WEED VAPE PODS WITH LIVE ROSIN VERSUS CANNABIS DISTILLATE

If you're in the weed pen market looking for the best concentrates to vape, you’ll find yourself faced with all different types of oils. It could make the decision hard to make for those who don’t have that much experience with cannabis. Luckily, we can make that process easy by teaching you a few things about the oils you find in weed vape pods.

Two types of oils that people vaporize are distillate with added terpenes, and also, live rosin. These two concentrates tend to be at the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to quality.

Let’s discuss the difference between vaporizing cannabis-derived terpenes and live rosin, as well as which one offers the better experience.

What are cannabis-derived terpenes?

Terpenes are the molecules that give cannabis plants their smell and taste.  Research has shown they may also be responsible for the specific effects we feel from different cannabis strains. So if you consume Ghost Face Mintz and feel euphoric and relaxed, it is likely due to the combination of terpenes in the flower.

If you smoke cannabis flower, you’ll be consuming cannabis terpenes from the plant. However, if you’re buying cannabis vape pens, you’ll be purchasing between cannabis-derived terpenes, botanical terpenes, and synthetic terpenes.

Cannabis-derived terpenes are terpenes that came directly from the cannabis plant. They are compared to botanical terpenes, which come from other non-cannabis natural flora, and synthetic terpenes, which are made in a lab with various chemicals instead of actual plants.

You can’t vaporize terpenes alone, you need a carrying agent. This is why terpenes are typically added back to distillates. The pure distillate oil delivers a highly potent vaping experience; the terpenes provide a much-needed addition of flavor to the otherwise odorless and tasteless THC distillate.

Of these terpenes, for cannabis consumption, cannabis-derived terpenes provide the most authentic cannabis strain experience. 

What are the benefits of cannabis-derived terpenes?

The benefits of cannabis-derived terpenes are that they contain the same terpene profile as the original strain they came from. So if you get a weed vape pen with cannabis-derived terpenes labeled Gelato #41, then you can expect it to have the exact flavor as some Gelato #41 flower.

Another benefit is knowing that the terpenes are cannabis, versus botanical or synthetic. While the terpene profile of cannabis can be mirrored, there is still a difference in the overall experience. This is great for consumers who only want cannabis products.

So, what about live rosin?

Live rosin is a type of solventless concentrate that can be used with dab rigs, dab pens, and handheld weed pens.

It is made from cannabis plants that were freshly frozen after harvest to maintain a high trichome density and a high terpene content. Those trichomes are washed away from cannabis plants with ice and water, and then they’re processed with heat and pressure to make some of the best quality concentrates on the market.

What are the benefits of live rosin?

For one, live rosin is seen as the superior form of cannabis concentrates. That’s because it is clean and pure, and its chemical profile remains unaltered throughout the extraction and processing.

For two, the flavors of live rosin are incredible. Those sweet, fruity, and gassy flavors of Bubblegum Gelato definitely come through when you buy live rosin pods.

For three, because it contains the complete profile of the original cannabis strain it came from, live rosin promotes the beloved entourage effect.

The entourage effect is a theory in cannabis that says its potential therapeutic effects work best when consumed in totality, which refers to cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, lipids, and all of the other plant compounds that make up a cannabis strain. Live rosin provides that.

All of these benefits make it easy to see why people love live rosin concentrates so much, even if they do cost a little bit more than alternatives.

Distillate with cannabis-derived terpenes versus live rosin

There’s a big difference between weed pens for vaping distillate infused with cannabis terpene formulas and weed pens for vaping live rosin. Let’s start with their chemical profiles. 

Chemical profiles of cannabis strains

If you’re vaporizing distillate infused with cannabis-derived terpenes with Grape Ape terpenes, you’ll definitely get that sweet, grapey taste from the oil. However, the type of high you expect might be a little different than the high you remember from smoking Grape Ape flower. It might just be super potent, instead of giving you a well-rounded uplifting, sleepy, and relaxed feel.

With live rosin, that isn’t the case, because the pods on the weed pens house oil made with the exact same chemical profile as the original plant. That means if you like smoking Orange Sunshine flower, and you enjoy a nice uplifting and relaxing experience, then you can expect the same experience from some Orange Sunshine live rosin pods.

The potency of cannabis distillate 

Distillates get you super high because they are pure THC, with potency typically being between 95 and 99%. Compared to live rosin, which is typically between 70-80% THC since it also contains the other compounds of the plant, distillates with added terpenes win the potency battle, though it is really tough to quantify “higher.”

Even with the mixture of terpenes, the THC distillates with added terpenes will likely have a higher potency than live rosin.

The entourage effect of live rosin

To create the entourage effect, you need every compound that lives inside of those cannabis plant trichomes. By definition, weed pens with distilled and added cannabis terps are unable to provide that, since they are simply cannabinoids and terpenes, without the other molecules.

Live rosin delivers though. So if you care about what scientifically makes cannabis most efficient, live rosin pods win out here every time.

So in the end, regardless of personal preference, live rosin is objectively better than vaporizing cannabis-derived terpenes mixed with distillate. While the latter option has a higher potency by number, it cannot beat the full cannabis experience of vaporizing solventless live rosin. It is the best cannabis concentrate.

At STIIIZY, all of our weed vape pods only use premium cannabis flower, and we offer our very own weed pen battery system.