HashWriter's 2021 Rosin Badder Awards

I knew I was going to do myself in by presenting separate awards. Regardless, I certainly am in favor of judging fresh press rosin separately from cold-cure rosin aka rosin badder and rosin sauce, despite it requiring me to write an extra article. Small traps I like to set for myself to keep the verbiage flowing.

Cold-Cures

Oh, boy where to begin. I think anyone that has followed my IG the past year or so, knows I am not in favor of rosin sauce or cold-cure badders, but the ease of access and lengthy shelf-life made rosin badders popular before anyone had rosin to compare it to. With only a few companies offering solventless hash on California's retail shelves, only a fraction of those companies offer a fresh press rosin. There is no way everyone experienced enough fresh press to say, "oh, I think the badder is better." In fact, I still cannot say for certain which is better, but I lean toward fresh press as a more enjoyable product to consume. Isn't it funny how things work like that? It's happened repeatedly over the last few years pertaining to cannabis. Just when I think things are either relatively straight forward or awfully opaque, I'm thrown another curve-ball by headstrong consumers.

The characteristic I've quickly come to respect the most, especially in cannabis, is the ability to admit when you are wrong or unsure. Honesty is one thing, humility is another subject all together. Humility is what we lack, forget honesty.

Indoor and Outdoor

For close to thirty years there's nothing you could have told me to make me think outdoor cannabis is better than indoor cannabis. I was wrong. At least pertaining to hash and rosin, I was dead wrong. It wasn't until solventless refinement caught on the last year or two that anyone could adequately compare indoor versus sun-grown hashish, and the results are indisputable.

While my awards aren't necessarily for outdoor, sun-grown cannabis only, all of the top results, sure enough, come from sun-grown cannabis from the Emerald Triangle. Lets all practice some humility going forward and measure our comments aptly.

Now without further ado, I present to you the 2021 Hashwriter awards for favorite cold-cure/rosin badders/rosin sauce.

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5th Place Rosin Badder

@HumboldtTerpCouncil

Strawnanna by DNA Genetics

Just look at that thing. I literally thought we swapped jars and I may have brought home their BHO live resin badder accidentally. Nope, it's rosin badder and tasted more like pink bubblegum than anything I've tasted before. This was really a special gram looking quite different than many others and just reeking the room up with pink Double-Bubble terps. Good to see the old BHO legends, scoring high on the solventless side of life. And let this be a tip to watch out for these guys soon.

4th place

@punch_extracts

Wedding Crasher Cold Cure

Bred by Symbiotic Genetics

Straight up, @Punch_Extracts is killing the game and I was lucky enough to receive a few grams of their hash, despite living too far North to regularly see it on shelves. They certainly struck a perfect balance for these cold cures that sell for less than any other solventless brand on the market, or so I'm told.

Machine washing is allowing Punch to put out more hash and rosin, while allowing them to offer prices that rival BHO! That is incredible considering the yields of BHO are massive in comparison to solventless refinement, and really shows how overpriced and overvalued BHO extracts remain to be.

Punch has some fire fresh-press rosin as well, letting me know they are about it. Whenever I see a company doing cold-cures only, I'm skeptical of their ability to produce a clean fresh press rosin, which is the necessary step before the cold-cure. Normally but not always, rosin remains a fresh-press product unless there's a reason for further processing, usually determined by the color and appearance of the fresh press rosin. I look forward to many more from Punch as their stock in the solventless world continues to climb.

3rd Place

@HaveHash

zkittlez

The local Humboldt boys come in strong with an array of different cold-cure flavors. These guys have the cold-cure tech dialed in and early on, while others struggled with dry rosin badders. They also will save you a few bucks, retailing for a good ten or fifteen dollars less than most competitors. I'm becoming increasingly fond of @havehash for the convenient and relatively affordable, and consistently terpy cold cures. Between their Sticky Papaya and Key Lime Pie, among many others, they have quickly become the go to recommendation for most bud-tenders in and around Humboldt County.

It took me a few days of searching to find this one but I'm glad I did. This was by far my favorite Zkittlez cut of the year, in any consistency. For anyone wondering, a dab of this cold-cure zkittlez tastes just like a mixed handful of Skittles candy. After exhaling, that familiar sugary taste of mixed skittles coats the roof of your mouth with a reminder of its namesake. The first time you try a zkittlez that truly embodies its name, it leaves absolutely no doubt about what genetic you're smoking on.

They certainly have some sexy cold cure rosin just gleaming in the light. I could only find two pics of the zkittlez, so I included a couple shots of sticky papaya or key lime pie to show their cold-cured consistency from one genetic to the next.

2nd Place

@papas_Select and @humboldtkinefarms

Peanut Butter Berries Premium Rosin Badder

I was a bit underwhelmed by the Peanut Butter Breath alone this year, however when mixed with the Zberries, it brought out the best of both flavors. I couldn't shake the mental picture of honey covered Zberries (whatever a zberry looks like), leaving a trail of gas. Some flavors are so bold that visual imagery often does more justice than trying to explain away flavors. A creamy peanut-buttery delight of rosin badder so visually appealing I couldn't stop dabbing it until the jar was gone.

Jillian over there at @Papas_Select has been whipping up some classic flavors over the last year, making sure to only combine flavors that elevate each genetic into a terpiness all their own. It would be easy to randomly mix flavors and call it a day, but @papas_select did anything but that. This is one example, and the best rosin badder of 2021 is another prime example of expertly intertwined genetics that echo one another.

1st Place

@papas_select and @TarhillFarms

Lemon-Berry Rosin Badder

There's something totally different about these flavors when combined that I swear must be the result of terpene voodoo. I can't lie when I say I'm not usually a huge fan of either flavor alone. I really like both but can't say I love either. The gargoyle melon berry is good, but I never really tasted the sweet melon until combined in this badder. Meanwhile the pink lemonade, a solventless staple for years now, brings just the perfect touch of lemon citrus to the sweet melon flavor.

The texture of this rosin badder, much like the prior, is to die for. There's a ton of rosin badders I get and play with, that really don't do much for me and then there's jars like these that I literally cannot stop touching/smoking.

With all the talk surrounding the color of rosin and rosin badder, and darker browns not being very pleasing to the eye, the conversation forgot to discuss the prime yellows and neon oranges certain rosin badders produce. Whenever I see bright yellows or oranges in rosin badder, I know it's going to be the chronic.

Lemon Berry Rosin Badder by Papas Select.

Honorary Mention

I couldn't finish this article without making mention of the freak of all freaks. Yeah-you, you know who I'm talking about... The Freak! The freak that is, Papaya! This one could land anywhere on my list, but I saved her for another category. Still, the rosin badder is so perfect that it had to fall somewhere on the rosin badder list as well, exhibiting the same palatial yellows as the two prior mentions. I think the @emeraldqueenfarms Papaya is the best Papaya going and a special genetic to be savored.

Papaya Premium Rosin Badder by @emeraldqueenfarms and @papas_select

To Surmise

Huge shout out to all the solventless studs crushing the game and evolving the industry at warp speeds. The shelves have quickly gone from all BHO and no solventless options, to nothing but solventless options in under one year. With dispensaries and consumers beginning to catch on, the low-grade chemical extracts will hopefully be a thing of the past.

Thanks for reading and tune in for the hash awards coming next! Subscribe or join as a site member and receive Email notifications for new articles and updates, along with a monthly Newsletter from Hashwriter.org.

Hash is tite. Pimp.