Dear Stoner: What's the Deal With Live-Resin Extract?

Dear Stoner: What’s the deal with “live resin” extract? What makes it so expensive, other than the fact that tourists will buy it? If the extraction process for “live resin” is to freeze and process the plant while it’s still alive, then “live resin” does not cure. As a patient, this seems odd, because the shops don’t cure enough, and some say that’s where the best flower shines through — after the cure.
Resinator

Dear Resinator: Live-resin extractions are concentrates made from entire plants that are cryogenically frozen soon after harvesting. You’re right that the plants aren’t cured, but that actually doesn’t impact the concentrates in the way that you would expect. Curing is the process of slowly drying out a bud to preserve as many of the oils, cannabinoids and terpenes (the things that give bud flavor) as possible. But a lot gets lost during curing. The freezing process preserves more of the oils and terpenes that are present in the plant when it is alive and allows for them to be extracted into the finished product. When done right, this results in the most full-flavored, complex concentrates around — and also the most expensive. The price comes in part from the comparatively low yields as compared to other extraction methods, and in part because the process is very time-consuming. Frankly, this stuff isn’t so much for tourists as it is for purists. And at $70-plus for a gram in some shops, we mean purists with deep pockets. For us it’s an occasional treat, something to toke on for a special occasion. We’ll stick with normal, bud-run shatter or high-grade bubble hash for day-to-day concentrate use.

Dear Stoner: I saw your answer last week about how opening a dispensary in a home isn’t likely. So how do I get my permit to sell my bud to the stores?
Basement Bobby

Dear BB: Our answer about dispensaries applies to your question about commercial grows as well. Basically, you aren’t going to be able to just grow pot in your basement and then sell it to dispensaries. This isn’t Cali, brah. Instead, you need to apply with the state and your local municipality — and to do that, you’ll have to grow in an approved space, and we don’t know of any municipalities that allow for home growing for commercial purposes. You’ll have to find a warehouse. For more information on what it takes at the state level, visit colorado.gov/pacific/enforcement/business-license-application-process-retail-marijuana.