Throughout adulthood, I’ve been an occasional and moderate consumer of cannabis. But about 15 years ago I started exploring weed with a bit more intention, curious about the semi-legal world of cannabis. I wanted to know more about potent varieties and understand cannabinol percentages and its effects.
Usually I smoked because I could more easily ration my intake of potent strains, as I could wait to see if I wanted another puff. Also I had a dramatic experience with edibles that ended up with me in the emergency room. Yes, I am one of those people who panicked from being too high from a small to-go cup of infused caramel. This was early the edibles game, when you didn’t know the potency.
I still prefer the high I get from smoking, but like many, COVID made me turn to edibles because I was concerned about taking smoke into my lungs.
The market for edibles is immense and is on track to overtake sales of flower also known as bud. Today’s world of branded edibles is no longer the wild west. Instead, dosage and potency are clearly labeled, and it’s much easier to find your desired high. It is good to remember that an edible high tends to be deeper and last longer than smoking. And because the edible needs to be digested before effects are felt, onset takes about 30 to 90 minutes versus the immediate high of smoke.
When THC is digested, it metabolizes into a stronger form, so edibles hit differently than smokeables. It also makes a difference whether or not you’ve had a meal. Onset is faster on a full stomach than an empty one. It’s advisable to ease into the land of infused-edibles and beverages with a small dose, so you can wait to see what the quality and strength of the high will be.
With just 2.5 mgs of THC, mints are a good place to start. Gummies, which often are 10 mgs of THC, can easily be cut in half. Chocolate is good too, the bars are marked into squares for dosage. I really don’t understand how someone can look at a bar of chocolate and only eat one square. I recommend having your favorite chocolate around so that you can eat more regular chocolate after you ingest your little infused square.
If you would like to ingest an edible but don’t want to wait nearly an hour to see how you feel, try a cannabis-infused beverage. The benefit of drinking your high is that onset is much faster, about 10 to 15 minutes. Most cannabis-infused beverages are designed to be sessionable, meaning you can open a can of infused seltzer and sip the whole thing much like having a beer.
Most of the companies producing high quality edibles are working with a specialist company like Sorse Technology, who deals with the complicated science of converting raw ingredients into safe cannabis.
If you’re thinking of trying edibles, here are my favorites.
Gummies
These large brands have dialed in dosages with a wide choice of fresh fruit gummies that offer different effects, from a light buzz to help with anxiety or sleeping. I recommend Camino and Wyld.
Chocolate
-Kiva - My favorite flavors are milk, dark, white, coffee crunch, espresso dark, and churro milk.
-Incredibles - I recommend Peanut Butter Buddha, Snoozeberry, and Cookies and Cream.
Beverages
-Cann Social Tonics - I love the blood orange cardamom and lemon lavender.
-Green Monke - These flavored sodas come in mango guava, tropical citrus, orange passionfruit.
Chef-driven treats
-Rose Delights - Made from chefs, I like the Turkish delight and the chocolate collaborations made with flower rosin. I also love Enrique Olvera’s Mole Madre Chocolate, and Dominique Crenn’s Apple Passion Fruit Delight.
One of Rose Delights’ collaborations with Chef Enrique Olvera is this Green d’Anjou Poached Pear in Chile Adobo, infused with flower rosin. Photo courtesy of Rose Los Angeles.
-Kiva - I recommend the Everything Bagel chocolate collaboration with Yeastie Boys.
-Cloud 11 - This chef-owned company makes fine chocolate bonbons. Some flavors are salted peanut, strawberry pink peppercorn, black sesame, and yuzu.