The Drug.Store X Pollen CBD Gummies Review (Vegan)

I’ve teamed up this month with The Drug.Store – the best online shop in the UK to buy legal, high-quality CBD oil products from the biggest Cannabidiol brands in the world, including the infamous Instagrammable CBD brand, you guessed it, Pollen. Today I’ll be reviewing the rather delicious Pollen CBD Gummies, and they’re vegan too – hurray! They come in 3 different varieties; Powerbank, No Pressure, and Soothe You and each gummy contains 10mg of full-spectrum CBD.

DISCLAIMER: Please note that this is a sponsored post. I was sent free products and compensated in return for an honest review. I am also part of The Drug.Store affiliate program and this post contains affiliate links to their site. If you buy anything from The Drug.Store website using any of the links contained with my post, it won’t cost you any extra, but I will get paid a small commission to help keep my blog up and running. I am not influenced by the company in any way and all opinions, ramblings, and thoughts are my own and 100% honest. If you’d like to know more, feel free to contact me.

The Drug.Store only stock lab-tested, reputable CBD products so you know you’re buying the best quality products from a trustworthy source. They currently ship to the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Portugal and Spain but if you live outside of these areas just drop them a message. If you live in London they have a couple of stores so head on down and take a mosey.

I was lucky enough to receive a full-sized box of Pollen’s No Pressure CBD Gummies from these wonderful people. Yup these squishy little nuggets of joy contain 30 gummies in 3 gourmet, juice-shot sounding, flavours; Pear + Turmeric, Berry + Peppercorn, and Mandarin + Tonic. Each flavour has been developed with key terpene packed ingredients in order to complement the effects of the CBD itself.

Because the folk over at The Drug.Store are super generous they’ve given my readers the discount code ‘GREEN15’ for 15% off. 

Pollen CBD Gummies (180g), £35.00, available from The Drug.Store

Before I start my review it’s worth mentioning that London based Pollen founder Melanie Goldsmith is also the founder of alcoholic confectioner Smith & Sinclair, who sell a wide variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic gourmet gummies. So, to start with let’s talk about the ingredients list followed by the flavours and performance, because oh… my… god… was I blown away! (For those of you new to CBD head on over to The Drug.Store’s FAQ section to find out the basics.)

We all deserve to feel light as a feather, like a plush pillow bouncing back into shape. This is the foundation of our No Pressure range of vegan gummies; to promote a sense of restoration and balance. Made with broad spectrum hemp oil, turmeric, cayenne + grapefruit. – Pollen

The Ingredients

The Pollen No Pressure Gummies use a vegan formula (except for Soothe You as they contain honey) and broad-spectrum CBD sourced from USA grown hemp. There’s 0% THC to fit in line with UK standards and all of the flavourings are natural. Let’s take a look at the full ingredients list…

Ingredients: Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Water, Gelling Agent (Pectin), Flavouring, Broad Spectrum CBD Oil (MCT Oil from Coconuts), Cannabis Sativa L Hemp Oil, Grenadine, Natural Strawberry Flavouring, Natural Pear Flavouring, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Aromatic Bitters, Tonic Bitters, Natural Mandarin Flavouring, Natural raspberry flavouring, Ground turmeric, Ground cayenne pepper, Orange essential oil, Grapefruit essential oil, Black pepper essential oil, Emulsifiers (Sugar Esters, Corn starch)

So, I know at first you’re gonna see sugar and glucose syrup – I know I did – but, hear me out… each 6g gummy contains 2.1g of sugar. Stick to the recommended 3 gummies a day and that’s 6.3g. It’s recommended that men consume no more than 36g of added sugars per day, and women no more than 25g. So, to be honest, I feel that considering a glass of orange juice contains on average 22g of sugar this probably won’t do too much damage.

Personally, as I tend to dose using oils sublingually I’d probably only have 1 gummy a day as a sort of top-up anyway. Well, if I could control myself that is. If you’re new to CBD you’d start at 1-3 a day spaced out evenly such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The Flavours

I’m not big on sweets in general – because – well, sugar. However, every now and then I order some sugar-free vegan gummies for the kids. They always taste nice but they often don’t have that same bounce and chew as ones with gelatine and they almost always get stuck to my teeth. So, as you can imagine I didn’t have high hopes when it came to these gummies, but boy I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Pollen infuses each gummy with CBD rather than spraying or injecting them after baking. This is so that no residue will develop after production and you don’t get that awful bitter hemp aftertaste.

The Pollen CBD Gummies could easily pass as not being vegan, like seriously, nobody would ever know. The texture is just unbelievable! They have the most amazing bounce and bite to them and the flavour combinations are to die for and I’m guessing this is because they don’t use any artificial ingredients, just natural fruit flavours and essential oils.

The Pear + Turmeric gummy is bright yellow, the moment you pop this little gem in your mouth you’re hit with that pear drop flavour synonymous to your childhood. Then the bitter, pepperiness of the turmeric comes to play, and finally an acidic, fruity sourness.

