CBD Drinks, Part 2: On-Premise Key To Consumer Education
August 29, 2023No bar owner would risk their liquor license to stock cannabis drinks featuring THC, but the quasi-legal, unregulated world of CBD is a different story. CBD is non-intoxicating but has grown in popularity in beverages over the last half decade, a trend driven by bartenders who embrace cannabis products and a growing crop of CBD drinks producers who are introducing interesting new products that contain cannabis compounds.
Bryan Rojas, a cannabis advocate and bartender at The Dearborn in Chicago, believes the outlook for cannabis continues to improve, albeit at a slow pace. Rojas says the lack of consistency among cannabis products and their potency is among the industry’s biggest roadblocks right now, adding that consumer education is the best way to combat that. “People who work in restaurants and bars have an opportunity to teach people about this,” he explains. “We have to start seeing cannabis as an ingredient and treating it as an ingredient. When you approach it with a drug mentality, people don’t feel safe, but making people feel safe and welcome comes with hospitality.”
At The Dearborn, Rojas makes a cucumber syrup that’s sweetened with Red Belly CBD Honey, a product that has both sweet and herbal notes. The CBD honey cucumber syrup is currently mixed into the Maid In Chicago ($16), a cocktail that also contains Roe & Co. Irish whiskey, St-Germain liqueur, and lemon juice. “We have to make CBD approachable for people, and everyone loves honey,” Rojas notes. “We have to find ingredients that match with CBD, that don’t hide it but complement it. It’s an approachable drink because of the cucumber and whiskey flavors.”
At SGWS Wynwood in Miami, director of catering Sharla Evans has incorporated CBD into drinks in many forms, from edibles as drinks garnishes to CBD oil to CBD seltzers mixed into cocktails. One of her perennial requests at events is the Unicorn Tears, mixed with Bombay Sapphire London Dry gin and Mad Tasty Unicorn Tears hemp-infused sparkling water. “The perception of CBD as a bar and cocktail ingredient has certainly shifted over the last few years,” Evans adds. “With the legalization of hemp-based products on a national scale, the stigma around its related products has minimized. CBD can provide a unique and beneficial addition to a beverage program in a safe space.”
Hemp Bar, an on-premise cannabis venue and retail space in Portland, Oregon owned by CBD producer East Fork Cultivars, also offers a full roster of non-alcoholic CBD drinks. East Fork Cultivars makes a CBD product called Organic Beverage Enhancer that it mixes into selections like the Arnie Palmer ($7), blending black tea, lemon, and Clear Minds kombucha, and the Cocomo ($10), mixing pineapple, lime, and orange juices with coconut water and fresh nutmeg. Organic Beverage Enhancer ($20 a 1-ounce bottle) is East Fork Cultivars’ top-selling product, and Hemp bar also sells pre-mixed CBD drinks by Rogue Ales & Spirits and The Brothers Apothecary.
“Adding CBD to mixed drinks is a simple, affordable, and effective way to relax and unwind,” says East Fork Cultivars creative director Valerie Yermal. “We strongly believe that CBD remains a fantastic addition to any bar. Once federal legalization is more clear, I believe CBD will become more popular, and people will feel more comfortable trying it.”
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