July 10, 2021

Edibles That Have Us Hyped for Summer

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Melting your face off a blunt of Chemdog doesn't feel as refreshing when the heat outside is making you sweat the high out of your body. During the summer, the soothing wave of a well-dosed edible high is much more relaxing...and some of these weed-infused treats can help you cool down, too.

Ice cream, peppermint patties, sodas, floats, lemonade and candies inspired by summertime desserts are all available at pot shops today, but you might not see the niche edibles below prominently displayed at dispensaries. To keep the chill mode on high in the face of the heat, look for these seven cannabis-infused edibles:

3Js Hice Cream
No summer edibles list is complete without a frozen treat, and we'll be cooling down with 3Js this year. The pot-infused ice cream maker has four regular flavors — strawberry cheesecake, elk tracks, mint chocolate chip and peanut butter chocolate — and seasonal flavors, as well as a new line of ice pops that come in ten-packs of classic flavors. The ice cream, sold in 20- and 80-milligram servings, is what pulled us in, though, specifically the strawberry cheesecake and elk tracks. The slight weedy flavor in the first bite soon disappears, and the ice cream turns into a delicious, cool treat that isn't overly sweet. And because THC bonds to fat, you'll get an extra boost from the milk and cream.

Keef float
Keef's portfolio has expanded quite a bit since debuting in Boulder over ten years ago. The manufacturer of cannabis-infused soda now makes energy drinks, seltzers, mocktails, sports drinks and even vaporizer cartridges for dispensary customers. Our favorite, though, is still the classic soda, which goes down so fast that low tolerances will need to be aware of the 10-milligram doses. If you do have the tolerance, though, THC floats are the way to go during the summer.

The Bubba Kush Root Beer and Orange Kush Soda are two obvious choices for a Keef float, but the cola, grape and blue raspberry flavors also make for a good base. As with 3Js, the ice cream's fat will add a little extra to the high after bonding with the THC — and you can always get weird and make your float with 3Js instead of the basic stuff.

The Cheba Chews Trifecta carries a 1:1:1 ratio of THC, CBD and CBG.

The Cheba Chews Trifecta carries a 1:1:1 ratio of THC, CBD and CBG.

Courtesy of Cheeba Chews

Cheeba Chews Trifecta
Made by the OG of pot-infused taffy, the Cheeba Chews Trifecta would make an edibles list in any season. The caramel chew isn't just versatile, it's unique, packing a 1:1:1 ratio of THC, CBD and CBG, with 100 milligrams of each cannabinoid packed into the ten caramel pieces. You won't find that in a gummy, or just about any other edible out there. Don't expect to take over the world after eating more than one or two pieces, but whatever you end up doing, you'll feel damn good doing it.

Teajuana
Villa Grove-based Teajuana provides the goods to whip up instant or homemade THC versions of our favorite summer drinks. The company's single-serve pouches of instant lemonade powder each carry 10 milligrams of THC (as do the orange blossom and hibiscus rooibos teas, if you prefer iced tea), but we like to make our own if time allows. And for that, we use Teajuana's sugar cubes: individually packaged sugar cubes dosed with 10 milligrams of THC distillate. Make lemonade, Arnold Palmers, mocktails, cocktails or whatever you want with the cubes, then sit in the shade with your feet up.

The Incredibles Key Lime bar is a great milkshake addition.

The Incredibles Key Lime bar is a great milkshake addition.

Courtesy of Incredibles

Incredibles Key Lime Pie Bar
Summer desserts are bright, fruity and perfect for stocking in the fridge to enjoy during a late sunset, just like a Key lime pie. For those of us too lazy to make an infused pie at home, there's always an Incredibles bar for that. The established infused candy maker's Key Lime bars, made with white chocolate, Key lime juice and graham cracker bits, taste like a treat on the boardwalk. If you have the patience, melt a few squares (each is dosed at 10 milligrams of THC) and add the result to a blender with vanilla ice cream and milk and extra graham cracker for a Key lime pie shake. As with 3Js, the fat in the milk and ice cream will heighten the THC's effect, so serve yourself accordingly.

Coda Signature Root Beer Fruit Notes
Remember how much fun it was to make an impromptu trip to rent a movie on a Wednesday night in the middle of summer break? And then you doubled down at the register by asking your parents for a pack of overpriced root beer or cola gummies? I'm still not sure if the candy was even that good, but the 100 percent success rate with Mom or Dad made those brown-colored chews taste better.

I'm totally fine if Coda Signature's Root Beer Fruit Notes taste a little more zesty and sweet because of nostalgia, but don't discount the clear hints of sarsaparilla, cherry and vanilla that make the THC-infused gummies so tasty, or the little zing at the end that remind you this is a soda-inspired treat. Coda's Root Beer Notes are only sold on the medical side right now, but with any luck, they'll end up on recreational shelves soon.

Floyd's Chocolate Haze Spread, the Nutella of Colorado edibles.

Floyd's Chocolate Haze Spread, the Nutella of Colorado edibles.

Courtesy of Mountain High Suckers

Floyd’s Chocolate Haze Spread
The Nutella of Colorado edibles, Floyd's Chocolate Haze Spread is a jackpot for anyone trying to wake-and-bake without smoking. Toast, a tortilla wrap with butter, and crepes (shit, even cardboard) all taste better with the infused chocolate hazelnut spread, which comes in pouches with 10 milligrams of THC and CBD for easy spreading. We like dipping strawberries and Biscoff cookies into the spread for a later-afternoon snack, but it can also be used to make cookies, brownies and cupcakes.

Sinsère Peppermint Patty
Peppermint patties don't carry the same cachet at snack bars anymore, but they should during the summer. The mixture of creamy chocolate and cool peppermint is the perfect blend of sweet and refreshing, so why not add some weed to the equation? Love's Oven's chocolate branch, Sinsére, does just that, making delightful little pucks of fluffy peppermint confection covered in Belgian chocolate and infused with 10 milligrams of THC. Sneak a couple into the movie theater — or better yet, wolf them down a few minutes before going in — and enjoy the show.

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Herbert Fuego is the resident stoner at Westword, ready to answer all your marijuana questions.



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