Honey is a delicious and nutritious food all by itself. But mix in a bit of CBD and you’ve got a tasty treat that is also a medicine. And what better way to take your medicine with you than in the form of easy-to-use CBD honey sticks.
In this article, the cannabis experts at Honest Marijuana tell you everything you need to know about CBD honey sticks and provide a step-by-step guide for making your own.
What Are CBD Honey Sticks?
CBD honey sticks (a.k.a. honey straws) are pretty much exactly what they sound like: straws filled with CBD honey that you can throw in your purse or backpack for an easy, on-the-go CBD treat.
There are actually two types of honey sticks: the liquid kind and the solid kind.
The solid kind is like a hard candy that you can suck on or stir into a hot beverage. The liquid kind is basically just CBD-infused honey in a sealed tube.
For the purposes of this article, we’ll deal with the “liquid” CBD honey straws because they have fewer additives and are often easier to find at your local dispensary.
How Do You Use CBD Honey Sticks?
You can use CBD honey in so many fun and delicious ways. Just exercise your imagination and we’re sure you’ll come up with your very own unique applications.
CBD honey sticks give you the option to take those fun, delicious, and unique methods on the road. That’s the beauty of the honey stick: it’s super portable.
Here are some simple ways to use CBD honey sticks at home or on the move:
- Cut open the straw and suck out the CBD honey for a quick and tasty treat
- Pour the CBD honey into your tea
- Drizzle it over your salad
- Mix it into your cereal or yogurt
- Apply the honey on your skin to reduce the pain of stings and burns
- Moisturize your lips
These suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg. Check out our article 22 Mind-Blowing Ways To Use CBD Honey for even more methods to put your sticks to good use.
Will CBD Honey Sticks Get You High?
When it comes to CBD products, this is what everyone wants to know. The quick answer is no.
They won’t get you high because they don’t contain the cannabinoid THC. THC is the chemical compound that is responsible for the psychedelic effects that make marijuana so famous (or infamous).
The honey in CBD honey sticks is made from high-CBD, low-THC strains so there’s no reason to worry that you’ll suddenly start feeling words or suffer from a case of the munchies.
What Are The Benefits?
The main benefit of the CBD honey sticks themselves (not the honey you ingest) is that they are extremely portable. You could carry around a container of CBD honey, but that gets bulky and heavy. CBD honey sticks are light, easy to use, and fit just about anywhere.
As for the honey in the CBD honey sticks, it offers a long list of benefits such as:
- Inhibits cancer cell growth
- Mediates psychotic disorders
- Suppresses seizure activity
- Combats anxiety and depression
- Relieves pain
- Reduces swelling
- Stimulates appetite
- Eases nausea
- Tempers neurodegenerative disorders
What Are The Side Effects?
The side effects of CBD honey sticks — like the benefits — come down to the CBD honey inside.
CBD has two major side effects and one regular effect (not necessarily a side effect) you should be aware of.
The two side effects are:
- Dry mouth
- Interference with your liver’s ability to break down other drugs
The regular effect you should be aware of is:
- CBD is biphasic
Let’s discuss the side effects first.
The first side effect isn’t really that big of a deal…especially if you’re taking CBD to manage pain or reduce seizures.
The second side effect may have serious repercussions for your health if you take a heart medication, a blood-sugar medication, or any type of drug that treats an ailment that CBD doesn’t.
Talk to your doctor before adding CBD honey sticks to your diet.
Now, let’s talk about how the CBD in CBD honey sticks is biphasic.
If you tease apart the unfamiliar word ‘biphasic’ into its constituent parts, you’ll discover two more familiar words: bi- and phase (or, at least a part of the word phase).
Bi-, of course, means two. That’s not too difficult.
A phase is a distinct period or stage in a series of events or a process of change or development.
Put the two words back together and you discover that biphasic is basically just a fancy term for ‘two different stages’.
So, at certain levels, CBD provides a certain list of effects (stage one). At other — often higher — levels, CBD provides different effects (stage two).
This biphasic idea may be new to some readers, but it isn’t all that uncommon. Alcohol, for example, is biphasic.
Below a certain blood alcohol content (BAC), alcohol provides a stimulating effect, which is why you feel energized and ready to party when you first start drinking.
Above that blood alcohol content, alcohol provides a depressant effect, which is why people tend to pass out after too many shots.
That’s not to say that CBD will act as a stimulant at one dosage level and a depressant at another, but the effects may change as the dosage increases.
It’s worth being aware that the effects of the CBD in your CBD honey sticks may change the more you take, just as it’s worth being aware that you’ll probably experience dry mouth and potential interference with any meds you’re taking.
The more knowledge you have, the better you’ll be able to achieve the best experience every time you partake of your CBD honey sticks.
Be Ready For What’s To Come
Getting your cannabinoids from a CBD honey stick, or any edible for that matter, is drastically different from smoking it. Even the same strain will feel a bit different depending on how you partake.
