Bursting onto the cannabis-infused beverage space is a familiar brand that epitomizes everything a soda company can be, with user-submitted photos and a genuine connection to the community to boot. I am talking about Jones Soda Co’s sister brand, Mary Jones, which has been omnipresent at most of the events I have covered recently.
Jones Soda Co was introduced in 1996 as a rebellious new brand featuring photos on the labels, which eventually turned into the iconic user-submitted photos we see today, a legacy that Mary Jones is continuing. As a company that’s highly connected with the community, Jones has supported several counterculture and other events over the years; launching a cannabis-infused sister company only made sense.
As a card-carrying Hoosier and Midwest transplant, soda pop flows through my veins. So, it was only a matter of time before I covered Mary Jones and their flavor lineup. Let me preface this by saying (and if you have tried Jones Soda Co, you already know) that these are all delicious. My comparison is more based on flavor and dosage differences between the 10 mg THC and 100 mg THC variants.
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Flavor Profiles: A Journey Through Mary Jones 10 mg to 100 mg Sodas
10 mg Berry Lemonade: Highly carbonated, this drink definitely aims to pop at the back of your tongue. With a bright blue color, this one hits all the notes of sour and sweet with berry and citrus shining through.
100 mg Berry Lemonade: Quite a bit different from the 10 mg version, this one is a more pale blue and less carbonated. A delicious drink in its own right. For me, this one combined the flavors of berry and citrus with an added sweetness that almost comes across as bubblegum.
10 mg Cola: Your typical sweet, bubbly brown affair, a flavor we all recognize, after all, it is cola. However, no one would know this is medicated, it’s that good.
100 mg Cola: Sweeter than your average Cola flavor, which leads you to believe this may already be a mixed drink, but it’s just medicated. However, it does mix very well! See below.
10 mg MF Grape: Bursting with delicious fresh grape flavors that tingle all the way back to the throat. A cottonmouth killer with a grape flavor we all know from our childhood.
100 mg MF Grape: If the flavor of the 10 mg was from our childhood, this one is perfectly suited for adults. More crisp grape flavors reminiscent of sparkling grapefruit juice rather than grape candy.
10 mg Green Apple: Crisp and refreshing with each sip, like biting into a fresh Granny Smith apple. Not too sweet, with a definite green apple twang, this was my favorite of the 10 mg sodas
100 mg Green Apple: More refined apple flavor that still tickles the taste buds on its way down. Keeping with the Granny Smith flavor, it’s also layered with sour mandarin. This was also my favorite of the 100 mg sodas.
10 mg Hatch Chile & Lime: I wanted to hate it, but I loved it instead. Strong smell of chile on the nose, but very pleasantly sweet on the palette, with grassy notes from the chile and a bit of heat in the throat.
100 mg Hatch Chile & Lime: One of the tastiest 100 mg drinks tasted as part of this roundup. Very close to the 10 mg version, with the only noticeable differences being color and slightly sweeter. Truly a masterpiece, too bad it’s a special edition flavor!
10 mg Orange & Cream: Smooth with clean flavors of crisp orange that fade into cream. A traditional creamsicle in a glass.
100 mg Orange & Cream: Waves of orange wash over the tongue, leading to sweet whipped cream enveloping your mouth. This one, you could taste the green flavor seeping through in the finish.
Soda and Spirits: An Introduction to Mixing with Mary Jones
Now that I have covered the flavors, it’s time to wet your whistle. One thing that really excited me about Mary Jones was the versatility of using these in the bar. Here are a few mocktail recipes to get you elevated and medicated. All recipes were tested with the 100 mg cans, but dosages for both versions are included below. Please enjoy responsibly!
Spicy Paloma
- 1 oz Ritual Tequila Alternative
- 4 oz Mary Jones Hatch Chili Lime (3 mg or 25 mg)
- 0.5 oz Lime Juice
- Garnish: Chili and Lime Wheel
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Rum & Coke
- 1 oz Ritual Rum Alternative
- 4 oz Mary Jones Cola (3 mg or 25 mg THC)
- 0.5 oz Lime Juice
- Garnish: Lime Wedge
Creamsicle
- 1 oz Ritual Aperitif Alternative
- 4 oz Mary Jones Orange Cream Soda (3 mg or 25 mg THC)
- Garnish: Whipped Cream, Orange Sprinkles
The Verdict Is In: Is Mary Jones Soda Worth the Hype?
What I really enjoy about Mary Jones is the options they give you for how to medicate, with dosages that allow for even a more experienced user to enjoy themselves. New to cannabis or edibles? The 10 mg drinks are more than enough to get your party started (you may even want to start with a quarter dose). If, like myself, you have a much higher tolerance, the 100 MG cans are an amazing option. If you find yourself somewhere in between, you can easily medicate your own Jones Soda with one of the Mary Jones syrups available, which is how it was served to me at Hazy LA.
If you have not had the chance to try one of these drinks, definitely do yourself a favor and check them out all across California, Washington, Michigan, and Nevada. With new drops like the infused gummy line and special edition flavors, it’s easy to say: I’m in love with Mary Jones.
This article was submitted by a guest contributor to GreenState. The statements within do not necessarily reflect the opinions of GreenState, Hearst, or its subsidiaries. The author is solely responsible for the content.