What Does Full Spectrum Really Mean?
You probably hear it all the time, and it’s only going to start popping up more and more in the world of cannabis— “full spectrum.” But what exactly does ‘full spectrum’ mean, and how does it impact your cannabis experience? We have all the answers you need, courtesy of the expert cannabis team at our Las Vegas cannabis dispensary, Green.
Full Spectrum: More Than a Trend
Full-spectrum extracts are cannabis extracts that are harvested and processed in such a way that they maintain the full profile of the cannabis plant. That means they feature a majority of the cannabinoids, terpenes, and other compounds that naturally occur in the plant.
So, why go full-spectrum? First, it gets you closer to the experience of the plant itself— you don’t lose the aromas, flavors, and other nuances of the unique flower and strain. Meanwhile, you get to enjoy the benefits of the entourage effect— the way that different cannabinoids, terpenes, and other compounds all work together to provide unique and beneficial effects for your mind and body when they combine with THC and/or CBD.
So why aren’t all extracts full-spectrum? Well, they’re more complicated and expensive to produce due to the condition and quality required of the starting material, which we will explain later. The brands that do produce full-spectrum concentrates use a range of extraction methods that preserve these fragile compounds, from pressure and CO2 to hydrocarbon extraction.
Fresh Frozen Concentrates
Fresh frozen concentrates have become an absolutely booming trend in the full-spectrum product category, but what exactly does the term “fresh frozen” mean?
In the past, cannabis was almost always harvested at peak ripeness, chopping down the ripe plant and then drying its bud in a cool, dark place for weeks. The challenge came from the fact that starting with dried material yields a much lower terpene content, as the drying process damages or eliminates many of the naturally occurring terpenes found in cannabis.
With fresh frozen extraction, cannabis plants are cut from the stalk and immediately flash frozen in pillow-like vacuum-sealed bags. The process of flash-freezing at -38 degrees Fahrenheit locks in or preserves everything unique and desirable about the cannabis flower — terpenes (flavors), cannabinoids, and more. The result is an incredibly rich product filled with nearly all of the native terpenes from the original plant.
The next step? Getting from fresh frozen cannabis to live resin.
Live Resin: What Is It and Why Is It So Popular?
When it comes time for extraction, our little frozen pillows of frozen cannabis are ground up, packed in high-end stainless steel tubes, and treated with a solvent. This process extracts a high percentage of the terpenes and cannabinoids from the plant matter and produces a gold-colored oil that’s as much as 5X more potent than the flower itself.
This full-spectrum golden oil is used to create all the live resin concentrates we know and love. Now, these concentrate varieties are called “live resin” because of the live (fresh frozen) starting material required for extraction. Live Resin dab concentrates and vaporizer cartridges have become the preferred varieties of the more experienced cannabis consumers. This is because live resin makes up some of the most potent, aromatic, and true-to-flower cannabis concentrates available.
Simply put, live resin products recreate the raw flower’s truest terpene profile in the form of highly potent and easy-to-consume concentrate varieties, and that’s what’s made them so popular at cannabis dispensaries in Las Vegas and nationwide.
What It All Means for You
Full-spectrum extracts and live resin products aren’t just a hot trend— they currently represent some of the most potent, enjoyable cannabis products on the planet while minimizing negative effects like couchlock and crashes.
If you want to try full-spectrum extracts and live resins for yourself, check out our menu and place an order from our Las Vegas cannabis dispensary for pickup or delivery today!
