I greatly dislike broad ranging, general statements and try my best to provide accurate information without committing the same errors in logic. That said, there are certainly trends and ideas that apply far more often than they do not, but keep in mind there are always outliers and exceptions to every rule.
I've been watching Punch Extracts pumping out a bonafied treasure-trove of unique and interesting Fresh Press Live Rosin flavors. Many of my followers switched from some of the elite producers, finding quality hash and rosin companies for less. I've said all along as soon as someone figures out how to sell their solventless for even ten bucks less, I'm all in. Trust me, despite sourcing most of their cannabis from the Emerald Triangle, you would have already seen a lot more Punch on my feed if it was sold anywhere in Humboldt County.
While a few companies have figured out how to produce rosin badder or cold-cure rosin badder for less, Punch is the only brand on California's retail market able to achieve fresh press live rosin consistencies at more affordable rates. Hell, they're one of only two or three legal brands able to achieve fresh press live rosin at any rate (discover the difference in rosin consistencies here).
A topic that I will dig into over the next several articles (lots of side by side comparisons), fresh press live rosin remains my ideal consistency for rosin products. While I'll readily admit that cold-cure badder at times outperforms fresh press rosin, the safeguards involved in producing fresh press rosin do not exist for rosin badder and that's the catch. There are far too many ways to cover-up or hide deficiencies in the cannabis with rosin badder that fresh press puts on full display. (I will go more in depth on the safeguards of fresh press rosin later.)
So, without further ado, lets dive right into the rosin, as I was quite blown away by the quality in everything I tried. I'm just going to come right out and say it now, Punch Extracts has solidified a top three spot on the solventless market, while selling for a third less than those sitting at number one.
Hash Reviews
Strawberry Ice Cream (Ice Cream Cake X Strawberry Banana)
[Tier #1]
The Strawberry Ice Cream was just perfect. A true vanilla ice cream taste comes through on this one, with subtle hints of strawberry-banana intertwined. The gram had buddered but took minimal effort to badder it up into a super photogenic, soaking-wet badder.
A few of the fresh press rosins from this first round came to me slightly buddered up, but the #baddertech made quick work out of them. I could immediately tell I was dealing with high-quality, sun grown cannabis resins just from their textures. I've noticed only sun grown rosin has an iridescent gleam when dry.
With the Ice Cream Cake coming from Emerald Queen Farms, it's no wonder this one holds up long past its prime. The Queen's sun grown cannabis resins hold-up better than anyone's. A quick smash of the dry rosin with my finger, before centering and kneading back over the material using my dab tool and check out this transformation. It took about thirty seconds to go from dry, to this beauty below.
A Note on Color
The Strawberry Ice Cream was the real treasure out of the first six grams I smoked and to no surprise of my own, it was also the lightest colored rosin of the bunch. There's been a generalized attack against light colored hash rosins, with some serious blanket statements claiming, "color isn't an indicator of quality."
I'll be the first to say there's incredible rosin that is dark, but there are too many instances of the lightest colored rosins being the best for me to agree. Of course, there are all kinds of strange and shady techniques to alter color, but when comparing solventless rosin from trusted sources, color is absolutely an indicator of quality, judged proportionately.
Jelly Bomb (THC Bomb X Jelly Rancher) [Tier #1]
Another favorite of the bunch works off my personal favorite THC-Bomb, crossing it with Jelly Rancher to create Jelly Bombs for all! While the Jelly Bomb was a touch on the dry side, I was still able to use the #baddertech, although it took some patient work. The following video shows a tough #baddertech job in action...
This one combines the grape taste of THC Bomb with a funky concoction of different Jelly Rancher flavors. Sweet, tart, and sugary, she puts off candy-like aromas, but will turn your nose upon closer inspection. A sweetness converges with the subtlest hint of the funk, in this mixed palatial delight.
Ice Cream Mints (Ice Cream Cake x Kush Mints) [Tier 1]
Just in case anyone was wondering, yeah, I'd say they have the fresh press consistency on lock. This fresh press had the stability to stay translucent for a few days, as it slowly swirled with white lines and shades of buddering texture. You can see it beginning to budder, or cure, with the white area in the bottom right.
Ice Cream Mints combines the fan favorite from Emerald Queen Farms, along with some added fuel of Kush Mints from another California light dep. (learn about light-deprivation farming here). The doughy vanilla Ice Cream Cake gets a boost of pure OG gas from the Kush Mints for all those gas lovers out there. A full-fledged heater that leaves an unexpected touch of sweet vanilla in your mouth once the gas subsides.
This cut was comparable to others from Emerald Queen that will remain stable for a day or two at room temperature... (something very few brands have been able to achieve).
Dozizos (Dosido X Zkittlez) [Tier #1]
Speaking of sun-grown grease, hot-damn, this next gram is only the second or third time in my solventless career that a fully dried and cured gram of fresh press rosin did NOT require the #baddertech. It takes a rare and awfully greasy genetic to turn itself into a moist and gleaming rosin badder. I'd say 99% of the time, rosin solidifies and hardens causing it to crumble when trying to dab. Here's the other one percent of the time:
There's only one other company out there whose fresh press rosin budders, but remains soft to the touch, putting Punch on par with the very best. These guys are using some of the very same material as other brands from the same Northern California farms, while selling their product for nearly a third less. A winning formula if I do say so myself.
Fruity Pebbles
And it actually smells like a box of Fruity Pebbles cereal. I almost forgot to include this one as I don't post or write on everything I try, but another quick whiff demanded the mention. It's actually overpowering to smell these terps up close. By wafting the aroma from a distance one of those portals of the mind snapped opened, transporting me back to a perfect bag of Rocky Mountain, mid-winter, fruity-cannabis bliss. The smell of good cannabis is tied directly to my memory of precious terpenes.
You know the bags that are so damn good you can't help but to take another whiff and a closer look at? Those perfect bags we wish every bag smelled like. Yup, those are the thoughts this one brought to mind. She reminds me of the old Blueberry cuts that wreaked with sweet, sugary, fruity combos of flavor. I had to look this one up to see it called FPOG (Fruity Pebbles OG) a mix of Green Ribbon, Grandaddy Purple, and Tahoe Alien.
Safeguards
You can see how after buddering and using the tech, these fresh press rosins ALWAYS end up much lighter and more appealing than the vast majority of rosin badders on retail shelves. The most likely explanation is that producers mix in lower grade hash material for badders that cannot be included in the fresh press variety. They can get away with tucking the 50 &/or 150-micron wash bags into the badder, that would ruin a fresh presses color. This is just one of the safeguards of fresh press rosin I mentioned earlier. You are also much more likely to receive a first wash in fresh press rosin, whereas the badders often include second and third washes. Let's not even go into first and second presses...
In Closing
I love Punch Extracts determination to produce fresh press live rosin, rather than catering to dispensary demand for shelf-stable products. Of course, dispensaries, whose guiding philosophy for every decision is based entirely on the bottom line, prefer shelf stable extracts. It costs dispensaries money to install commercial refrigeration and pay the increased utility bills. The trend of retail rosin badders is not one made from a quality standpoint, but purely an economic one.
With Punch Extracts coming out of L.A., I miss out on all the sweet drops. I'm up here in Humboldt seeing and hearing about these amazingly priced hash rosin drops from Punch, with prices no one else has even tried to match. These guys are crushing the solventless game and making some serious waves as a result. Sounds like my kind of guys...
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