Watch this: How Weed Rosin Wagons are made

Rosin is a popular cannabis concentrate known for its potency and flavor—without the use of chemicals. Because of the way it’s made, rosin carries a lot of the aroma and flavor from the original plant it was made from. Just like essential oils, rosin is solvent-free, meaning it’s not made with ethanol or alcohol. Instead, the weed material is squeezed between two heated plates, forcing out a sticky, oily or honey-like extraction.

The low heat used to press rosin means terpenes are better preserved, making rosin terpy and more flavorful. Because rosin is made by hand, it tends to be more expensive, but is considered “cleaner” even without chemicals.

Rosin is often sold in chunks in individual packs intended for dabbing in a dab rig, but more and more companies are packaging rosin in cartridges for easy, discreet consumption via a vape pen or 510-thread rechargeable battery.

Watch our video above of how Nevada producer CAMP makes rosin carts.

Related

Leafly’s guide to rosin: what is it and how to make it

Types of weeds used to press rosin

Rosin can be made from flower, kief, or hash. The quality of the starting material determines the quality of the finished, pressed rosin – fire in, fire out, as the saying goes.

Trim or Shake will produce low quality rosin that has little potency and flavor as Trim and Shake doesn’t have much THC and is harder to smoke than bud. The same goes for low-quality kief or hash.

When flowers are used to press rosin, they’re often dried, but CAMP’s video above uses freshly frozen flowers to make icewater hash—making their product live rosin, since frozen plants are used instead of dried ones. The buds are flash frozen in their flowering stage before the terpenes have time to break down, making the end product incredibly terpy and aromatic.

There are many consumer rosin presses available to make your own rosin fresh and on demand at home. However, rosin carts usually have to be purchased from licensed pharmacies since rosin is added into a cartridge. There are refillable vape carts out there, but most vapers find it easier (and less messy) to buy a pre-filled cart.

How to craft live rosin carts

Cannabis company CAMP uses freshly frozen plants as the starting material for their live rosin carts and turns them into ice water hash, but rosin can also be made from dried cannabis, kief, or hash. The texture and consistency of the final product can vary depending on the starting material, and thick rosin can be difficult to rack up and vaporize properly.

CAMP grows all of its own cannabis plants rather than sourcing starting material from another farm. Plants are grown to maturity and harvested. The buds are then placed in a cryogenic freezer kept below -42°F/°C, which helps preserve cannabinoids and terpenes.

After freezing, the buds are placed in giant buckets to make ice water hash. Ice water is added to the buckets and then the buds are agitated, freezing and breaking off the trichomes. The water/trichome mixture is drained off and the ice water hash is separated through a series of finer and finer mesh screens. The hash is then dried in an oven.

After drying, the hash is pressed into rosin, poured into vape trucks and ready for dispensing. The rosin is not diluted and no additives are added when it is added to vape carts. This freshly frozen ice water hash method ensures high levels of terpenes and cannabinoids are retained in the final rosin, providing the consumer with a terpy, flavorful experience.

Pat Goggins

Pat Goggins is a senior content editor at Leafly, specializing in cannabis cultivation after working for a commercial grower in Oregon. When you’re not correcting typos, chances are you’ll find him on a boat or in the mountains.

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