Kiva is one of the most widely available, well known brands of cannabis edibles with a long history and more than a few awards. Kiva Bars come in eight different flavors, either dark chocolate or milk chocolate. The dark chocolate flavors are vegetarian and vegan friendly as they contain no dairy or other animal products. They may contain traces of milk or nuts from manufacturing, but all are gluten-free. Most of the flavors have only THC in them, two flavors have both THC and CBD.

As regular readers know, I greatly prefer edibles that are made either from similar types of cannabis (Indica, Sativa or Hybrid) and my preference is for edibles that are strain-specific (Blue Dream, Sour Diesel, Gorilla Glue, etc.) and labeled as such. Many edible makers like Kiva, use a mixture of types of cannabis, so while they can be considered “Hybrid”, there is no way to know what strains were used, so the effects are more of a muddle.

Dosing

As always, if it is your first time trying this brand start with a small dose, wait two hours and then judge the effects to determine if you want to increase your dosage.

The bar I tried has 100mg total in the bar and it is scored to make it easy to break off 5mg pieces I am an experienced user of cannabis edibles and I know my usual dose is 10mg of THC, so I began by having a 5mg piece and waited to judge the effects. Within an hour I felt a little bit of an effect. After two hours the effects were mild, so I felt comfortable taking another 5mg dose to bring me up to my usual preferred strength.

Taste

For this review I tried the Blackberry Dark Chocolate flavor. This flavor won the 2013 Best Edible at the San Francisco & Los Angeles High Times Cannabis Cups.

I like that Kiva uses natural flavors and as soon as you open the package you get a distinctive blackberry and chocolate smell. The flavor is a good strong dark chocolate flavor with a nice natural blackberry flavor. The combination does a good job of covering up the THC taste, which is hardly noticeable in the background. I can usually taste THC and there is a hint of it in the aftertaste, but generally it is well masked by the flavors.

They have a smooth, chocolatey taste that is not too sweet and melts well. Keep these bars out of your pocket, a hot car or other warm place unless you want a melted mess. Not as gourmet as some edibles like Coda, but definitely a step up from the taste of a Hershey bar.

Effects

My friend June and her partner use a small dose to help with sleep support, so I thought I would try this flavor to see if it had a similar effect.

The initial effects were mild and more on the Indica side, feeling relaxed and a little tired. Since Kiva uses both Sativa and Indica, for me the effects are a bit schizophrenic. I feel relaxed, then tired, then a bit of uplift, then unmotivated, then creative, then tired again. For me personally this is not the kind of effect I enjoy the most.  I don’t like feeling creative but too relaxed to do anything about it. I don’t like it when my head wants to be productive and my body wants to take a nap.

The first time I tried it was during the day and even at half a does I could feel the Indica effects more than I wanted, so I didn’t even take the other half of a dose for fear of sleeping the day away. For folks who enjoy Indica type effects in the daytime, as it helps them focus or calm anxiety, these effects could be perfect, they just are not what I enjoy.

This Kiva edible is much better as an evening treat or to help with sleep support for someone like me. I tried them in the early evening and I did feel relaxed yet able to stay awake. When I did go to bed I had no problem falling asleep. I would limit my use of these for the late afternoon or evening and everyone experiences different impacts with cannabis edibles.

Kiva Blackberry Dark Chocolate Cannabis Infused Bars have a great taste with natural ingredients and the effects are decently strong. My experience is that they are best for folks who desire Indica-type effects and not good if you are looking for an energetic, uplifted, happy effect. If you are looking for help with anxiety, relaxing or sleep support, this could be a great cannabis edible choice for you.

Strength: 5

Flavor: 6

Website: http://kivaconfections.com/