Tag Archives: sweet

Highly Edible Cannabis Watermelon Pucks with NXT Review

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The first time I tried Highly Edible Watermelon Pucks was on a wonderful day hanging with a dear friend at an amazing spa. Ideal! It was a great mood-lifting edible and I knew right away I would have to enjoy them again and that I had to take notes for a review.

highly-edible-watermelon-pucks.jpgThese gummies come in a little more than 10 mg of THC per piece and there are ten pieces per container. The pucks are bigger than your average gummies. The candy piece is like if two and a half gummy bears were melted together and put into a one inch disc mold. Watermelon Pucks taste good, not too sour, not too medicinal.

After eating the cannabis candy it took approximately 45 minutes for effects to set in. Highly Edible Watermelon Pucks have a steady, energetic high. My mood definitely felt lighter, happier. I was able to communicate with angst ridden teenagers with success while at the same time was still completely mobile and able to finish the tasks I had planned for the day.

This edible was recommended to me by a good friend and I was happy to try them on a visit to Colorado. I thought they tasted great and for me the effect was an uplifting, happy one. I rarely get the giggles from being high, but I had a touch of them on these pucks!

These edibles claim to have faster absorption because of what the label refers to as NXT –  “Feel it faster with NXT extraction technology”. Nowhere on the bottle does it detail what that technolgy is or how it works. Also a search of the website brought up no results for NXT. On a dispensary website I found this – “…with their new Nano eXtraction Technology (NXT), these gummies pack a powerful punch. The NXT system lets you feel it faster by allowing tiny THC molecules to absorb sublingually. You feel it faster and longer as your stomach metabolizes the THC buried within the gummy.” If you are interested in more there is some explanation from a company that makes the “nano extractor” here.

Highly Edible PucksWatermelon is just one of the flavors, which include peach, cherry, assorted fruity and golden strawberry. They are vegan and gluten free. As with other of this brands products, there is no mention of which type of cannabis (Indica, Hybrid, Sativa) or which strain (Blue Dream, Kush, etc.) to guide consumers on what effects to expect. From the effects we experienced we are guessing it is a Sativa dominant hybrid.

I did get the munchies. So be warned. Have healthy food and drinks available!

The high lasted a solid 2 1/2 hours and left me feeling great with energy and not lethargic.

I will definitely be using Highly Edible Watermelon Pucks again. They are probably my favorite gummy on the market. The buzz and mood uplift are amazing. Highly recommended. Highly.

These gummies come from the folks at Cannapunch, who also make CannaPunch drinks and Dutch Girl Stroopwafels (our review here).

Flavor: 7

Strength: 8

Website: CannaPunch

Kiva Cannabis-Infused Chocolate Bars Review

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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.

Kiva Dark Chocolate Blackberry Cannabis Infused BarsThe 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.

KIVA Dark Chocolate Blackberry Cannabis Infused BarThe 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/

Atlas Ember, Stratus & Nimbus Cannabis Edibles Review

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Atlas edibles are a hybrid of a granola bar, a fruit/oat bar and a cookie. They come in Sativa, Indica and two different Hybrid formulations. Each bag contains 80mg of THC. There are four pieces in each bag, each piece contains 20mg of THC. They are colorfully packaged, interestingly flavored and cleverly named.

four bags of Atlas brand cannabis edibles
photo courtesy Atlas Edibles

Products

The two hybrid products are Stratus and Nimbus. Stratus promotes mindfulness & playfulness. It is flavored with lemon caramel, wild blueberries, poppy seeds and a hint of ginger. Nimbus is the other Hybrid flavor, having the same effects as Status but flavored with dark chocolate, hazelnuts, pecans and currants.

The Indica edible, which promotes relaxation, is flavored with Mexican chocolate, warm spices and pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and is called Origin. Click here for our reviews of Origin.

Atlas Sativa Ember clusters
Ember edible

The Sativa edible is called Ember and it promotes functionality and creativity. It’s flavored with caramel, cayenne, toasted cashews and California apricots. If you are sensitive to spicy, don’t be put off because I love spicy and I hardly noticed any heat when I tried it, so it’s a mellow heat offset by the nuts and apricots. It is vegetarian and almost vegan (if your vegan eats honey) with the cannabis infused in coconut oil.

