Emerald Sky makes their North Star Cherry cannabis-infused licorice in a formula of 19:1 CBD/THC. Each serving has 9.5mg of CBD and 0.5mg of THC, for a package total of 95mg CBD and 5mg THC. They also make a 10mg Sativa and a 10mg pure CBD gummy.
While they do have a mild licorice taste, this is not licorice in the usual sense of Good & Plenty or Twizzlers. If you don’t like licorice, these likely won’t bother you because cherry, strawberry and red fruit is the much more pronounced flavor.
These CBD gummies are individually packaged, which makes it easy to take one or just a couple with you, rather than taking a whole bag like most gummies. The down side is of course that there is significantly more packaging being used, a concern when it comes to the environment.
North Star Cherry THC and CBD edibles are made with organic and non-gmo sweeteners. They do contain wheat so they are not gluten free but they are vegan and free of animal products.
Dosing
As with all edibles, it is best to start with a low dose of a new product until you know how it will effect you. For someone who is experienced with edibles and whose usual dose of thc is 10mg, the .5mg of thc might not be a concern. Some folks are sensitive to the effects of CBD and may need a smaller dose, so it’s always smart to do a test run with half a dose, wait 2 hours and notice the impact.
I often need more than a 10mg dose of CBD to impact pain or discomfort, it depends on the type of pain. For muscle aches that come from extensive yard work or sleeping in an awkward position, I find I need a higher dose. If the pain comes from inflammation, like arthritis, then around 10mg can help with the pain.
With an Emerald Sky CBD gummy, after testing lower doses I found that for stubborn muscle pain I did need two doses, which provides 20mg of CBD and 1mg THC. Even with the the double dose I did not feel any psychoactive THC effects.
I was glad that with the higher does, I didn’t have any of the Indica-tyoe THC effects you get with some 1:1 THC to CBD ratio edibles. Some edibles with equal amounts of CBD and THC use Indica-dominant strains of cannabis, which can result in relaxing, sleepy or even couch-lock effects. These CBD gummies gave me none of those undesirable effects, just the anti-inflammatory and pain relief effects I wanted.
For a dependable CBD edible in single dose packaging with little to no THC effects, Emerald Sky 19:1 CBD:THC or pure CBD Cannabis Licorice Gummies are a good choice.
Kanha cannabis infused watermelon CBD gummies contain a 20:1 ration of CBD to THC. Each piece has 9.5mg CBD and 0.5mg THC. There are 10 pieces making the package total 5mg THC and 95mg CBD.
These gummies are made with gelatin, so not vegetarian or vegan friendly, but they are gluten-free. They contain no food allergens like dairy, nuts or soy. Each piece has 23 calories so the whole bag only sets you back 230 calories.
Taste & Effects
The smell from the package is a very sour, citric acid smell that is so strong I struggled to find the watermelon smell. Each gummy is covered in a fine sugar coating that provides an initial sweet taste. Once that disappears, there is a medicinal and artificial taste I can’t put my finger on mixed in with the cannabis oil taste. That taste lasts for quite a while, transitioning to more of a fake cherry taste than a watermelon taste, I found. Not the most pleasant tasting cbd gummy I have had, but not the worst by a long shot.
The gummy was robust, taking a good five minutes to dissolve in the mouth. Normally that would be a good thing, but with the odd sour citric acid plus the cherry taste, it is not as delicious as I would like it to be. I am willing to overlook a less-than-wonderful taste when the edible delivers the effects I like and this is a good example.I took this one evening after coming home with some minor aches and pains to see how one does would impact my muscle soreness. I have had good results with CBD in the past for muscle aches, and I found these to be nicely effective.
With only 0.5mg of THC, I did not experience any of the effects from taking edibles that are higher in THC. Even when I take an edible with 5mg of THC, which is half my usual dose, I usually get some of the psychoactive THC effects. I found the Kanha gummies to have none of those effects. THC does work together with CBD, so I like that this cbd gummy product has a small amount of THC because it helps activate the CBD. I find these work better than products that only contain CBD. If you are looking for a cbd gummy edible with a good dose of CBD and and a small amount of THC to boost the CBD effects, this edible is a good choice.
I felt pain relief within an hour, my muscle soreness retreating into the background and making me much more comfortable. This is the kind of pain relief I look for in a CBD gummy product. Many products contain only CBD and no THC, which I find much less effective. Another time after a few hours of hard work in the yard my back and legs were aching, so I tried taking one gummy. The pain was more pronounced than other times and one gummy wasn’t enough to make a dent. After 90 minutes with no impact, I took half of a second gummy. After another hour, there was a noticeable effect, reducing my pain and letting me relax in comfort.
