Tag Archives: vegan

JMeds Cannabis Quoobs Lozenges Review

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JMeds’ “Quoobs” lozenges are cannabis-infused hard candies made in both a Sativa and an Indica formula. They come 5 lozenges to a package, each labeled with the tested potency per serving. The testing sample we used had a total of 36.5mg of THC in the package. These are potent edibles.

Dosing & Flavor

The dosing label on the package indicates that there are 7.3 mg of THC and .23 mg of CBD per serving. JMeds uses the whole plant extration method, making their cannabis edibles potent. I usually take a 10mg dose of edibles, yet this 7.3 mg dose gave me effects similar to a higher dose. So use these with caution if you are sensitive to thc. Even if you are experienced, know that a smaller dose of JMeds lozenges might be plenty.

Ingredients are primarily natural except for the artificial food coloring. The ingredients list includes cane sugar, cornsyrup, water, cannabis and organic flavor. A bonus for these edibles is that they don’t contain gelatin or any animal products, so they are cruelty free and an option for vegetarians and vegans. At 100 calories per serving they are not low calorie but not crazy high in calories either.

One challenge with hard candies like these is that they are difficult to cut into smaller pieces. If your preferred dose is 5mg, it is hard to break the candy into exactly half. If you decide to try this edible product, be sure you know what effects a 10mg dose of THC has on you. This is not a good choice for people who are new to edibles or trying them for the first time, since you want to start with a lower dose than 10mg until you know your tolerance. Plus these are more potent than other edibles, so as always, start low and go slow.

The flavor is a pretty generic fruit flavor that tastes mildly like strawberry. It does a good job of blending the THC cannabis oil flavor and there is no artificial aftertaste that you get with some artifically flavored edibles.

Effects

I find these to be nicely powerful, giving me a strong but not overpowering high at a dose about 70% of my normal dose. The Sativa formula does have some of the effects I expect from Sativa including focus, concentration, energy and heightened senses.

I was able to function well and get things done, I was not too spacey or dreamy to concentrate. I did not feel an uplift in mood but there was definitely a motivating energy as part of the effects I experienced.

Same with the Indica, the expected effects of a more body centered effect, relaxing and anti-anxiety.

Conclusion

I love the quality of the cannabis in JMeds. I like that I can get the effects I desire from a smaller dose than usual thanks to the way the cannabis is processed. While I am not in love with the flavor, there is nothing that puts me off and I like that there are no artificial flavors used.

These are a great choice for folks who can tolerate potent cannabis-infused edibles. If you are looking for a product that is cruelty-free, dairy free or gluten free, this is a good choice for you. Overall a very good edible product.

Note: JMeds became Canna-Soothe cannabis infused artisanal lozenges, but their website seems to no longer function so they may be out of business.

Taste: 5

Strength: 9

Website: www.canna-soothe.com

Kin Slips Cannabis Infused Sublingual Strips Review

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KinSlips
Photo Courtesy KinSlips

These “slips” remind me of those Listerine strips that were so popular years ago, that allowed you to use mouth wash on the go by just dissolving the strip in your mouth. In a similar fashion, Kin Slips allow you to discretely pop a strip into your mouth and let it dissolve.

The slips come in three formulas – uplifting with sativa type effects (Cloud Buster), relaxing with indica effects (Nice Dream) and a CBD-rich mixture (Park Life) formula. We appreciate that they indicate the effects they are formulated to produce, as so many edibles give no indication.

Nice Dream Slips Front Face
Nice Dream Slips Back

While the strips are certainly convenient and discreet, they are possibly the worst tasting edible we have ever had. Despite the attempt at flavoring, as these dissolve there is a tiny hint of flavoring but it is overpowered by an unpleasant chalky, medicinal taste. Even the flavoring tastes artificial. Even with drinking something to mask the taste, when using these before bed it is not unusual to still have the nasty aftertaste in your mouth the next morning.

Nice Dream Slips Unboxed

We find them quite strong, part of which is likely related to taking them under the tongue. For using the Nice Dream to help fall asleep and stay asleep, often half of one is enough to feel the effects. Nice Dream is on our short list when we need help with sleep.

KinSlips
Photo Courtesy KinSlips

KinSlips have a good strength, are convenient, discreet and specially formulated to produce specific effects, all of which which are big pluses. The taste is a big drawback for us, since there are so many other better tasting cannabis edibles available

Strength: 8

Flavor: 2

Website: https://kinslips.com/

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

EdiPure Tie Dye Cannabis Georgia Peach Gummies Review

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There are a lot of cannabis infused gummies on the market. A lot. My local, small town dispensary has between 4-5 varieties of gummies at any given time.

Last time I went edible shopping, I was talking with my budtender about how gummy flavors seemed to be mainly watermelon and berry. She immediately showed me Tie Dye Gummies in Georgia Peach Flavor. I was instantly sold! I happily purchased a container, as well as some other yummy edibles and went on my way.

Tie Dye Gummies Georgia Peach

These gummies are surprisingly a cloudy, off white color. They are one inch square pieces. Each lightly sugared dose contains 10mg of THC. Since my budtender said these were good, but not super strong, I felt confident in taking my regular dose of 40mg.

