Since the legalization of recreational marijuana across nine states, edibles became the talk of the town. Market reports continue to emphasize the exponential growth in the concentrate and edible categories and this segment in particular is capturing consumers in the industry across every demographic. It comes with little to no shock that chefs and extractors are beginning to grasp how limitless the creations of cannabis-infused foods can be. Some chefs are even taking it a step further by displaying cannabis you can drink.
The opportunity is nearly limitless, with options from cold brew and kombucha to ginger ale and honey sticks. Dispensaries are known for its edibles and can typically sell cannabis infused butters as well to make your own edibles at home.
Müru Syrup and Aurora Elixirs are two companies that both provide examples of drinkable pot that provides even more flexibility: mixers. Although Aurora’s slogan is “embrace the golden hour,” the company is not referring to exclusively alcohol.
Both companies demonstrate that reports like the oversupply of flower in Oregon does not mean a dead end is in the future for the industry. In fact, these days less than third of the industry associates themselves with joints and bongs. People are beginning to take their cannabis and figure out new alternative ways.
Aurora Elixirs labels itself as a cocktail mixer, focusing on the phrase “golden hour.” The brand features more mature, lightly-carbonated flavors such as Lavender Spice and Grapefruit Rosemary. The drinks are essentially a CBD spritzer made with all-natural ingredients. The spritzer contains 25 mg of hemp derived CBD and 8g of sugars. The crown cap closure is similar to Fever Tree ginger beer and tonics that you simply pry-off.
The lavender option provided by Aurora Elixirs contains more of a floral lean with notes of coriander and the usual layer of calm supplied by the soothing lavender aroma. Lauren Yoshiko, contributor to Forbes, said, “I drank half at the end of my work day, and within a half hour I felt a significant decrease to all feelings of worry and stress. So significant I really didn’t feel like working anymore.” She continued saying, “The grapefruit rosemary is more herbal and tart–and would go fabulously with gin, I imagine. A gin drink that would at once soothe and lubricate your brain for more sincere, authentic conversation during happy hour.”
While Aurora Elixirs labels itself as more of a cocktail waiter, Müru Syrup is less of one and more of a versatile sweetener. Instead of using the normal table sugar to sweeten our tea, cocktails, or oatmeal, Müru uses a simple syrup that contains cannabis rather than sugar. Yoshiko says, “I’ve tried Müru in mocktails, martinis, lemonade, darjeeling tea…it works for everything with an extremely efficient few drops.”
Being a part of a recreationally licensed cannabis company in Oregon, Müru has lab results to prove any product’s consistency of the cannabis-derived ingredients. There are a variety of consistencies including THC-infused formula and the all CBD-version. The syrup comes in three flavors, Lemon and BlackBerry Lemon with and additional straight Grape for the THC-infused range. The lemon is not as flavorful as one may hope so according to Yoshiko she “squeezed a few slices of lemon into a batch of cucumber-lemon-Müru water” she initially made one afternoon.
“My personal dosage is about a tablespoon of Müru in a single drink but feel comfortable starting with something closer to a teaspoon if you don’t eat edibles or smoke concentrate very often,” Yoshiko said.
Until the past few years, there was only a few methods of consuming cannabis. Two main options were to either inhale the smoke or by consuming edible brownies. Both choices came with two options of an outcome: either barely high or zoned out counting the fan rotations in your bedroom. Now, not only can you customize your high with an extra sip or a few extra drops of cannabis-infused beverages to boost your high, you can enjoy something that actually tastes marvelous while still getting high.
