Mountain Select Papaya X Gelato Fresh Press Live Rosin Review

When a top-tier, dessert-forward, fresh pressed rosin is in your scope of hash cravings, Mountain Select’s Papaya X Gelato fulfills a perfectly balanced cross between two legendary strains. Single source and skillfully crafted, this strain in its fresh press consistency delivers not just an indulgence, but a satisfaction that taps into all five senses.

This gram was refrigerated when I picked it up from Horizon Cannabis. As all of Mountain Select’s rosin jars have, this one also had their foil freshness seal, which I truly appreciate. There’s something about peeling that seal off that makes me feel like that gram is my very own. So I did just that pretty much immediately after receiving it. The Papaya X Gelato fresh press looked like a mostly transparent gold and glossy mass that filled about 70% of the bottom of the jar. 

I did not refrigerate the fresh press, however it was in the car overnight and it was 45°F outside. It wasn’t until about 12 hours later that I opened the jar again and actually put a dab tool to it. It was extremely soft, smooth, and elastic. It pulled into long strands, similar to taffy. At that point I continued to keep it out at room temperature to assess how the texture transforms over time.

This rosin began buddering up after about 24 hours out of the fridge. At this point it was no longer transparent and it was a blonde color. Upon stirring it again, the rosin softly spread and crumbled rather than stretching. While some may resent the inevitable fresh press buddering, I can appreciate it, especially when it awakens the terpenes and gives off a robust aroma like this Papaya X Gelato does.

Like many fresh press rosins, this one didn’t have a very strong smell until after it had softened up at room temperature. The sweet and delicious scent really made its presence known when I started slowly stirring it with my dab tool. The Papaya X Gelato gave a distinct sherbert smell, specifically one made with exotic fruit(s). The Papaya scent was defined even more when this product was fully buddered well after 24 hours outside of the fridge. Just opening the jar released a wave of freshly picked and ripened papayas with a side of sweet and creamy.

When I first tried this rosin, it was still in its taffy-like state, which can make it difficult to portion. The rosin on my dab tool kept growing the more I tried to manipulate it to attempt to get the right sized glob. I dabbed about a tic-tac sized amount of this rosin using my glass rig and quartz banger heated to around 530° F. It melted very clean and with a goldish amber hue. 

The next time I dabbed this product, it had been out of the fridge for over 24 hours and was fully buddered up. I heated the banger to about 500°F this time to really capture the prime flavor.

The flavor of this fresh press before it was fully buddered up was a little more complex than the in your face sherbert aroma. It rides the line between creamy and pine tree, with just a hint of fruity sweetness. Velvety smooth nonetheless, the Papaya X Gelato was overall very gentle and I hardly coughed after the dab. 

As previously mentioned, I sampled this product again when it had buddered up, and just like the aroma, a strong Papaya flavor had developed since its previous consistency. It was almost like a papaya juice concentrate, somewhere between the tartness of juice and candy, and it was overall super sweet. When it comes to this specific strain, I definitely prefer letting the fresh press budder up to really maximize the delicious fruit flavor.