And it all comes down to onset and duration.
Smoking weed causes an almost immediate onset of effects but tapers off quickly after that.
Think of smoking weed like slamming the accelerator of an F1 race car to the floor. Zero to 100 in four seconds flat is about what it feels like when you’re toking on a strong strain of your favorite weed.
Unfortunately, all that power really eats up the gas, so the thrill — or in the case of CBD honey sticks, the medication — doesn’t last very long.
The effects of smoking weed trail off rapidly over the course of an hour or so until you’re back to normal contending with anxiety, pain, and nausea.
On the opposite side of the coin, the CBD in CBD honey sticks causes little to no effects for up to an hour.
After that, the effects will build for another hour or so and then taper off slowly over the next two to three hours.
Think of ingesting your CBD like push-starting your F1 race car, accelerating slowly over the course of several miles, and then setting the cruise (do race cars have cruise?) at 55 m.p.h. for a scenic drive through the country.
You might not experience the rush of zero to 100 in 4 seconds that you get with smoking, but a CBD honey stick gives you a much longer, more sustained level of effects.
As you can see, it’s important to realize what you’re in for before you partake. Chances are, you’re not going to feel anything for a while after you eat that CBD honey stick.
Be patient and refrain from eating another so you don’t create a “bad trip.”
Need more info about edibles in general? Check out this article from the HMJ blog: How Long Do Edibles Last? Everything You Need To Know.
Can You Eat Too Many CBD Honey Sticks?
From a dietary and upset-stomach perspective, yes, you can eat too many CBD honey sticks.
Just like drinking too much water, eating too many CBD honey sticks in one sitting will likely give you some digestive issues.
That said, if you’re concerned about ingesting too much CBD, allow us to put your mind at ease.
It’s nearly impossible to take in too much CBD if you use it sensibly. The only repercussion one CBD user felt when he took a high dose was a sense of drowsiness. However, the tendency to want to sleep may not even be considered negative if you suffer from insomnia.
So what’s a high dose of CBD? We’re talking something like 50,000 milligrams of CBD. That works out to about 300 milligrams for every 2.5 pounds of body weight. There’s really no reason you would ever have to take that much CBD.
In fact, your average 180-pound male suffering from severe pain would only need to take 25 milligrams at most to feel relief. That’s a long way from 50,000 milligrams.
To put that in perspective, 25 milligrams of CBD equals ⅛ teaspoon, while 50,000 milligrams equals about 33 tablespoons.
And that’s 33 tablespoons of PURE CBD. You’re not going to get that in any single CBD honey stick. It’s unlikely that you could even eat enough CBD honey sticks in one go to amass enough CBD to cause problems.
So it’s safe to say that, when it comes to getting too much CBD, you can’t eat too many CBD honey sticks.
Can You Make Your Own CBD Honey Sticks?
Yes, you can. It takes a bit of work, but the end result is a convenient, high-quality CBD honey stick that you can take anywhere.
There are three main steps to the process:
- Decarboxylate your bud
- Cook the CBD honey
- Transfer the CBD honey into straws
We’ll deal with the first two in the next section.
DIY CBD Honey
Ingredients & Supplies
- Oven
- Baking sheet
- Slow cooker
- 15 grams of your favorite marijuana
- 2 cups of honey (local, if possible)
- Cheesecloth (10” x 10” or larger)
- String
- Quart canning jar with lid
As you can see, this recipe makes two cups of CBD honey. If you want to make less or more, mix with a ratio of seven grams of bud for every cup of honey.
Instructions
- Decarboxylate your raw bud. This is an important step if you want to feel CBD’s full benefits. Check out our article Marijuana Decarboxylation: Why And How To Decarb Your Weed for detailed instructions.
- Wrap the 15 grams of decarboxylated cannabis in cheesecloth and tie it closed with a small piece of string.
- Place the cheesecloth in the quart jar.
- Pour 2 cups of local honey into the quart jar.
- Place the quart jar in your slow cooker.
- Pour enough water into the slow cooker so that it surrounds all the honey in the jar.
- Put the lid on the slow cooker.
- Set the slow cooker to LOW and cook for 8 hours.
- Check back every 2 or 3 hours to make sure the pressure in the jar isn’t building. Crack the lid slightly and then tighten it back down.
- After 8 hours, turn the slow cooker off and let the honey cool. You can leave the jar in the slow cooker or take it out (watch out, it’s hot!).
- When the honey is cool enough to touch, remove the cheesecloth from the jar and squeeze out as much of the golden goo as possible.
- Don’t discard that cheesecloth! Use it to flavor some weed tea.
- If you have the time, take advantage of the consistency of the warm honey and move on to making your own CBD honey sticks. If you’ve run out of time, and want to make the straws later, put a lid on the jar and store it in a cool dry place.