Ember has a pleasant oat bar/moist cookie taste with some crunch from the cashews and a nice fruity finish with the apricots. THC flavor was present but mild, as was the heat from the cayenne, which I hardly could notice. I should note that I like spicy food and have a tolerance for it, so you might notice the cayenne more than I did. Atlas describes it as promoting positivity, functionality and creativity.

The Nimbus Hybrid product suggests it will promote balance, mindfulness and playfulness. It has a pleasant dark chocolate smell with some of the THC coming through. The taste is the same oat-y, sweet nut and fruit flavor as the other Atlas products. The pecan and hazelnut flavors come in behind the chocolate, oat & honey taste. There is a definite cannabis taste but it is mild and quite well balanced with the other flavors, so the taste is neither medicinal nor absent.

Dosing

It was confusing for me that they called the pieces inside “clusters” a cluster can be a single square or the four squares stuck together could also be a cluster. From just reading the dosing information on the outside I could not tell what I would find inside. Once I opened the package I found four square pieces stuck together with a silicone bag stuck to the bottom of one of the squares.

I had to re-read the instructions and was still confused because the graphic shows one square cut in half, so did that mean half of the four squares stuck together should be cut in half to make what they called a “cluster”? I decided that since there were 80mg in the package, that must mean there were four pieces, each with 20mg, so I pulled apart the four squares.

Atlas Sativa Ember pkg clusters
Atlas Edibles’ Sativa Ember edible fresh from the package

For my usual test dose of 10mg I cut one of the squares in half. Cutting one of the squares in half required a sharp knife since they are dense and there are nuts inside. It cut cleanly in half. My usual 10 mg dose was just right for this product as I found it strong and potent.

Effects

Ember – I took a 10 mg dose of the Sativa edible on a half-empty stomach in the late morning with coffee and I could feel it within 45 minutes. Within an hour I had the full effect of energy and focus. I had so much energy I felt like I could scrub the driveway with a toothbrush if I had to! Luckily I only had usual weekend chores and some cooking to do, so it was perfect.

I had a strong munchie effect from this edible. Since it is strong it likely impacts the blood sugar in a strong way too, so be sure to have your favorite liquids and snacks around.

Nimbus – I took a 10mg dose with my breakfast coffee, pairing it with a piece of bacon to provide the fat that edibles need. I started to feel the effects in less than an hour. Like the Ember product, this one is also potent and delivers a pleasantly noticeable effect. I experienced a clear-headed high, with some energy from the sativa effects and a solid relaxing effect on the body. This wasn’t a foggy-headed or lethargic high that comes with some hybrids that are indica-dominant.

For a review of their Indica edible, Click here for our reviews of Origin.

Flavor: 7

Strength: 9.5

Website: atlasedibles.com

Suck It 10mg THC Sour Apple Cannabis Sweets Review

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Canyon Cultivation makes various forms of cannabis produts – SuckIt hard candies, ChewIt gummies, LickIt Lollipops, DropIt liquid THC, PopIt capsules and DrinkIt cannabis coffee. Several of the lines have a variety of flavors. All of the products are non-GMO, gluten free and use all-natural ingredients. Many of them are Vegan as well, including the SuckIt hard candies I tried.

Sour Apple Flavor Suckit Candies from Canyon

I greatly prefer edibles and other cannabis products that are strain-specific and labeled with which strain was used to make the edible. From reviewing the Canyon website, I don’t see any indication of the stain used in any of the products. I am much more hesitant to try a product when I don’t know what effects to expect.

Flavor

I tried the Sour Apple flavor of the SuckIt hard candies. The taste is quite strong, in a supercharged Jolly Rancher sort of way. The strong flavoring helped mask most of the THC taste, but there still is a medicine- like flavor that is unpleasant and a THC aftertaste.

Effects

I tried these several times and for me they had a decent hybrid effect, if one that was more uplifting like sativa. The effects were uplifting but not really energizing. I had a clear head and generally good focus with a little of the dreamy/spacey head effects that some strains create. I was functional without being over-hyped. There was a mild body relaxing effect without the couch-lock or sleepiness that comes with some Indica dominant strains.

This makes good sense as a late afternoon or after work edible, if you are looking for a mild physical relaxation with a clear head and an uplifted feeling. I prefer something more energizing in the morning or early afternoon, so these are great if I am done for the day and plan to stay at home.

It is a shame that the product is way over packaged, with ten small candies only taking up about 1/6th of the large container. I know that Colorado requires the use of standard packages that meet child safety requirements, so Canyon may just be following the regulations. Its always good to see no more packaging than a product requires so I’m hopeful that the packaging can be reduced in the future.

