Product Review: ROVE Ice Pack Blunts & Embar Battery

Following up on a brand we covered last year, ROVE kicked off 2026 with two new launches: Ice Pack Triple Infused Blunts (not to be confused with their Ice Pack Triple Infused Joints) and the Embar battery. They sent over samples so we could get our first impressions down before they (inevitably) sell out.

The blunts are available in seven strains across Arizona and other markets, though Arizona launches with four (indicated in italics): Indicas: Grape Stomper OG, Blueberry Kush & Watermelon Burst

Hybrids: Purple Trainwreck & Peaches and Cream

Sativas: Maui Waui & Acapulco Gold 

Acapulco Gold

The first thing that hit me before even cracking this open was how substantial it felt. This isn't some wimpy preroll you're going to casually solo in ten minutes. After smoking it between three other people, it still felt like I had smoked a full joint to myself. As far as physical design goes, the glass mouthpiece has a nice rounded feel to it, both holding it between your fingers and actually pulling from it.

I checked the COA after because, well, would it really be one of my reviews if I didn’t dig through the paperwork to make sure there isn’t something egregious hiding in plain sight? Batch 26012606BL-ICP sits at 36.93% Total THC with trans-caryophyllene (anti-inflammatory), linalool (sedative & anti-anxiety), and alpha-humulene (anti-inflammatory) making up the terpene profile. That likely explains the relaxed vibes we got despite it being a sativa. Everything else tested clean across the board.

The experience itself was chill. Potent enough that we all felt it properly, the vibe was relaxed the whole way, but not quite couch locked. For thirty bucks, you're getting a legitimately quality product that justifies the price without feeling like you're overpaying. Not something I'd grab every single time I want to smoke, but enough to feel special without being so expensive that you’d have to save up for it. With how often the AZ dispensary market pushes BOGOs, you're effectively looking at two of these for $30 if you time it right.

The burn was solid. About 15 minutes from tip to filter with four of us. I had some initial canoeing (which was completely user error for pulling too hard early like it was a joint) but once we settled into a rhythm, it burned evenly the rest of the way through with no harshness until the very end.

The flavor was sweet from the hemp wrap at first, then settled into an earthy taste that stayed consistent to the end. No chemical flavors, no solvent aftertaste, and the smoke stayed smooth the entire time. The real tell was the mouthpiece. The glass stayed nearly spotless despite how much smoke went through it. That tells you ROVE is using quality solventless material for the infusions. Ice hash rosin and THCA diamonds done right, not cheap distillate gunk that gums up glass.

Appearance – 5/5 Beefy, substantial preroll with quality construction

Taste – 5/5 Sweet from the wrap initially, settles into clean earthy notes throughout

Experience – 5/5 Smooth burn, strong potency that matches the COA, clean smoke with zero resin buildup

Overall Rating – 5/5 I genuinely can't think of anything to change for this to be a better product and for me, that's seriously saying something.

Purple Trainwreck

Next up, I thought I'd test one solo, which turned out to be a big mistake if you try to get through the whole blunt in one sitting. This isn't built for you to casually power through by yourself. That said, if you're just planning to chill for a while and relight it throughout the evening? A totally different story. 

What actually surprised me was how clean the smoke still stayed. Even going solo for a solid 25 minutes, still no resin buildup in the mouthpiece and no harshness creeping in until the very end. That's a quality control thing that a lot of enhanced prerolls just completely miss. 

On the paperwork front, batch 26012001BL-ICP comes in at 32.68% THC with some measurable CBD, which explains why it felt softer than the Acapulco Gold without feeling weak. For terpenes, it’s the same primary blend of Trans-caryophyllene, Linalool, and Alpha-humulene at some varying percentages from the Acapulco Gold.

Halfway through the session, I was genuinely questioning why I was still going, but I was too high to do much else but keep pulling it. At that point, putting it out early and coming back seemed like far too much effort when it could all just be done in the same sitting. When it was finally burned all the way through, I spent the next couple hours watching TV and couldn't be bothered to move at all. That's not a knock, that's the terp profile doing exactly what it's supposed to: relaxation without anxiety.

Real talk though: don't solo these unless you've got a high tolerance. I have a relatively high tolerance, and 25 minutes of committed smoking still knocked me sideways. Use responsibly; blunts are built for passing around.

The potency to price ratio is genuinely impressive. You're getting a legitimate premium product that doesn't demand premium pricing, and that's refreshing in a market where half of the premium products are just expensive packaging around mid-tier buds.

Appearance – 5/5 Clean, well-constructed blunt with premium feel

Taste – 5/5 Earthy and pleasant throughout, no chemical notes or harshness

Experience – 5/5 Smooth burn with strong effects, built for sharing or extended sessions

Overall Rating – 5/5

Now, for something completely different:

Embar Battery

ROVE’s previous battery design had you managing preheat and temperature controls by rapidly removing and re-inserting your pod and tracking the color of a single LED on the device. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad by any means, but it certainly had a lot of room for improvement. And the new Embar model comes with just about every possible improvement that I could have thought up! Functions are now executed through a button and screen, which on its own isn't revolutionary for vapes. What IS huge, though, is the melt mode.

Without context, melt mode sounds like it's just a fancy preheat, but it's so much more than that. While regular preheating just sends a lower amount of voltage through the heating coil to help it warm up, melt mode introduces a whole new heating coil that's wrapped around the pod itself. If everything flipped to the top in your pocket or air bubbles built up while you're pulling the device throughout your day, turning on melt mode and waiting the 90 seconds it runs will correct it and eliminate those issues entirely. The battery also introduces a medium heat setting when previously it was just low and high.

Then there's the absolutely insane feature they cooked into it: “Rip & Redeem,” where a QR code will randomly appear during your pulls indicating you've earned bonus points, and scanning it with your LucidID account actually grants you a random amount between 25-1000 points! These points can be redeemed for merchandise or discounts on store merch. At the time of writing this, available rewards even include skateboard decks, a branded JBL speaker, and the Triple XL battery - a monstrosity the size of your forearm which houses THREE pods at once while remaining fully functional. 

Speaking of pulls, while you're hitting it, the ROVE logo starts stacking on top of itself in one second increments until the screen is full and it blinks out. It's a small detail, but it's the kind of thing that shows they actually thought about making the experience fun instead of just functional. While I absolutely do NOT encourage anybody to do this, pulling a triple blinker back to back to back will even display an Easter egg screen that you probably won't notice between how hard you'll be coughing and will have no choice but to try again when you’ve recovered.  On the plus side, think of all of those points you'll rack up!

The shape is very nice being a shorter, fatter bar shape compared to the previous thin and long design. Another appreciated addition is the lanyard loop allowing for a wrist strap to be easily added along with little charms if you want even more customization. The whole package just feels like a massive quality of life improvement across the board. Behind the scenes, it even packs a 500mAh battery vs the original battery's 350mAh giving you just shy of a 150% increase in power.

Overall, this is the type of progress that I believe a company should be showing to convince you that your battery needs an update.  Not just cosmetic fluff, or half baked functionality; substantial changes in the product being pitched that makes you truly want to buy into the new system. 

While I can definitely think of a few things that I would have differently, none of it would affect functionality, only aesthetics, so I am once again not finding any real reasons to deduct points from this rating.

Rating - 5/5