DIY CBD Honey Sticks
Supplies
- Empty honey bear (the kind with the pointy spout is ideal)
- CBD honey
- Straws
- 2 pairs of needle-nose pliers
- Lighter
- Small candle (any candle will work as long as you can easily get close to the flame)
- Paper towels (for sticky fingers and other cleanup)
Instructions
- Pour your homemade CBD honey into the honey bear.
- Replace the lid. If you can’t find a honey bear with a pointy nozzle on top, there are videos online that show cool ways to use the flip-top honey bears.
- Place one end of a straw over the nozzle of the honey bear.
- Keeping a tight grip on the straw, squeeze your CBD honey into the tube.
- Leave about an inch of space between the honey and the open end of the straw.
- Keep pressure on the honey bear or the honey will be sucked back into the container.
- Pinch off the end of the straw that is on the honey bear nozzle and pull the honey bear out. Set the honey bear aside.
- If your honey is fairly thick, you can set the straw down on a level surface for a few minutes, but it will eventually run out.
- Light the candle.
- With one pair of needle-nose pliers, hold one end of the straw about ¼ of an inch from the opening. Keep the opposite end level or elevated.
- With your unoccupied hand, pick up the other pair of needle-nose pliers.
- Hold the straw close to the flame until the plastic begins to melt.
- Move the straw away from the flame and clamp down on the melted plastic with the other pair of pliers.
- Hold the pressure for a few seconds to make sure the plastic seals well.
- Repeat steps 10 through 14 on the other end of the straw.
That’s it! You’ve made your very own CBD honey stick. Make a few more of those, throw them in a Ziploc bag, and store them in your backpack, purse, or pocket for an on-the-go CBD treat.
Pick The Right Strain For Good CBD Honey Sticks
Even if you’ve never partaken of the wacky weed and you whip up a batch of CBD honey sticks, you know you’re going to feel a little different. That is why you’re doing it, after all.
But being able to plan how you’re going to feel is an important part of having a good experience. And the only way to predict how you’re going to feel is to get familiar with the strains available to you.
It goes without saying that you’re going to use a high-CBD/low-THC strain to make your CBD honey sticks — otherwise, they’d be THC honey sticks, which is a completely different thing.
That said, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with all types of strains, including:
It’s even beneficial to learn about cannabis ruderalis and hemp so you can make an informed decision about what you want to put in your CBD honey sticks.
While you’re doing your research and learning everything you can about the wide world of weed, here are some suggestions for high-CBD strains to get you started.
- Charlotte’s Web
- Ringo’s Gift
- Harlequin
- Cannatonic
- Sour Tsunami
- Harle-Tsu
- Canna-Tsu
- ACDC
- Warlock
- Zen
- Pennywise
Once you understand the effects that a strain has to offer, you’ll be better able to make an informed decision about how you want to feel after ingesting a CBD honey stick.
Then, you can tweak your recipe to make it work for you.
Choose High-Quality Weed For The Best CBD Honey Sticks
Want the secret to making the best CBD honey sticks possible, regardless of the strain you choose?
The best advice we can give — whether this is your first time or your hundredth time — is to always use high-quality, organic weed in any edible recipe.
When you’re brewing up a batch of CBD honey or CBD honey sticks, opt for beasters, or, better yet, headies if you can afford it.
Your stash will last longer (because you don’t have to use as much to feel the effects), you’ll get more mileage from a small amount, and the experience will be out of this world.
If you can’t find the first two, mids will do in a pinch, but always shy away from regs (the literal bottom of the barrel) unless you have no other choice.
And, when possible, insist on including organic marijuana and organic marijuana products (like those grown and produced by Honest Marijuana) in any of your DIY, recreational, or medicinal efforts.
That even applies to weed you put in your body in other ways, such as:
Organic marijuana is free of harmful fertilizers, pesticides, and chemicals that will harsh, not just the benefits of the CBD, but your body as well.
By extension, then, any products you buy or make that don’t include organic marijuana, have the potential to include stuff you probably don’t want coursing through your veins.
So, if you’re looking for the best CBD honey sticks, don’t settle for anything less than a high-quality organic marijuana strain from Honest Marijuana.
Click or tap here to search for a location near you that sells the best marijuana on the planet — Honest Marijuana.
Buy And Try Before You DIY
Before you put all the time and effort into making your own CBD honey and CBD honey sticks, we suggest buying the pre-made variety first. Visit your local dispensary or purchase from a reputable source online, and then see how often you actually use your CBD honey sticks.
Are they your new favorite way to ingest CBD? Or are they fun once in a while and not really worth the time, effort, or expense? Only you can answer those questions.
If you absolutely love the convenience of them and you’ve got some free time on your hands, try making your own.
Either way, CBD honey sticks are a fun and convenient method to get the medicine you need.
For more information on all things cannabis and to check out our 100-percent all-natural marijuana products, visit HonestMarijuana.com today.
The post CBD Honey Sticks: What They Are And What You Need To Know appeared first on Honest Marijuana.