Overall I found SuckIt hard candies to be a not so tasty yet effective edible with a mild uplifting effect.

Flavor: 4

Strength: 6

Website: Canyon Cultivation

Artet Cannabis-Infused Mixed Drink Review

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Artet is a cannabis-infused mixed drink. They make a “Cannabis Aperitif” as well as two flavors of mixed drink, which is what this review covers. This product is manufactured by Spacestation, the manufacturers of other infused beverages, including the Cann and Wünder line of products and infused by Vertosa. Artet is billed as a “Cannabis Beverages Crafted for Cocktail Moments”. Each Artet can is filled with 8 ounces of a 1:1 THC and CBD mix and has 5mg of CBD and 5mg of THC. They are sold as singles and also come in a four-pack.

Artet “is a blend of cannabis and botanicals that work in harmony to make Artet as fun as it is functional”. They have a variety of cocktail recipes on their website, link at the end of this review. The can is a single serving that you pop open and pull the tab back to reveal the opening for drinking or pouring.

Artet Cannabis Infused Mixed Drink Rosemary Jane flavor eight ounces next to cocktail glass with rosemary stem and grapefruit slice

As with all edibles and drinkables, it’s important to try new products at half of your usual dose the first time, until you know how strong the effects are for you. Since my usual dose of THC is 10mg and up to 15mg for CBD, I tried one can to judge the effects of half my usual dose. In my experience, CBD reduces the impact of THC, so if I consume a 1:1 blend of CBD and THC, I can sometimes take more than my usual dose, but not always.

If you aren’t sure of your tolerance or usual dose, try half a can then wait an hour or more to judge the effects and make sure you don’t take more than is enjoyable for you. That will give you 2.5mg of CBD and 2.5 mg of THC, which for some folks is plenty. If after time you don’t feel much or very little, you know you can try a full can and then judge that effect.

The ingredients are mostly plant based and seemed okay for vegetarians and vegans. The primary sweetener is cane sugar. Tet & Tonic flavor runs 35 calories the Rosemary Jane at 40 calories and they have 6 and 7 grams of sugar respectively.

Taste

We tried the “Tet & Tonic” and the “Rosemary Jane” flavors. There was a pleasant grapefruit smell from the Rosemary one and a lemony, slightly herbal smell form the other. These are delicate and complex flavors, so if that isn’t your thing these might not be for you. Don’t expect grape soda candy or infused alcohol kinds of flavors, these are more like a sweet wine or a sweet herbal tea infusion in terms of flavor.

The taste was delicate with the sweet citrus flavors dominating but with complexity from the herbal infusions of rosemary and chamomile. I expected them to be stronger on the herbal flavors, but they were not dominating, they harmonized well with the sweet of the sugar and the sour of the citrus. The ingredients lists plant-based ingredients but doesn’t say if all of the ingredients are plant based.

We saw no indication of any organic ingredients, so folks with concerns about pesticides or other chemicals commonly used on commercial plant ingredients might want to investigate that with the producer. From the ingredient list is does appear that no artificial colors are used.

Effects

I did begin to feel the effects within a half hour, with the reduction of any pain from inflammation I might be experiencing lessened, which I usually find with CBD. Being a liquid, there is less a bit less digesting to be done, so I usually find that cannabis infused beverages have a slightly faster onset for me than most edibles.

There is no indication of what strain(s) are used when extracting the THC, so it can be hard to judge what impact to expect. I found the effects slightly relaxing and it gave me a slightly stoned feeling mentally. I always prefer to know what strain was used or if it is a sativa, indica or hybrid, as that can tell me what impact I can expect.

I find CBD is much more effective on pain and discomfort when paired with THC, so I appreciate the 1:1 ratio of Artet “drinkables”. I don’t expect a CBD-focused product to give me the same elevated experience of a product that is purely or primarily THC. Expect the mild pain relief, relaxation and anti-inflammatory impacts that are typical for CBD. I was pleasantly surprised once I took my full dose of 10mg THC and 10mg CBD to find the relaxing effects quite potent, similar to having a few beers. The physical relaxation comes with some mental relaxation too. As mentioned above, try a new edible or drinkable several times at lower than your normal dose, then build up your usual dose, before even thinking of taking more than a standard dose. Start low and go slow.