The package suggests taking between 1 and 3 doses. Since even 3 doses would have only 1.5mg of THC, you would have to be very sensitive to THC to feel any psychoactive effects. I can’t tell any difference between 2mg and 4mg of THC and rarely feel anything until I’m in the 5-7mg range, depending on the strength of the product, but everyone is different.
Wrap Up
For a healthy dose of pain relief that includes a little THC to boost the effects, Kanha CBD gummies are a good choice. I don’t like the flavor very much, so I think there is room for improvement there, but overall a good choice if you are looking for the anti-inflammatory and other effects of a CBD gummy edible.
Whether you are beginning to try edible or topical forms of cannabis, or are just interested in knowing more, we share are some good basics to know from our considerable experience. We share about effects, selecting, dosing, consuming – and what to do in case you consume more than feels good.
Effects
If you have not smoked Cannabis before and are unfamiliar with the effects that smoking it creates, understand that you will likely be experiencing new sensations. Well known side effects of smoking Cannabis flowers include euphoria, relaxation, heightened senses, pain relief, dry mouth and “the munchies”. These effects come from various chemicals in cannabis including CBD and THC.
If you have smoked pot, know that it is different than the almost immediate effects experienced when you smoke. The effects can sometimes take two hours or more to be felt fully. We usually feel effects from edibles within 45 minutes to an hour, but the effects can sometimes continue to increase up to 3 hours later. Every time is s little different. When compared with smoking flowers, it takes longer to feel it and much longer for the effect to fade. We have turned to edibles more as we want to smoke less. When we smoke, the effect can last an hour or so, sometimes two, but with edibles the effects keep giving!
Everyone is impacted differently, so make sure you have the free time to experience the effects – which may last up to 6 hours and for transdermal patches or large doses up to 12 hours. Ideally you are in a comfortable, familiar environment, preferably with someone nearby or in close touch who is supportive and experienced.
Eating or applying the compounds to your skin can have quite different effects. Some effects that we experience from smoking, like heightened senses or the munchies, do happen with edibles. Effects of edibles can include focus, energy and creativity with Sativa strains, pain or anxiety relief with Indica strains and anti-inflammatory effects with CBD rich strains.
Sativa, Indica & Hybrids
Indica, Sativa and Hybrid options. flickr: extensivlyreviewed
Cannabis comes in two main types – Indica and Sativa. Indica primarily effects the body – relaxing, anti-tension, and sometimes “couch lock” for stronger strains. Sativa primarily effects the head, increasing focus, creativity, energy and sense perception. There are many hybrids that are dominated by one set of traits or the other and some hybrids that try to balance the effects of both.
Wikipedia: On average, Cannabis indica has higher levels of THC compared to CBD, whereas Cannabis sativa has lower levels of THC to CBD.[5] However, huge variability exists within either species.
In the case of CBDs anti-inflammatory and pain relief are the usual effects Taking CBD with THC is reported to reduce the power of THC or at least it helps limit how high you get. Some suggest taking CBD to combat taking too much.
Within the types – Sativa, Indica, Hybrid – there are many specific strains. Some strain names have become well known and we prefer edibles where the strain name appears, so we can look up the effects if it is an unfamiliar strain. Also, If I want energy and uplift in the morning, I might not want to take an Indica dominant strain like Grandaddy Purple or Gorilla Glue or Chem Dawg that will relax me. I want a Sativa dominant strain like Sour Diesel or Jack Herer or Blue Dream. Some of the CBD strains are AC/DC, Harlequin and Ringo’s Gift. Sites like Leafly and others have reviews that provide details and reviews of strains.
Selecting
With the effects in mind, select what you want thoughtfully. Get something that either comes in small doses or something you can easily cut up into the portion size you want. Brownies, cakes, chocolate treats and similar edibles are often easy to cut into portion sizes. Hard candies and suckers are not easy to cut up, so consider that when making your selection.
To find edibles that are a good fit for you, look for items in flavors and types that appeal to both your taste buds and the effects you desire from your experience. There is a wide variety of cookies, brownies, cakes, chocolates, hard candies and other portable edibles available, so look around at different dispensaries to find the ones that are best for you.
Some dispensaries offer small diary’s or logs for you to keep track of what works for you and what doesn’t. It is a great idea to keep some notes on what you like and don’t so you can refine your choices and see what is best for you.
Always start with a low dose, like 2 or 2.5 mgs (milligrams). Do not to use edibles that are not clearly labeled with the total amount of THC either in the whole thing or per item (like with gummies). You cannot tell potency by the size of the edible. A normal size brownie could contain 5mg or 500mg, you just don’t know.
