  We here explore a specific class of scalar field, dubbed quasi-quintessence
which exhibits characteristics akin to ordinary matter. Specifically, we
investigate under which conditions this fluid can mitigate the classical
cosmological constant problem. We remark that, assuming a phase transition, it
is possible to predict inflationary dynamics within the metastable phase
triggered by the symmetry breaking mechanism. During this phase, we study
inflationary models incorporating this cancellation mechanism for vacuum energy
within the context of quasi-quintessence. There, we introduce four novel
potentials, categorized into two main groups, \emph{i.e.}, the Starobinsky-like
and symmetry breaking paradigms. Afterwards, we consider two distinct cases,
the first without coupling with the curvature, while the second exhibiting a
Yukawa-like interacting term. Hence, we compute the inflationary dynamics
within both the Jordan and Einstein frames and discuss the objective to unify
old with chaotic inflation into a single scheme. We therefore find the
tensor-to-scalar ratio and the spectral terms and conclude that the most suited
approach involves the Starobinsky-like class of solution. Indeed, our findings
show that small field inflationary scenarios appear disfavored and propose
\emph{de facto} a novel technique to reobtain the Starobinsky potential without
passing through generalizations of Einstein's gravity. Last but not least, we
conjecture that vacuum energy may be converted into particles by virtue of the
geometric interacting term and speculate about the physics associated with the
Jordan and Einstein frames.