Artet Cannabis Infused Mixed Drinks Rosemary Jane and Tet & Tonic flavor eight ounce cans

Wrap Up

The effects were a little stronger than I might have expected from a 1:1 CBD + THC edible or drinkable at the 10mg dose. Once I had tried them, two 5mg doses were just perfect to provide a few hours of relaxation, ideal for a virtual cocktail hour.

At my dispensary, a single serving size is priced at $6.00 plus tax with the four-pack priced at $20 plus tax, bringing the price down to $5.00 per dose before tax. If you look at our Cost Per 10mg Dose comparison, this is on the more expensive end of options, as it works out to either $10 or $12 per 10mg dose.

I could see this as part of my regular set of options when I want a special cannabis infused “cocktail” with the relaxing effects of CBD. For those who like refined flavors, enjoy cocktails and who like the effects, this is a fine addition to the top shelf of a CBD edibles & drinkables collection.

Taste: 7

Strength: 7

Website: https://artet.com/

7Sacred Cannabis Infused Caramels Review

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7Sacred makes farm-to-table cannabis-infused caramels, incorporating local ingredients from Colorado. 7Sacred is based in Telluride, Colorado and was founded by Mike Alagna, who was a professional chef for over 30 years. Besides caramels, 7Sacred also makes truffles and fruit chews using fruit from Colorado.

The caramels are made with cannabis oil sourced from organic cultivators. They make Indica, Sativa, and Hybrid formulas with different flavors including Salted Honey, Apple Butter and Peach and Black Cherry. Not only are they type-specific (Indica/Sativa/Hybrid), which I love, they also use organic ingredients whenever possible, a big plus.

I tested a Sativa batch of the High Desert Salted Honey, made with Colorado honey. The Indica, Hybrid and Sativa caramels all have 10mg of THC in each caramel, with the bag holding 10 pieces for a total of 100mg per bag.

Salted Honey Sativa 7 Sacred Cannabis Infused Caramels

They also make a 20mg small package with 2 pieces of caramel and they make truffles as well. These THC caramels are only available in Colorado as of 2021.

7Sacred Caramels are made with quality ingredients and they taste great. There is only the slightest cannabis oil taste to these edibles, but it’s barely noticeable.The High Desert Salted Honey flavor reminds me of a cross between saltwater taffy and caramels, with a sweet buttery yet salty taste. There is no strong cannabis aftertaste like you get with some edibles. The Salted Honey caramel is made with condensed milk and butter, so it is not suitable for vegans.

Each carame is individually packaged, so they are easy to throw into a backpack or cooler. Like most caramels, they can get sticky and soft when warm, so keep them away from heat to avoid an unfortunate melting. As with most edibles, I keep these in the refridgerator to help preserve the potency and flavor. I found that they are soft enough soon after coming out of the fridge, and I could lea the out for about 10 mins to get a softer texture.

The batch I tried had 9.52mg of THC per piece (I appreciate that 7Sacred and Colorado include the actual dose). I always try half of my usual dose the first time I use an edible, so in this case since my usual dose is 10mg or a little more, I brought a caramel to room temperature and it was fairly easy to cut it up with a sharp knife. If your usual dose is 5mg, you can cut one into four pieces without too much trouble to give you a tasting does of 2.5mg.

After two hours of taking a half dose I did not feel much. Another day I took a whole caramel and while I did notice some effect it wasn’t as strong as I would like. I took them as usual with coffee and a small sized breakfast that included some fat to help the THC metabolize.

What effects we experience from edibles can vary with what we have eaten, other chemicals in our systems, etc. , so be aware of the food in your system when taking edibles.

After trying a whole caramel two more times and feeling noticeable but not strong effects, I cut a caramel into four pieces so I could try one and one quarter for a does around 12mg of THC. That dose worked best for me with these edibles.

I did not feel a strong energetic effect from this Sativa edible, but did have sharp mental focus and some energy. I did not find it dreamy, with no more of a spacey head than other sativa edibles. I did find it uplifting and with a bit of a caffeine type energy buzz, so for me this is something I would rather use in the afternoon or in the morning, not in the evening. Well maybe if I was going out for the night, wanted to be uplifted and didn’t have to drive.

I appreciate these being clearly Sativa and providing the type of effects I’d generally expect from a Sativa.

Overall an excellent cannabis edible choice that uses local Colorado ingredients, organic cannabis and comes in tasty flavors.

Made in Colorado and only available in that state.

Flavor: 6

Potency: 6

Website: 7Sacred