710 Labs did not start in California, and it did not invent rosin. It started behind the counter of a Boulder hash bar, spent its first years winning with hydrocarbon extracts, and then moved into solventless. The California chapter came after that move. Here is how a Colorado hash maker turned into one of the names serious rosin buyers look for on the West Coast.
Boulder, 2009: a hash bar first
Founder Brad Melshenker told Forbes in a February 2021 interview that he first ran into modern concentrates in 2008 at an Encino dispensary called Kind Meds. A year later he opened The Greenest Green, a dispensary and hash bar in Boulder, Colorado. Forbes dates the founding of 710 Labs to 2009 in Boulder, and the brand's own Colorado page says the same.
One wrinkle for the record: the About page on 710labs.com says the company has been operating since 2010, and a 2022 World Red Eye profile also uses 2010. The Colorado page and the Forbes interview both say 2009. Either way, the brand is well over a decade deep, which in legal cannabis is a long time.
The name carries more than one meaning. Flip "710" upside down and it reads "OIL", which is why the number became hash-culture shorthand. World Red Eye added two more layers in its 2022 profile: 710 works as the concentrate counterpart to 420, and July 10 is Melshenker's birthday. For the wider story of the number and the holiday built around it, see our history of 710 and Dab Day.
The hydrocarbon years
Before it was a rosin brand, 710 Labs was a solvent shop, and a good one. Denver's Westword reported that the company was co-founded by Melshenker and Wade Sanders, won the High Times People's Choice award for Best Hash in 2014, and was known for wax, sugar wax, ice wax, live resin and shatter. Westword also reported that the operation was running in Denver from 2015.
Forbes adds that 710 Labs set up its first licensed extraction facility in 2012, which Melshenker described in that interview as the first of its kind globally. That is his claim rather than an independent finding, but it places the brand early in Colorado's licensed extraction era.
The partnership did not last. According to Westword, Sanders and Melshenker separated in 2016. Sanders went on to launch his own Colorado extraction company, Olio, while Melshenker kept running 710 Labs.
The pivot to solventless
The turn that defines the brand today came in 2015. On its California page, 710 Labs says it entered California in 2016, "just a year after we entered the solventless game." In other words, the company that won Best Hash on hydrocarbon extracts built its next chapter around ice water, heat and pressure.
That was a bigger switch than it sounds. Live resin and live rosin both start with fresh-frozen plants, but they part ways at extraction. Cryo Cure's live rosin guide by Greg Baughman explains that live resin is made with solvents, usually light hydrocarbons such as butane or propane. Live rosin skips the solvent entirely, so every gram depends on how resinous the starting material is.
How live rosin gets made
Cryo Cure's guide, first published in March 2023, breaks solventless production into a handful of steps:
- Start with fresh-frozen flower harvested and frozen before drying.
- Agitate the frozen material in near-freezing water so the trichome heads break away from the plant.
- Strain the water through layered micron bags, which the guide says typically run from 25 to 220 microns, collecting each grade separately.
- Freeze-dry the collected trichomes, up to 24 hours per the guide, to make bubble hash.
- Press the hash with heat and pressure, at plate temperatures the guide puts between 160°F and 210°F.
What comes off the press is rosin. No butane, no propane, no purge. The trade-off is yield and cost: without a solvent to pull everything out, the hash has to be good before it ever sees the press.
Persy, Live Rosin and the micron game
710 Labs sorts its rosin by what goes into the press. According to the brand's Persy Rosin page, Persy is "made by pressing only the finest spectrum of Water Hash – 90u – from the first wash," refined with nothing but heat and pressure. The company calls it "our favorite form of fresh press rosin."
Live Rosin sits one step over. The brand's Live Rosin page describes it as a mix-micron concentrate that uses a full spectrum of water hash, rather than the 90u heads reserved for Persy and Water Hash. The same page says 90u batches that meet the brand's standards but do not qualify as Persy are sold as Live Rosin, and that a cheaper Second Press is offered only rarely.
Across its state pages, the current lineup shows up in a few recurring formats: Persy Doinks, Persy Badder, Thumbprints and Neapolitan blends, many released under the Close Friends name. Forbes also noted the brand's noodle doinks, pre-rolls built with fusilli pasta as the filter.
