If you are an OMMP patient in Oregon, chances are you’ve seen Qi Co chocolates, caramels, and suckers in your local dispensary. Qi Co chocolates have made their way around the state, and the company is comprised of a partnership between a local grower and their incredibly talented Confectioner and Chocolatier. I’ve been eating their medicated sweets since they came into production, and they are among the most beautiful I’ve seen anywhere, cannabis infused or otherwise. Qi Co also recently premiered a new concentrate line, called Evermelt, which is extracted using only grain alcohol. Search “Qi Co” on Leafly to find out which dispensary carries them in your area.
For this review I will talk about the Vanilla Caramels that I recently was given some samples of, but I also have several of their exquisite chocolates in my refrigerator, just calling my name. I get achy joints and sore muscles when I’m working too long on the computer, trimming cannabis all day, or when the weather is changing, and this is when I most enjoy the experience that comes with consuming edibles. Eating cannabis effects your body differently than smoking it, because of the way your body breaks it down. Properly dosed edibles can produce a steady, body focused feeling that is great for pain relief, or just trying to relax my mind and stop stressing about my day.
Qi Co edibles have the ingredients listed on the package, and they use only high quality ingredients, with no additives or high fructose corn syrup in their products. These caramels are the perfect dosage for me when I’m trying to relax or ease my joint pain, but still need to get some stuff done. They’re dosed at 30mg THC, so if you don’t eat edibles often I would recommend just eating about 1/3, or less, and seeing how you feel in 1 to 2 hours. The flavor of these caramels mask the strength, by which I mean they taste just like any other AMAZING caramel you would get in a high end sweet shop. I ate the whole thing, and it melted in my mouth with just a hint of cannabis flavor, which I noticed most in the aftertaste. Some people love the taste of weed, some people hate it, I’m somewhere in between. Often people sacrifice flavor for strong effects when they infuse edibles, and I don’t think that’s the way to go. I’ve also had some where you have to eat a whole king size candy bar to get much effect, but there is no cannabis flavor. Neither extreme is the case with Qi Co Vanilla Caramels. I think the caramel and subtle vanilla flavor are a perfect compliment to the cannabis, and some people don’t even need to eat the whole square to get their desired effects.
I ate a caramel after dinner, at about 8:30, and then my husband and I took our dog for a long walk around the neighborhood. By 9:30 I was fully experiencing the caramel, I had walked some energy out of my dog, and some of the stiffness out of my joints. I was feeling fantastic. When I got home I finished the dinner dishes, did some reading and headed to bed around 11:30. I’m a night owl to begin with, so a lot of the time I will be awake into the wee hours, thinking of all the chores I didn’t have time to get done, or preparing for whatever I have scheduled the next day. When I eat a Qi Co edible a few hours before bed, I never have this problem. I slept like a baby, and even woke up bright and early for yoga the next morning.
The popularity of cannabis infused edibles is growing as legalization spreads, and it is essential that inexperienced consumers do their research, and slowly ease into consuming edibles. Yes, it is awesome that there is a way to consume cannabis that doesn’t require smoking it, but if you don’t smoke cannabis then the edible you just bought will probably effect you in a significantly different way than someone who is a regular consumer. Keep this in mind if you are a beginner looking to try edibles, and always remember to start with a low dosage, and take things slowly when eating them. Also, always remember to relax, and enjoy your edible experience!
