Distillate, Live Resin, and 6-hour Drives

It’s 2019, a Saturday morning. Lauren and I wake up early ready to make our voyage to the Berkshires of Massachusetts.

“Definitely a Berry Haze Fernway” she continues our conversation from the night before as we slink into the car, sleep still in her eyes. 

Theory Dispensary is the destination, all the way up in Great Barrington. Back then it was the closest recreational dispensary, and it’s a 3-hour trip one-way from Weehawken. Looking for something different than our local Jersey medical options, we decide we’ll make a day out of it.

“Maybe two” she muses, as she gets into a comfy position in the passenger seat.

Back then Fernway’s Berry Haze was her favorite cartridge, and like most vapes in the east-coast markets at the time, it was made with distillate. 

Distillate vapes start with cannabis plant matter that’s been refined down to just THC, stripped of almost everything else along the way - its terpenes, its waxes, its lipids and chlorophyll. Terpenes are usually added back after the fact to create flavor and effects. Sometimes those terpenes are derived from other life like fruits (these are called “botanically-derived” terpenes). The result is a consistent, potent, shelf stable, and often more affordable vape product. It’s why distillate becomes so popular, you know exactly what you were getting every single time.

Full-spectrum products like live resin vapes tend to come a little later, and they’re made with a very different philosophy. Instead of drying and curing the plant, fresh cannabis is frozen right after harvest and extracted while still “live.” That process preserves the plant’s natural terpene profile and its other components, capturing more of the aroma, flavor, and nuance of the original flower. The high tends to feel fuller and more layered, not just strong but expressive. You taste the strain, not just the THC.

Neither is better or worse, each product serves its purposes. Distillate is reliable, discreet, and effective, especially for people who want straightforward relief. Live resin is closer to the experience of the plant itself, often preferred by people who care about flavor and how different strains actually feel all by themselves. 

These days Lauren still has her favorites in both categories, but we don’t have to drive six hours to find them. Progress has its perks.