We’ve come a long way since the days of pot brownies being the go-to (and only) edible available on the “market” — the market being your brother’s roommate’s basement bakery.
The edibles industry has flourished in the last decade, with new combinations of gummies, cookies, hard candies, mints, and even beverages hitting the market.
At this point, you’re probably familiar with edibles, concentrates, and beverages, but have you heard about dissolvables?
Ripple is a Colorado-based edibles company that harnesses the fast-acting power of dissolvable powders with the healing, anti-inflammatory power of cannabis. For medical users who need quick relief, Ripple is a game-changer.
Co-Founder Justin Singer received the epiphany that would become Ripple after trying to find a way to help his grandmother medicate in a safe, effective way.
“She hated smoking, vaping confused her, and half the people she knew who had tried an edible had overdone it in a terrifying way,” Singer said.
Precise dosing for products has historically been lacking in the cannabis industry, so creating a dissolvable that can be dosed reliably became Singer and Ripple Co-Founder Missy Bradley’s goal.
Once the science of creating a water-soluble THC product was worked out, the Ripple team had a dissolvable that reaches the bloodstream within 10 minutes and allows the body to absorb two times as much THC compared to other edibles on the market.
The result is a quick, predictable effect that offers a viable alternative to smoking or vaping.
Cannabis & Tech Today recently had the opportunity to converse with Bradley about the company, its philosophy, and the science of dissolvables. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Cannabis & Tech Today: Can you tell me how Ripple creates consistent dosing? I appreciate that the company conducts human trials and clinical testing, so I’d love to hear more about the technology.
Missy Bradley: We very much bought into the fact that we were a food company using cannabis as an ingredient, as a functional ingredient, similar to an Omega-3. And in doing so, we had to create a water-soluble form of THC.
We were making a tea product; we didn’t want an oil slick on the top of your cup. And that led us to create Ripple. So we had what is now Ripple in this tea product. And for a long time, there was a joking back and forth, “What if we just sold this on its own and people could make whatever they wanted with it?”
Then my Co-Founder, Jeremy, and I were doing all of our in-store vendor days and hearing from consumers that the tea product sounded great, but “Oh, I don’t drink tea,” or “I’m a higher dose user.”
After we released Ripple, we started hearing a bunch of reports of people saying, “this product hits me faster. I feel the effects quicker.”
And we felt the same thing, but we didn’t know why, or if it were actually true. Experience is a hard thing to judge. The high is different from person to person.
So we set out on our first study, pharmacokinetics, the study of how drugs are absorbed into the bloodstream. And it was a small study.
I think we had five or six people involved in the first one. And we had them take a 10-milligram dose of Ripple.
We measured the absorption into the bloodstream over various intervals. From that, we saw that Ripple was absorbed within 15 minutes.
We took that and we did a much larger-scale study with Colorado State University.
We have now done three studies with Colorado State University — peer-reviewed, published research, where we have measured the absorption rate of our products into the bloodstream.
C&T Today: Tell me about some of the different blends that Ripple offers.
Missy Bradley: We have a variety of dose options in the original dissolvable powder. We have a Relief option, which is a 40-to-1 CBD. Balanced, which is a one-to-one CBD THC. And a Pure, which is just a full dose of THC.
This past winter we launched our Sleep dissolvable, which is CBN and THC, with no added melatonin or other sleep agents. We’ve heard from people that they’re concerned about ingesting THC with potential other compounds meant for sleep. So those are the quick-dissolve lines.
Then from years of consumer research, we found that a good portion of our Ripple dissolvables consumers were pouring the unflavored powder directly on their tongue or putting it in a shot glass of water.
So from that, we developed our line of Quick Sticks, which are essentially like a pixie stick. It’s a flavored, dissolvable powder meant to be poured directly on your tongue.
So it’s in its own little sanitary wrapper. You can take it with you wherever you want. It is portable. It is discreet. And it is meant to be just quick, use it whenever you need it.
We also have put Ripple into a line of gummies, because gummies are the largest portion of the edible market.
It’s what a lot of people are looking for. We had this consistent, fast-acting powder, and we could make a gummy with it. So we have gummies that are now made with Ripple.
C&T Today: You mentioned when you were presented with this opportunity to join the brand that you weren’t interested in consuming cannabis. Has the research and the consumption modality made it something that you’re willing to dabble with now?
Missy Bradley: 100%. My cabinet is stocked with it. I didn’t recognize at the time that there was a functional way to use cannabis.
And also, when we started talking about it, I was pregnant with my first child and now I have two, and there was always a fear of overconsumption or of not being able to be a parent.
I never really had that with drinking a glass of wine because I knew how I would feel. I knew what I could and couldn’t do after drinking a glass or two of wine.
So really, it was just getting comfortable with cannabis, understanding how I was going to feel, having a product that I could rely on, and knowing what I was going to feel like and what that experience was going to be.
