I would say 2023 was a strange year, but since the last three years have all seemed to fall under the category of “strange,” I guess that’s no longer out of the ordinary. One way to deal with this strangeness, I’ve found, is to take an edible after work and either spend an hour and a half making an elaborate dinner or watching a deeply problematic episode of Jerry Springer filmed in 2009 while sitting at the laundromat as I wash all the blankets my cat mercilessly sheds on, both activities I somehow find equally enjoyable.
This proclivity has blessed me with an opportunity to try a perhaps embarrassingly large number of edibles over the past year. Most come in gummy form and are just fine. Some deliver varying doses of THC in surprisingly delicious chocolate bars. But there are a few edibles I tried this year that really stood out for their culinary innovation, their novel approach to edible consumption and, in the best cases, their enjoyable effects. These are five of the best edibles I tried in 2023.
TSUMo Snacks Spicy Cheesy Ramen Curls by Roy Choi
Munchies have always been an effect of THC ingestion, but we’ve seen more and more companies make edibles that are themselves snackable, and legendary chef Roy Choi’s Spicy Cheesy Ramen Curls from TSUMo Snacks are a great example. These cheese puff-like edibles are a more elevated version of the classic snack on the flavor front, but they’re also infused with THC (100 mg per bag).
The downside is that you have to count out roughly nine cheese puffs to get a standard 5 mg serving of the snack, which can be a slightly tricky process and can lead to over- or under-dosing if you’re not counting carefully enough. But the fact that these were actually delicious earns it a spot on this list. Do not take these when you’re already high—it’s way too easy to tear through the entire bag without a second thought.
Huxleys
Edibles can be unpredictable; you never know which are going to make you feel great and which are going to throw you into a low-grade panic attack. When it comes to pleasant effects, Huxleys has to be my favorite brand I tried all year. The brand sells both gummies and gel caps in four different formulas, including “Happy,” “Sleep,” “Energy,” and “Sex.” My favorite was the “Happy,” sold in both 5 and 20 mg gel caps and 10 mg gummies. I never had a bad experience with these—they did, in fact, make me feel happy—and I like that the gel caps are so discreet.
Sweedies Mood Rings
Sweedies Mood Rings may just be the most aesthetically pleasing edibles on the market with their trendy packaging and colorful ring-shaped gummies. These gummies come in packs, each of which contains 10 gummies that each deliver 0.5 mg of THC and CBD. This allows you to pace yourself if you don’t want to take a full dose, and it also gives you the ability to take your edible in snack form (instead of just eating a single gummy).
Nowadays
Whether you’re trying to drink less alcohol or you just want to take your edibles in liquid form, Nowadays is the product to try. I’ve been less than impressed with most of the cannabis beverages I’ve tried—flavored seltzers can only get you so far. So I was pleasantly surprised when I first tried Nowadays, a cannabis-infused spirit. Although you might assume that the flavor would be overwhelmingly weed-y, that really wasn’t the case; it has an enjoyable floral flavor that actually works really well in a variety of cocktail recipes. It comes in both low-dose (6 mg per serving) and micro-dose (2 mg per serving), so you can opt for whichever option best fits your tolerance level.
Bubby’s Baked Brownie Bites
Back in the olden days of my youth, you couldn’t just walk into a clean, well-lit dispensary if you wanted edibles. Rather, you’d have to visit your college roommate’s cousin’s ex-boyfriend’s downstairs neighbor who made depressingly weak, often downright unappetizing weed brownies in his stepmom’s house when she went away to Cabo for the weekend. They had either barely perceptible psychoactive effects or would throw you into an alternate, bleary-eyed reality for the entirety of a house party.
Those days might be over for many of us, but that doesn’t mean you can’t relive the glory days with Bubby’s Baked Brownie Bites. They’re brownies, yes, but they’re also appropriately dosed so you know what you’re getting into before you take a bite. Plus, they actually taste good. Can you imagine?
Samantha Maxwell is a food writer and editor based in Boston. Follow her on Twitter at @samseating.