Genetics and the grow
Solventless lives or dies on the plant, and 710 Labs talks about genetics accordingly. Its Genetics page says the company sources cultivars "from a variety of breeders across the country" and hunts phenos year-round, cycling new selections in constantly. The page splits the catalog into hash strains and flower strains, with names like Banana Pie, Ghost Hulk and Chocolate Oranges on the hash side and cuts such as GMO on the flower side.
The brand's About page lists small-batch production, hand-trimmed flower, living soil, pesticide-free cultivation and batch pricing, where the price follows the batch rather than a flat menu rate. Its Colorado page says the company grows all of its products in-house, and Leafly's brand listing shows six California licenses on file, including cultivation and distribution permits.
California and The List
California is now home. Forbes described 710 Labs as based in Los Angeles as of 2021, and the brand's California page says it makes its goods in-house and sells through a network of licensed retail partners across the state, with online ordering and a store locator for pickup and delivery.
The other California move was The List. The brand's California page says The List was introduced to the state and is "still here, getting riper with age." It works as a drop program: members sign up, and curated batches are released on a schedule, often at 7:10 pm. Forbes also described The List as the brand's e-commerce home for artist collaborations.
Those collaborations have been a big part of how 710 Labs presents itself. Forbes cited past projects with artist Richard Prince and with Camp High, vape pen designs with Astral Oracles, and a 2021 line with actor Jaleel White called It's PurpL. The brand treats packaging and drops as culture, not just SKUs.
No Hot Dabs
One more thing Forbes flagged: 710 Labs has pushed a "No Hot Dabs" message, promoting low-temperature consumption so the flavor of expensive rosin does not get scorched off on a glowing nail. It is a natural stance for a brand whose whole pitch is about what survives the wash and the press. If you want to dial in your own setup, our breakdown of low-temp versus high-temp dabs covers the device side.
A slow rush into more states
710 Labs now lists five markets on its site: Colorado, California, Florida, Michigan and New Jersey. The Westword piece noted that, at the time it was written, the company was not operating in Colorado, so the current Colorado page, which says "we will always feel our strongest ties to all of you from Denver to Breckenridge," reflects a return to its home state.
Expansion has run through partners, because cannabis cannot cross state lines. The brand's Florida page calls its approach a "slow rush" and explains that Florida's vertical integration rules meant finding a licensed operator willing to match the quality standards of its California and Colorado facilities. That partner is The Flowery, which the page says carries 710 Labs through its pickup locations and statewide delivery.
World Red Eye reported in 2022 that the Florida relationship had been developing for five years before it was formalized. In Michigan, the brand's page says operations began in late 2022, The List followed in February 2023, and Persy Doink releases have included a collaboration with Fear of Boof.
Why 710 Labs matters to solventless
The honest version of the 710 Labs story is better than the myth. This is not a company that showed up in California and built rosin from nothing. It is a Colorado hash bar that won on hydrocarbon extract, moved into solventless in 2015, brought that solventless program to California in 2016 and has kept refining it since.
Our take: what earns 710 Labs its reputation is the discipline around inputs. Tiering rosin by micron and wash, publishing genetics by pheno, pricing by batch and releasing through a drop list all point the same direction. It is a brand that asks buyers to care about where their hash came from, which is exactly the question solventless is built to answer.
Frequently asked questions
Where was 710 Labs founded?
In Boulder, Colorado. Forbes and the brand's Colorado page date the founding to 2009, when Brad Melshenker opened The Greenest Green dispensary and hash bar there. The brand's About page uses 2010.
When did 710 Labs come to California?
The brand's California page says it entered California in 2016, a year after it moved into solventless production. The company is now based in Los Angeles.
What is the difference between Persy and Live Rosin?
Per 710 Labs, Persy is pressed only from 90u water hash from the first wash. Live Rosin uses a mix of microns, and 90u batches that miss the Persy standard are also sold as Live Rosin.
Which states carry 710 Labs?
The brand's site lists Colorado, California, Florida, Michigan and New Jersey. Its site has a store locator for current retail availability.