, rather than from flower; it is cleaner and typically higher in quality than flower rosin.Bubble hash, or ice water hash, is a solventless concentrate made by separating trichome heads from cannabis in cold water and collecting them on graded mesh bags.Fresh frozen is cannabis frozen immediately after harvest without drying or curing, used as starting material for live resin and live rosin to keep more volatile aroma.Live rosin is rosin pressed from ice water hash made from fresh frozen plants, preserving more of the volatile aroma of the living plant; it is solventless.A cannabinoid is any compound that binds the body's cannabinoid receptors or shares the typical cannabis terpenophenolic structure; the plant-made ones are phytocannabinoids such as THCA and CBDA.Live resin is a solvent-based cannabis extract made from fresh frozen plant material instead of dried and cured flower, to retain more volatile aroma compounds.Cured resin is a solvent-based extract made from dried and cured cannabis rather than fresh frozen material, typically with a more aged, less bright aroma than live resin.Pressed hash is loose trichome resin, such as kief or ice water hash, compressed into a solid cake or slab so it holds together and keeps better.Solventless describes cannabis concentrates made only by mechanical or physical separation, using screens, ice water, heat or pressure, without chemical solvents.A concentrate is any cannabis product in which the trichome resin has been separated from plant material, giving far higher cannabinoid and terpene content than flower.
