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Not Pot emerged into the CBD gummy space a couple of years ago with an important mission: de-stigmatize Cannabis and support those who are incarcerated for marijuana-related charges. Charges that disproportionately affect minority and marginalized communities.
We particularly love that every month they help pay someone’s bail through their Not Pot Bail Fund.
Combined with that important mission, Not Pot brought twee and fun branding into the equation, branding that incorporated a whimsical throwback psychedelia aesthetic and (now discontinued) experimental flavors like Pickle and Champagne. (Bring these back!)
But recently they pivoted and rebranded with lots of Anime and vaguely 60’s or 80’s retro photo kitsch that careens between camp and confusing. And now… Mermaidcore?
We get that they’re pushing their CBD bath bombs, but the relentless Under-the-Sea messaging leaves us wondering if they’re for actual merfolk. Our hunch is that the Gen Z Adorkable moment has come for Not Pot.
Beyond that, they’ve now stripped down to two gummy essentials: An original CBD gummy and a CBD + Melatonin gummy. And no more wild flavors 😞: they’ve pared it down to the accessible Strawberry and the familiar Blueberry, respectively.
And while they were throwing out the Pickle and the Champagne gummies, they developed a gaggle of Not Pot products as well. Perusing their website, we noted they now have more merch than CBD offerings.
We’re not privy to their brand strategy meetings, so we don’t quite get the calculus here. But the merch is cute, so there’s that.
But let’s go ahead and take a bite, and chew on what we all came here for: Cannabidiol Glory!
How do these taste? And more importantly, are Not Pot gummies effective?
Tasting Notes
This is a dank, earthy strawberry, there’s a bitterness to this that captures the bite of a tart strawberry. A vegetal quality of dirt still on the berry. We’re sure the CBD lends itself to the flavor here, and it’s a winning combination of sweetness and earthiness. These are delicious.
These are made with pectin and tapioca (so they’re vegan!), which gives them a really satisfying chewiness, without being rubbery like gelatin-based gummies can be sometimes.
Effectiveness
We love the subtle, but palpable effects of these gummies. They give us a distinct chill that aids us as we go through our days without some pesky downer monologue.
These are definitely a noticeable vibe, more than say Lord Jones, which is so light we thought it was mostly a gelatin pillow. No, this bitter berry is a CBD mood and it’s a good one.
The Not Pot Original Gummies have 20 mg of CBD, which is a solid dose and pretty in line with most other gummies out there.
👉 If you’re new to CBD and want to just dip your toe in, Highline Wellness’ CBD Anytime Gummy has a light, 10mg dose.
Ingredients and GMP Certification
Obviously we love a gummy around these parts, but we love even more when we know what’s in it.
As part of our due diligence to explore every aspect of the gummies we put on this site, we often reach out to brands with questions about ingredients, methods, clarifications on labeling, etc.
👉 Fun fact: We reached out to Smarty Pants about why sheep’s wool was involved with Vitamin D3, and it turned out one of Gummy Girl’s IRL friends works there now and was wondering who would ask such a nerdy question. lol, we would.
And in particular with CBD brands (because let’s be honest– the scene is exploding), we like to find out specifics about how rigorous their standards are.
We’ve poked around the Not Pot website, and can’t find any information about their extraction process, though the website claims that it is “minimally invasive” and “slooow.” They do state that their hemp is “sustainably sourced” and USA grown, and they do have lab reports available for each batch of gummies.
If you’re not familiar with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), it’s a designation given to companies by the FDA that involved an independent third party evaluating and verifying quality and best practices for products that a consumer would not be able to verify themselves.
Because CBD is a brave and relatively new and unregulated world, a GMP certification helps separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak when it comes to getting CBD you can trust. Companies like Highline Wellness, Verma Farms and Charlotte’s Web are all GMP certified.
We reached out (twice!) to Not Pot with the following questions:
Are Not Pot gummies GMP certified/manufactured in a GMP processing facility?
Where is your hemp sourced from?
Can you tell us more about your extraction processes and methods?
Sadly, we never heard back from them.
UPDATE: We finally heard back from Not Pot! Huzzah! They confirmed that their manufacturers are GMP certified and had this to say about their extraction process:
“We’re proud to partner with family-run, organic farms that sustainably grow hemp in compliance with the 2018 Farm Bill. And our phytocannabinoid extraction process is minimally invasive, in order to preserve the integrity and natural healing properties of the cannabis plant.”
So that doesn’t totally clarify the extraction method, but there ya go.
Overall
At the end of the day, we like these gummies a lot, and consider them accessible and affordable for those new to the CBD gummy world.
And we are so glad we finally heard back from them re: their GMP certification!
Stay adorkable!
