While dabs are basking in all the glory that is peak cannabis culture hype and old-fashioned flower is picking up the leftovers with whatever Runtz derivative is popping on the west coast, there is actually quite a lot of cool stuff happening in the world of edibles as well.
Most people are familiar with infused gummies because they were some of the first widely manufactured and marketed forms of edibles in legal states post-legalization. It makes sense as gummies are more easily stabilized for longer shelf life than cookies and other baked goods.
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Gummies are also popular because they can be portioned more easily and accurately than a crumbly AF cookie for example.
Not to hate on cookies here, I bake infused chocolate-riddled goods frequently, but I like getting blasted on big crumbly chunks of brownie with who knows how much THC in them.
More recently, liquid forms of THC have been gaining in popularity and are perhaps even more portion-able if you invest in an eye dropper.
One such company that is making waves with their tinctures is Magic Number with their big-hitting Mega Drops nano-emulsified water soluble single-strain full-spectrum tinctures. Yeah, it’s a bit of a mouthful, so let’s unpack that a little bit!
What Are Mega Drops?
Magic Number produces various infused liquid edible products, including flavored sodas, sugar-free alcohol-free seltzers, champagne-like sparkling apple cider, and my favorite, Mega Drops.
Mega Drops are live resin solventless tinctures with full terpene profiles in easily mixable water-soluble solutions courtesy of their nano-emulsified production process.
There’s a lot here that distinguishes Magic Number from other cheaper edible brands, but the three biggest advantages they have from my perspective are:
1. Being Solventless & Full Spectrum
Cheaper edibles feature extracts that have been parted from the cannabis plant via butane, propane, ethanol, or carbon dioxide extraction methods.
Despite having a high upfront cost in equipment, solvent extraction can extract more THC and extract it faster than solventless, which relies purely on mechanical extraction processes.
Chemical extraction processes, however, can sometimes result in fewer preserved terpenes and cannabinoids in the final product, especially those extracted with alcohol.
Solventless extraction preserves as many tasty terpenes and impactful cannabinoids as possible. This results in an overall better quality high, in my opinion.
2. Nano Emulsification
Nano emulsification is the process of breaking down cannabis oils into smaller nanoscopic sizes, allowing them to be diluted in water (vs. oil which separates) and which ALSO makes them more bioavailable, meaning nano-emulsified edibles can hit faster than oil-based ones.
Magic Number states “10-30 minutes” for the activation time for their Mega Drops. I mixed up a drink with some Mega Drops just prior to writing this review, and just within the last couple of paragraphs, I’ve begun to feel it, dude.
Mind you, I’m a medium-slow typer, and I’ve been digging more into Magic Number as I’ve been typing, so, on the whole, I’d say 20 minutes or so have elapsed and the onset is onsetting now. Thank you, nano-emulsification!
Nano-emulsification is also the reason why this tincture gets lumped in with syrups even though it’s watery AF because most tinctures are oil-based.
For all you big brains and geeks with IQs higher than mine, here’s a video explaining it, I assume?
3. Single Strain Origins
Unlike other edibles that leave you entirely in the dark regarding the origins of what you’re putting in your body, Mega Drops state the strain from which they were extracted on each bottle.
My Passion Fruit Sativa, 1000mg bottle, was extracted from Tangie, which is one of my favorite parent strains, such as the one and only Tropicana Cookies, for example.
The top terpenes are also listed because, being solventless full-spectrum, we’ve got β-caryophyllene, Guaiol, Naphthalene, and α-humulene. If you’re a big sativa smoker, you’ll probably recognize at least a couple of those terps.
How to Take Mega Drops
I’m very laissez-faire about my edibles consumption. What I mean by this is I’ll measure with just my vision instead of measuring things out in milliliters. It also means I don’t test my homemade edibles with anything more than my tummy wummy (stomach).
You may be much more concerned with the precision of your dosing and that’s probably for the best, but I just wanted to be upfront about these instructions here as they are being written by someone who plays quite “casual” with his measuring…
Magic Number offers its drops in 3 sizes, including:
- Micro Drops [15ml bottle containing 150mg of THC]
- Magic Drops [30ml bottle containing 250mg of THC]
- Mega Drops [120ml bottle containing 1,000mg of THC]
I recommend not fucking around and just going with the 120ml bottle because these drops are dope, and you’ll save yourself an extra trip to the dispensary to get a second bottle if you just get the big boy up front.
With 1,000mg of THC in a 4fl oz bottle, one dose for me is one tiny sprinkle of this Magic Number tincture. When I say sprinkle, I mean like 5-10 individual drips, although the consistency means they kind of flow out together.
It would be much easier to get an eye dropper and measure your tincture out with more precision, but I’m too lazy to go buy one and wash it every time I make a drink, so meh, it’s not a must, IMO.
What Do You Mix Your Tincture With?
Well, since it’s nano-emulsified, you can mix Mega Drops in any water-based liquid. I’ve been defaulting to just tossing a few ice cubes into a glass with some flavored La Croix or La Croix equivalent and just stirring in a dash of Mega Drops.
These sativa drops are passion fruit flavored, which adds a tasty light fruity with a hint of skunk flavor to your base formula, in my case, usually some citrus-flavored sparkling water.
These drinks are cheap, quick to make, refreshing to drink, and relatively fast-acting for an edible. You can add some CBD, too, for a smoother, deeper journey.
East Fork Cultivars have some pre-diluted “beverage enhancing” CBD drops in a pump bottle that’s super convenient.
I imagine these would be tasty enough to take straight to the dome, which I haven’t tried yet because I don’t have a dropper, and I can see what I’m doing if I were to pour directly from the bottle.
If you’re an edibles vet, maybe drinking straight from the 1,000mg bottle isn’t a big deal for you. More power to you ya, shit brick house!
These Are Currently My Favorite Eddies
I’ve tried most of the big brands now, from Wana to Wyld to Grön Pearls and Drops to Gummie Buds and just about everything in between. Different brands have different things going for them, but the one I’ve reached for most frequently recently has been my Magic Number Mega Drops.
Yeah, sometimes I DO want a gummy or chocolate; each flavor and form has its appropriate time and place, but in terms of a daily driver, the speed, convenience, and versatility when it comes to mixing has made water-soluble tincture my current muse.
Like many working-aged people, I spent my twenties drinking way too much alcohol, not just binging but also the habitual nature of 6 pm after-work relaxation beers.
Now instead of cracking a couple of cold ones, I’ll just whip up a sparkling water Mega Drop “cocktail” and be flying high for the rest of the evening.
These sativa Tangie drops are delicious and give me a really solid high that never disappoints and is flexible enough to suit a wide variety of emotional and mental states at the time of consumption.
Magic Number has got a Sour Apple collaboration with Hash Hamilton featuring a single source strain of (insert drumroll) Tropicanna Cookies from Makru Farms!
I’m not the only one who is high on drops; they’ve been featured in Leaf Magazine as a “Leaf Pick” and are sometimes sold out when I’ve gone to re-up.
Whenever I ask budtenders about them and if they’re into edibles, they all seem to react with subtle respect for the drops. 1,000mg strain-specific live-resin nano-emulsified tincture; how could you NOT love it?
