drinks

Bubbly and buzzed: Try a CBD cocktail at one of these weed-friendly bars

December 27, 2021

Hearst Blogger Network

They say blending cannabis and alcohol is bad for you. But what if you could enjoy the atmosphere of a bar—music, barstools, small talk, and the feeling of sipping a cool, refreshing drink—while only consuming CBD?

Sounds crazy, but this could actually be a thing. An increasing number of bars in California are offering CBD drinks. While it’s illegal to serve THC-infused alcohol, bartenders have gotten around this by infusing CBD into mocktails, creating beautiful drinks that are, for some, just as relaxing as alcohol, without the weight gain, mood swings, and irrational behavior that can come with too much booze.

Since CBD is a non-psychoactive compound of the cannabis plant, CBD drinks won’t get you high (or at least, it would be very difficult to get high from them). In general, they will just give you a mild sense of relaxation and euphoria.

Here’s everything you need to know about where to find cannabis-friendly bars serving CBD cocktails.

What are cannabis drinks?

Cannabis drinks are drinks infused with any compound from the cannabis plant, of which CBD is one. They are typically non-alcoholic, but you should always check this with the bartender before purchasing.

Smoking marijuana or taking edibles are the most common methods of consuming cannabis, but drinkable weed is bringing a whole new form of consumption to the table.

Lynden Henderson founded a nonalcoholic, THC and CBD-infused beer company called Outbound Brewing in 2018. When he took his first sip of this nonalcoholic beer, it tasted very chunky, like when you leave milk out for too long. He worked for over a year and a half to make the beer have a better consistency. It seems his efforts paid off, since CBD drinks have only increased in popularity since then.

It’s very hard to mix cannabis into any beverage because of the compounds it’s made up of that don’t mix easily or well with water. The first beverages made had a different dose of THC/CBD in each, and this made drinking cannabis-based drinks very unpleasant. But with new technology, people have been able to make tasty tonics, beers, teas, and cocktails out of weed.

The only catch? You’ll only find these drinks in states where cannabis is legal, and cannabis-friendly bars are allowed to exist in even fewer locations. You can check the cannabis laws in your state here.

CBD cocktails (and where to find them)

CBD cocktails have become popular since they replicate that special, celebratory feeling that comes with holding a beautiful drink, without giving you a hangover the day after.

You can find all different types of Cannabis cocktails. If you’re a martini fan, you may try a “Marijuana martini,” and if you like an old fashioned, a “High Fashioned” may be just the right fit for you.

You can get CBD-infused whiskey that has flavors including a citrus simple syrup, butterfly pea flower extract, and citrus bitters. It not only tastes delicious, it enhances the effect of the CBD in your drink.

Right now, cannabis-friendly bars almost exclusively exist in Los Angeles, but as more states legalize cannabis it’s likely we’ll be seeing more around the country.

Here are some bars in Los Angeles where you can find a CBD cocktail

Employees Only LA has a cannabis cocktail recipe in which they add CBD oil to mezcal for a subtle, smoky, giggly drink
The Flats has taken a different approach by cooking CBD into burned sugar syrup, which creates a rich, delicious flavor in a Pisco Sour or Penicillin
The Broken Shaker on the roof of the Freehand Hotel has a must-try Pirate’s Gold, which mixes cachaça and mood-lifting Gold Flora CBD oil

Try drinkable weed

Now that you know that Cannabis cocktails exist and what weed-friendly bars are open in Los Angeles, you are ready to party in a natural, stress-relieving, and health-conscious way. Applause to you.

Now, grab your friends and get them to, er, take advantage of this good news with you. Cheers!

Hearst Blogger Network