While a typical dose is usually 10mg, if you are totally new to edibles you may want to start at 2-3mg. While sometimes the effects can take up to 2 hours to be felt completely, usually after 60-90 minutes you should feel something. With a new edible, always wait 2 hours to see what you experience. If you feel nothing or almost nothing, possibly add another 2-3mg and wait 2 hours again, or next time try 5mg if the lower dose was not too strong for you.
On The Rise Edibles Medical Cannabis Gingerbread
Do your math and plan ahead when cutting up edibles. The On the Rise Sativa dominant edible pictured has 210mg of THC and it says it is six (6) doses. That means each dose will have 35mg of THC each – way too much for most people. If you want 10mg pieces, how will you cut it into 21 sections? One way is to cut it in half then cut those pieces in half, then cut those pieces in half, but that means you end up with an even number of pieces. In this case you end up with 20 pieces of 10.5 mg each which is close enough to the target dose.
This was an old style edible, before adult use became legal in California in 2018. Most edibles now – and in most states where it is legal – have the standard required dosing of 5mg or 10mg per dose, with some having higher limits for medical use, like 25mg per dose.
Consumption
How much food is in your stomach impacts the effects of edibles, and so does what you eat with it. We notice a definite difference if we take the same dose of an edible with very little on our stomach or if we take it soon after a meal. We get a much more pronounced and often quicker effect when our stomach is near empty. If our stomachs are full, the effect is usually weaker overall and can take more time to develop.
What you take the edible with can boost its effects we have found. From what we understand, the THC binds with fats to be distributed into the body, so it helps to take the edible with food that has some healthy fats in it like an avocado, some nuts or some seeds like sunflower, sesame and chia seeds. Too much food, however, and you will loose the benefits of a little fat, so having a big meal with a lot of fat in it isn’t a good choice if you want to feel the full impact.
Caffeine and spices that increase blood flow (like cinnamon, ginger or cayenne) can also help to boost the effects of edibles. If we are looking for an energetic experience, we usually take our edibles with some form of caffeine, be it coffee, tea, mate or cocoa. While Ruth is a black coffee lover, Alton prefers a modified cafe mocha made by stirring cocoa powder into coffee with milk. Since he loves spicy foods, he will often mix cayenne and cinnamon into the cocoa powder and add that to coffee for a spicy mocha. We find caffeine and these spices boosts the effects of most edibles I’ve tried. A favorite edible, the On The Rise brownies, come in both chocolate and gingerbread formula. We find that with the gingerbread we get a slightly stronger effect than we do with the chocolate brownie.
Flickr photo: JurrasicBlueberries Cookies 2017
Hydration
Staying hydrated is always important and I find it more so with edibles. I usually need more water than usual when I use edibles as I often experience dehydration and dry mouth. I usually go through four or five 16oz glasses. It’s fine to drink other liquids, being aware that sugary drinks could reduce the impact of the cannabis you are using. If you drink alcohol or caffeine or soda or all three, they do dehydrate you, so avoid them, limit them or pair them with regular intake of water – your body will thank you.
Overdose
It happens to most people at some point. With edibles it is possible to overdo it and feel like you have had too much. Sometimes this feels like you are ill but you cannot pinpoint what is wrong. Some folks get a feeling as if they are “dying” because they feel really bad, but don’t know what is wrong. We’ve experienced this as an all over feeling of being very uncomfortable, feeling nauseous in a way but not sick to the stomach. If we are inside, we can feel like we need to go outside for fresh air, and sometimes that helps. You are not actually sick, it just feels like it.
The easy antidote for too much THC edibles is to eat and drink. Sugar, protein and carbs are especially good at mitigating the effects of too much THC. Try having some form of protein, some cereal or some ice cream, even a sandwich. You may be feeling strange and it may feel strange to be eating, but do your best to finish what you are eating until you feel better. When we have the right dose, the taste of food is amazing, but if we’ve had too much eating is what has always worked to bring us down from an overdose of THC.
We have also heard advice to use products high in CBD’s to offset the effects, such as taking a high CBD tincture so it will bring down the THC effects. We do notice that we never seem as high with an edible that has a 1:1 THC to CBD ratio than one without. We have not tried taking CBD to combat taking too much THC it makes sense – as long as it doesn’t add more THC to the mix.
Experiment
Everyone is impacted differently, so first try each new edible by itself and when you have the time to enjoy the effects, not when you have to be somewhere or do something soon. Trying different types of edibles over time and at different doses will help you to find out what produces the desired effects for you.
Kiva Camino makes their Holiday Punch cannabis gummies with a flavor reminiscent of red punch that has a cranberry and cinnamon flavor. This formula has 5mg of THC and 0mg of CBD per serving, and the can holds 20 gummies, for a total of 100mg THC per package. As with the rest of the Kiva Camino range of edibles, these gummies are not just infused with distilled THC but are formulated with natural terpenes to create specific effects.