Berry + Peppercorn is described as being a burnt orange but it looked more like a rusty red to me. This is the sweetest of all 3 gummy flavours – you’re hit with a delicious berry note that stays throughout the taste experience. There’s a hint of peppercorn that bounces around the palate but it’s relatively tame and not in the slightest bit spicy,

Mandarin + Tonic has a straw yellow hue to it. The sweetness of the mandarin hits you first, followed by the bitterness of the tonic, and then a slightly sour after taste. The way the flavours play in your mouth is quite similar to that of the Pear + Turmeric gummy.

Pollen infuses each gummy with CBD rather than spraying or injecting them after baking. This is so that no residue will develop after production and you don’t get that awful bitter hemp aftertaste. I came to the conclusion that this is why they taste so darn good! If I had to mark the flavours they’d all get 10/10 but I think the Pear + Turmeric might be my favourite, which is odd because I never really like pear drops as a kid. To be honest I just struggled sticking to the allocated ‘3 a day’ rule.

The Performance

It’s pretty fascinating to me that such a tiny gummy sweet can hold a whopping 10mg of CBD. Okay, 10mg is a low dose but it’s a great starting point if you’re new to CBD and it can also act as a fairly energising dose.

I found that 2 gummies in a row were my sort of sweet spot – it left me feeling fairly energised and stress-free, the 3rd made me a lot more sleepy and relaxed.

Now, it’s worth noting that not all of the CBD in your edibles is going to be absorbed. Short of injecting CBD into your bloodstream, it’s almost impossible to have a 100% absorption rate. With sublingual tinctures ranging from 12%-35%, vaping at around 35%, and CBD edibles have roughly a 10% absorption rate if you’re lucky. That means that you’re probably only getting 1mg of CBD per gummy.

Having said that, these low absorption rates linked to edibles could be due to the CBD being sprayed over the final product, thus some of it sloughing off at a later date.

I definitely found that when I sucked on the gummies I felt more of an effect than when I just chewed them whole. I found that 2 gummies in a row were my sort of sweet spot – it left me feeling fairly energised and stress-free, the 3rd made me a lot more sleepy and relaxed.

It’s worth noting that full-spectrum supplements will have a greater effect due to the extra terpenes (known as the entourage effect), and Pollen has been wise to use additional terpenes from essential oils. This is probably why I felt something after consuming the gummies rather than nothing at all.

The Verdict

Overall I have fallen in love with the Pollen brand. The gummies themselves have the best flavours you could imagine, there’s not a hint of bitter CBD flavour, only a little bitterness lent by the unusual flavour combinations but they are definitely pleasant. I absolutely love when you can taste layers of flavour in a product, and Pollen nailed this.

It didn’t take many to make me feel light and airy as a fairy. What I like about gummies is I know exactly how much I’m getting with every bite, whereas tinctures and oils there’s always an element of uncertainty.

The branding on the box is super cute and crisp. I feel like this is something that UK CBD brands definitely lack in so it’s nice to see something a little different. I loved that when I opened the box there was a little old school paper bag full of gummies. But, there was also a sweet little sticker throwing out the biggest hippie vibes, saying “Happy thoughts, good vibes included…”. These little finishing touches can really make you want to buy something again. I am an absolute sucker for great branding and Pollen have definitely reeled me in to become a future long term customer.

But, did I really feel no pressure after scoffing down these delicious morsels of jellified CBD? You bet ya! It didn’t take many to make me feel light and airy as a fairy. What I like about gummies is I know exactly how much I’m getting with every bite, whereas tinctures and oils there’s always an element of uncertainty.

Now, performance with regards to value for money is one thing that left me on the fence. Costing over £1 per 10mg of CBD isn’t exactly unheard of. However, thinking about the low absorption rate of edibles is it actually good value for money? Well, yes, and no…

First off, I’m happy to pay more for something that I actually enjoy taking. The way I see it is that if you hate tinctures or if you’re embarrassed about using CBD due to the connotations around drug use, then gummies make it a discreet way to do so. You won’t have to explain to co-workers, friends, or family what you’re eating, it’s a perfectly innocuous gummy sweet. Also, you’ve got something portable, especially if you pick up the Starter Pack meaning that you can grab and go rather than carting around a glass bottle of CBD.

If you’re looking for a fun and ridiculously delicious way to take CBD then Pollen CBD Gummies are for you! To grab them head on over to The Drug.Store and get yourself 15% off by entering the code ‘GREEN15’ at the checkout.

DISCLAIMER: Please note that I am not a qualified health care professional or nutritionist, I only write about my experiences and sometimes include information from scientific studies. CBD products are food supplements, not medicine. They cannot diagnose, treat, or cure diseases. Please consult your GP before taking CBD if you are pregnant, lactating, or taking any medication. Please note that CBD is not intended for children under 18 years old.