Bartenders have probably heard of Liquid Marijuana, a cocktail containing many ingredients but, surprisingly, no cannabis. This drink gets its name from its electric green color and the laid-back beachy vibes the flavor profile evokes.
With the name as it is, and the recipe excluding cannabis, it was high time to make a Liquid Marijuana with actual marijuana. Since the Cali Sober lifestyle continues to grow in popularity, I cut out the alcohol too.
The Liquid Marijuana cocktail is made a few ways. Though recipes make substitutions, each uses a few staple ingredients that are switched out in other recipes.
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Traditional Liquid Marijuana Drink recipe:
- ½ ounce Blue Curaçao Liqueur
- ½ ounce Midori Melon Liqueur
- ½ ounce Spiced Rum
- ½ ounce Malibu Coconut Rum
- 12 oz pineapple juice (for a shot, ½ oz pineapple juice)
- Splash sweet and sour mix
Directions: Put ingredients in a cocktail shaker and mix. For shots: pour the adjusted recipe into shot glasses.
Liquid marijuana: commonly substituted ingredients
The recipe calls for blue curacao, melon liqueur, spiced and coconut rums, pineapple juice, and some sweet and sour. But many bartenders have nifty substitutes for these classic ingredients.
Blue curaçao liqueur is pretty hard to replace. It’s a common ingredient in all liquid marijuana cocktail recipes found online. For those who want to omit alcohol, blue curaçao syrups are available at wholesale grocery retailers, online, and at some big box stores.
There are a lot of recipes for the drink that call for Green Apple Pucker instead of Midori. The goal of this ingredient is a sharp green hue, so whichever is readily available will work. But the choice will drastically alter the flavor. Apple Schnapps is another suitable alternative.
To remove liquor from the equation, I pureed honeydew juice from raw melon for this portion of the canna mocktail. The color is not as vibrant, but the flavor is on point, and I prefer the lower sugar content.
Spiced rum is a liquid marijuana staple, but some mixologists use white tequila. Both are fitting for apple and melon liqueur, so this is best left up to personal preference. I opted for Ritual zero-proof white tequila, a gift of the recent proliferation of alcohol-free spirits. And as for the Malibu and pineapple juice, those are found in pretty much every iteration of the recipe I could find.
There are many ways to alter a Liquid Marijuana cocktail, and I’m not sure if you noticed, but none include adding cannabis. The main goal is that the drink has a green color and tropical flavors, and the cannabis mocktail that I stirred up stands up pretty well to the challenge.
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Liquid Marijuana cannabis mocktail recipe
There were three goals with this mocktail recipe. The first was to cut the alcohol, and the second was to add cannabis. Lastly, I wanted to cut back on some sugar-laden ingredients and opt for something natural that was closer to the source.
The recipe I came up with makes two small drinks with 2.5 mg THC or one nice big one with 5 mg.
Literally Liquid Marijuana
- ½ ounce blue curaçao syrup
- ½ ounce Ritual zero-proof tequila
- ½ ounce fresh honeydew juice
- ½ ounce coconut water
- 4 ounces pineapple juice
- 8 ounces Happi Lime Mint 5 mg seltzer
- Squeeze of fresh lemon and lime
The recipe crafts a zesty and sweet drink with a bite. The Happi Lime Mint seltzer has a striking flavor on its own, but the added citrus and spirit-free tequila joined forces to perfectly offset the saccharine nature of the blue curaçao syrup. The finish is rich in dulcet honeydew. The weather is moving to pumpkin spice territory, so this last hurrah of summer flavors hit the spot.
I will say that the color wasn’t an electric green, it was more teal. This was probably the result of the bright blue curaçao syrup overpowering the lighter honeydew juice color. But it was satisfying and lubricating nonetheless. The effervescence of the Happi cannabis seltzer paired nicely with the sweet blue syrup and light juicy honeydew flavor. It is a sweet drink, but also a balanced beverage. Even someone who isn’t a taste for treats can enjoy it.
This cannabis mocktail would be great at any summer gathering or Halloween party, depending on the season. The color is a shocking touch to the memorably crisp flavor profile. The classic head-turning cocktail is good as a cannabis mocktail, but we can’t speak to the one with liquor. Whichever you choose, do us a favor and drink responsibly.