My local dispensary charges around $20 for a package, making it $2.00 for each 10mg serving of THC. These gummies do contain gelatin, so they are not vegetarian or vegan friendly. The can is their standard two-handed unscrew tin. The gummies are not individually wrapped.
Dosing & Flavor
The smell from the can is a pronounced red punch smell. Like the other Camino gummies, they have a lovely opaque appearance and a soft texture that is easy to bite through.
The flavor seems to have cranberry/cherry flavor with just a hint of cinnamon and that doesn’t have any strong cannabis oil taste or bad aftertaste. A mild sour note gives these that tart cranberry type flavor.
As we always recommend with new edibles, try half of your usual dose before trying a full dose as you never know how strong something will effect you. The Kiva Camino Holiday Punch gummies are easy to cut or bite in half to give a 2.5mg THC dose. Since I am experienced with edibles and my usual dose is 10mg of THC, I began with one full piece that has 5mg THC. After having only light effects for that trial run, on another day I then to my usual 10 mg dose, taking two gummies for a total dose of 10mg THC.
Effects
The 10mg THC dose produced a noticeable effect. The main effect I experienced was heightened senses – things looked, smelled and tasted more intense. I didn’t experience a big energy boost as I do with some Sativa gummies, the physical effects were more relaxing than energizing but without drowsiness or couch-lock. I found these a good fit for mild activity that takes advantage of the heightened senses, like puttering in the garden, cooking or going for a walk in nature. Of course perfect for opening presents and staring at twinkling lights too.
I can see how these would be a good fit before enjoying holiday meals, or staring at brightly colored packages while snacking on a candy cane.
Enjoyable flavor profiles and type-specific effects are exactly what I look for in an edible and Kiva’s Camino gummies do a great job on both counts. Read our reviews of the other Camino gummies here.
Valhalla Cannabis Infused Sour Watermelon gummies are some of the best out there. They come in a package of 10 pieces with each piece containing 10 mg of THC and .4 mg of CBD. These Indica strain gummies taste great, with minimal medicinal taste.
After 40 minutes I started feeling the tingly sensation of an early high. I was still running around cleaning the house. After and hour and 15 minutes, I was sitting back enjoying a calm, full body high. That’s where I stayed for about an hour and 45 minutes more. It was lovely. I also noted that my hands that suffer arthritis- like symptoms were pain free.
Be warned, this edible creates serious munchies. Have a lot of healthy snacks available!
These are great gummies. I like that they don’t have a extra coat of sugar. They’re powerful!
Valhalla cannabis infused gummies are highly recommended!
Mary’s Medicinals is my favorite brand of transdermal patch. They come in Indica, Sativa, THCa, CBD and CBN. The CBN one is a standout for its help with getting to sleep and staying asleep.
Transdermal patches like these are placed on a clean patch of skin and deliver the medication through the skin. With patches, the amount of medicine released is consistent and can keep the effects going for a full 12 hours. I like to use rubbing alcohol to clean the area of skin both before I put the patch on and after I take it off. Recommended locations for applying patches are the inside of wrists and the tops of feet.
Dosing & Effects
CBN – I have experimented with half of a patch and one quarter of a CBN patch (both are shown in the picture with pre-2018 packaging). With half of a patch I started to feel the effects within 20 minutes and I was ready to go to bed not long after 30 minutes. With one quarter of a patch the effects took a little longer but still provided a strong relaxed feeling that is perfect to help get to sleep and avoid insomnia.
The quarter patch dose has become one of my preferred tools for those nights when I need some extra help getting into sleep mode or I want to interrupt insomnia.
With the CBD, THCa, Sativa and Indica patches, those also provide a strong dose that is long lasting. A friend with nerve pain in his feet prefers THCa to his prescribed pills. I have used the CBD patches on areas where I have aches in my muscles or in joints and I often find relief, it depends on the source of the pain. I like being able to put a patch near my hip or on my shoulder to focus the effects in that area. While it is a transdermal and not a topical, it does seem to help, specifically with the CBD, to reduce inflammation in the area.
Patches are the longest lasting way to have a consistent stream of medicine. Most edibles at a standard dose last a maximum of six hours, smoking/vaping usually less, so for folks with chronic conditions – especially pain – transdermal patches are a great choice. Much better than popping pills every four hours.
Transdermal patches like these are placed on a clean patch of skin and deliver the medication through the skin. With patches, the amount of medicine released is consistent and can keep the effects going for a full 12 hours. I like to use rubbing alcohol to clean the area of skin both before I put the patch on and after I take it off. Recommended locations for applying patches are the inside of wrists and the tops of feet.
More Than Buds 