Tie Dye Gummies in Georgia Peach bring back memories of visiting old relative’s homes and how they’d offer orange fruit jelly slices to us. The Tye Dye Gummies were similar in consistency to that old fashioned candy; firm on the outside and soft in the middle.

Tie Dye Gummies Georgia Peach flavor are VERY peachy. Although the edibles are vegan, gluten fee, and organic- these might be the sweetest cannabis infused gummies I have ever eaten. Perhaps too sweet.

After about 50 minutes I started to feel a light buzz. My energy was slightly increased. There were no jitters. I waited for the initial high to increase which it never did. So I increased my dosage by another 10mg. The high never got stronger.

Tie Dye Gummies provide a light buzz and are very sweet. These marijuana edibles give an small, energetic buzz with a slight heady high.

If you are a beginner with edibles and are worried about products that are too strong for a newbie, these Georgia Peach Gummies are perfect for you. If you are looking for a strong high sensation, Tie Dye Gummies are not for you. Even after increasing my dosage, the buzz was minor.

I wouldn’t buy these again, but I know people who would prefer this edible’s weaker effects. Like my budtender said, they are good, but not super strong.

Taste: 8

Strength: 3

Website: https://www.edipure.com/gallery

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/

Pearl Mini Cannabis Infused Vitamin Water Review

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Pearl Mini cannabis-infused vitamin water lets you infuse beverages or food with with a mix of THC and CBD. They call it a food and beverage “mixer”. The small vial of white liquid is made with water, vitamins, THC and CBD cannabis extracts. Each vial of the Mini contains 2.5ml (0.08 fl oz) of liquid containing 10mg of THC and 10mg of CBD.

This mixer has 0 calories, no sugar, fat or cholesterol. As of October 2018, Pearl minis are available in CA and WA, made with SoRSE, which  described by the maker Tarukino Holdings Inc. as “the first and only technology that produces entirely taste- and odor-free cannabis emulsions for infusion of medical and recreational products”.

Pearl20 should be refrigerated after opening and my dispensary keeps it refrigerated to keep it as fresh as possible.

Pearl 20 mini no insert

Taste

Pearl 20 insertThere is a cute little insert card inside the package that says “Pearl is for mixing, not drinking straight. Mix with any of your favorite food or beverages”. This product is meant to spike your choice of beverage or food, not be taken straight.

Pearl20 is meant to be mixed with something, however for purposes of testing, I did take a small taste. While the website says “no weed taste”, that was not my experience of it straight from the container. If you have ever tasted cannabis oil, that is basically what this tastes like to me, plus a bit of a vitamin taste. It is very subtle and most folks wouldnt notice the taste. Pearl20 is not a product to take on its own, like a tincture.

Once mixed into a drink or food, the taste is barely noticeable when added to strongly flavored beverages. If you are very taste sensitive you might taste it in something bland like rice, otherwise it really is practically tasteless when mixed with any but the blandest food and drink.

If you are very sensitive to tastes, it is always wise to choose your beverage carefully. This may not be the time for that delicate jasmine green tea or cucumber-infused water. Something with a stronger taste is called for with this drinkable product. Some good choices for me have been iced coffee with almond milk, a cafe latte with cocoa and/or cinnamon or a cold plant protein drink.

I didn’t try it in food, but again I would look for food with a strong flavor, not add it to anything bland.

I’ve heard that salad dressing is one of the best ways to use THC like this, so you don’t heat it and reduce effectiveness. Maybe it’s time to try that homemade lemon vinaigrette? My favorite is a ginger lime cilantro dressing, so that may be how I try it with food. I’ll post about that separately.

Effect

As I understand it, CBD helps THC work and it also inhibits THC from having its full impact. Since this is a one-to-one (1:1) ratio of THC to CBD, I found the effect not as strong as other 10mg THC products that don’t contain CBD. I do appreciate the extra impact of the CBD, helping to reduce pain caused by inflammation and other benefits.

This is another product that is not labeled with the name of any specific strain or even if the canna is used is Indica, Sativa or a hybrid. The effects were very mild for me, I would guess it was a balanced hybrid as it didn’t not make me sleepy like an Indica or make me want to dance like some Sativas. My experience has been clear-headed, slightly uplifted and also relaxed. Munchies were not too much of a problem as the mild effect was also mild in that department.

Impression

I like how portable the pearl mini is, and it can go without refrigeration for one year until it is open, so it could be a good choice if you’re looking for portability. If you are sensitive to ingesting THC or you are not sure of your tolerance, a product like this can be a good place to start. You could take half of the dose then wait 2 hours to judge the impact if you were not familiar with it. If a mild dose of THC plus some CBD effects is what you are looking for in an edible or drinkable, this could be a great fit.

Choice

I love that you can now decide what food and drinks you want to make cannabis-infused. For beverages you are not limited to the mostly soda- and beer-like drinks that are infused with cannabis, you can infuse your own recipes for ginger honey lemonade, kombucha, even your favorite mocktails!

Even though I love to cook, I have not been one to try making my own edibles. Having a convenient size like this that provides a measured dose makes me more willing to try cooking with it. I hope they make this in an Indica or Sativa version at some point, even better some strain-specific versions.

Pearl 20 mini all

Strength: 6

Flavor: 0

Website:  pearl2o.com