With modern technology, cannabis companies can create a basically unlimited variety of edibles to catch consumers’ attention. Sour gummies are no exception.
From dime-store watermelon slices to Starburst-style edibles, cannabis brands have been going wild carving out specific niches of sour gummies to remind adult consumers of their childhoods, or introduce them to new flavors.
Here are a few brands making their mark in the sour edibles space.
District
With just three flavors and scientific-looking packaging, District’s sour gummies have an air of maturity about them. They’ll appeal to the consumer who wants ultra-precise dosing, with their unique cross shapes — perfect for us lightweights to nibble off a corner if we’re not feeling particularly wacky. District offers three flavors: Puckering Peach (indica), Lunar Lime (sativa) and Atomic Apple (hybrid). The packaging is bright but restrained, with a sensible sans-serif font and a periodic-table-like symbol for each (Puckering Peach gets “Pe,” for example). Each 100 mg pack has 10×10 mg translucent gummies that have an elegant, stained-glass look. These gummies can be found in California, Colorado, Maine, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Oklahoma and Puerto Rico. They’ll soon be available in Florida and Massachusetts.
Highatus
Variety is the name of the game with the California-only brand Highatus. The fun-first aesthetic put forward by the packaging’s tumbling, brightly-colored blocks and Microsoft WordArt-style logo is enforced by the fact that these gummies come in a box, which suggests more of a candy-store experience than a medicinal one. It’s easy to imagine the packaging catching a consumer’s eye in a dispensary, and then leaving with a box on a whim. As if predicting this, the boxes are labeled with expected effects from each of the six flavors: “L’orange” tells the consumer it’s for the daytime, and will make them feel energized, joyful and creative. Watermelon, on the other hand, is for nighttime and will help with relaxation, sleep and tranquility. The gummies themselves — also a 10×10 mg deal — are classic neon squares with sour sugar exteriors.
Sira Naturals
With their balloon-y cursive logo’s ‘70s vibe, Massachusetts-based brand Sira also offers up a ton of choice with its Wicked Sour gummies. They appear to be going for the new-to-edibles market, with THC ranges from 5 mg to 25 mg each, making them approachable for people who have never tried an edible — or perhaps had a bad experience with a brownie and are looking for something more low-key. The flavors are classic and many: strawberry, blue raspberry, watermelon, tropical and citrus. The gummies have tried-and-true sour sugar outsides, with a twist: they’re triangles (whaaaaat).
Hi-Burst
It was only a matter of time before a weed company created a loving homage to Starbursts. Hi-Burst — from Washington state’s Northwest Cannabis Solutions, the brand behind canna-candy like Koko Gemz, Chewee’s and more — eschews the sour sugar exterior candies for a firmer, smoother texture. There’s only one flavor per box, but there are a ton to choose from, like blue raspberry, pineapple orange, and lemonade. Hi-Burst also has two flavors made with live resin, which connoisseurs will likely appreciate. The packaging is bulky and bright — almost a take-out-style box with a big white lightning bolt on the front. While some gummies market their effects first, Hi-Burst is going for those who want a specific taste and texture.
Wyld
Wyld has steered hard away from the corner-store vibe and toward upscale, health food, medicinal-style branding. The company is trying to give their adult consumers adult flavors instead of bringing them back to the tastes of their childhood. The eight flavors of gummies — including mature tastes like huckleberry, marionberry and elderberry — are made with real fruit and natural terpenes. They come in indica, sativa and hybrid varieties and 100 mg (10×10 mg) packs. From the antler logo to the rounded-edge gummies and botanist-textbook packaging, Wyld is clearly going for an audience that cares about quality and refinement more than they care about going to space. The gummies are available in Oregon, California, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada and Washington.
Incredibles
“CAUTION: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF TART” blares the electric green packaging for Incredibles’ Super Sour Apple Pucker flavor. The gummy is one of three new sours the brand launched this month, alongside Sour Blue Razzberry and Sour Cherry Tart. The packaging is all about getting consumers’ attention — and in a dispensary world of muted forest greens and sleek black-and-white bags, they’ll likely have no problem doing so. The edibles are curently available in Illinois, with hopes to expand. All three retain Incredibles’ distinctive neon coloring, with added lightning bolts (because sour). The gummies themselves have a crunchy sugar outside and pleasantly toxic-ooze coloring. Each pack has 100 mg of THC (10x10mg). While the apple and cherry flavors are made with pure THC distillate, blue razzberry has an equal amount of CBG — which has been shown to work like CBD to reduce inflammation and bad vibes.
