After taking three Papaya Pebbles one night and another the following day, I give this cheap, acceptable Washington cannabis edible a score of 3.8 out of 5. Nothing about the flavor or effects of these pebbles will blow you away, but they’re certainly very effective.

The flavor was sort of nasty mainly due to the heavy concentration of processed sweeteners and artificial flavorings, and to be perfectly honest, the Magic Kitchen Tropical Papaya Punch Pebbles hit my digestive tract in a pretty uncomfortable way.

At $13 for a 100mg bag of edibles, these NCS Tropical Papaya Punch Pebbles are nothing if not cost-effective. They’re the type of edibles you’d pair with a fast-food hamburger and a milkshake, not filet mignon steak and fine wine.

Bottoms up, and say a prayer for future you’s stomach.

• Convenient packaging
• Reasonably tasty edibles
• Lots of artificial ingredients
• Did a number on my stomach
• Strong THC effects
• Very low price

Convenience 

Picking up my Magic Kitchen Tropical Papaya Punch Pebbles 100mg curbside from Cannabis & Glass in Liberty Lake, WA was easy as usual. I simply showed up, called the number saved on my phone (or easily visible on a sign in the curbside lot), and received my products in around 5-10 minutes.

Opening the package, I observed the individually packaged pebbles within. Unlike gummies, these were hard candies, and I wasn’t sure how easy they would be to use.

Much to my surprise, my pebble quickly started melting in my mouth. It only took around five minutes for the candy to completely dissolve, and by that point, the effects were already somewhat noticeable.

• Convenient pickup experience at C&G Liberty Lake

• Easy to open package and pop in my mouth
• Dissolved in around 5 minutes

Flavor Profile 

I don’t know if my Magic Kitchen Tropical Papaya Punch Pebbles tasted particularly like papaya. They were certainly papaya-colored, however, and they tasted sweet and fruity.

In essence, my Tropical Papaya Punch Pebbles tasted like average store-bought candy — or maybe the off-brand, gas-station variety. I didn’t hate the flavor, but it didn’t taste particularly natural.

Want to know why my Pebbles tasted artificial? Here are a few reasons:

INGREDIENTS: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Water, Flavor (Propylene Glycol, Propyl Alcohol, Natural Flavor), Malic Acid, Lactic Acid, Cannabis Extract, Yellow Color (Water, FD&C Yellow $5, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate [Preservative]), Caramel Color, Orange Color (Water, FD&C Yellow #6, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate [Preservative]).

So, basically, these edibles consist of hunks of sugar and corn syrup blasted with artificial flavorings and colors. For those not in the know, “Natural Flavor” can mean just about anything. There’s nothing inherently safe about that ingredient. For flavoring, it looks like NCS chose the cheapest option available.

• Basic fruit flavor
• Very sweet
• Sugar, corn syrup, and artificial flavorings
• Not exactly my favorite type of sweet

Activation Time 

I was pleasantly surprised by the activation time of my Magic Kitchen Tropical Papaya Punch Pebbles. That’s the beauty of THC candies you suck on — the cannabinoids they contain have time to absorb through the thin membranes in your mouth before they enter your digestive tract, allowing almost-instant activation that’s then followed up by belly-originated effects that last for hours.

An edible’s an edible in the end, though, and it’s rare to catch me giving a cannabis edible a perfect grade when it comes to activation time.

• Very fast activation time facilitated by absorption through mouth membranes
• Initial effects felt in 5 minutes, full effects after 30 minutes

Effects & Duration 

I would have given these edibles a much higher score if their ingredients were safer and they didn’t give me considerable digestive issues for a full 24 hours after consuming only three pebbles.

At first, I wanted to chalk my indigestion up to something else. Usually, however, my digestion is just fine, and the only thing that had changed in my routine was my edible spree the night before.

I took another pebble the following day just to be certain, and sure enough, my digestive discomfort intensified. My Magic Kitchen Tropical Papaya Punch Pebbles 100mg bag will stay deep in my stash for emergencies or the contingency that my desire for edibles outweighs my dislike of the ingredients and side effects of these cheap and low-quality Papaya Pebbles.

• Great high, powerful THC effects
• Just as powerful stomach discomfort afterward, however
• I blame the cheap, low-quality ingredients

Price

Thirteen bucks for a 100mg bag of edibles? You’ve got to be kidding me.

If only I’d known that’s exactly what my stomach would be saying to me three Papaya Punch Pebbles in.

• Very reasonable price of $13 for a 100mg package of THC edibles
• Your stomach might pay the price later, though