Cannabis cocktails
Last year barely a week went by without news of another big business that had jumped on the cannabis drinks bandwagon as the green economy drew power players like Diageo and Contstellation into its fold.
With a growing number of cannabis-based drinks in development, we’ll soon start to see CBD and THC-laced libations popping up on cocktail menus at some of London’s more forward thinking venues.
The trend has been bubbling away in the US for a number of years. In 2017 drinks focused restaurant Madison on Park in San Diego added a cannabis cocktail called Mr. Nice Guy to its menu crafted from mezcal, cannabidiol oil, matcha, pineapple, coconut milk and lime.
The non-psychoactive part of the cannabis plant, CBD it is thought to be an anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and antidepressant, and can be used to improve mood, memory, motor control, sleep and energy levels.
The same year Camilla Fayed’s plant-based restaurant Farmacy in London’s Notting Hill added a range of drinks infused with CBD to its menu. Served as a shot from a syringe, the OMG blends CBD with flaxseed and grapefruit, while There’s Something About Mary features CBD, vanilla vodka, lime juice, homemade hemp and bay leaf syrup, mango puree and a dash of chilli sauce.
According to investment bank Cohen & Co, the US cannabis industry could be worth a staggering US$75 billion (£57bn) by 2030. Seedlip founder Ben Branson sees the legalisation of cannabis in the US as a golden opportunity. “The legalisation of cannabis is a threat to the alcohol industry and a huge opportunity for the non-alcoholic category as the paradigm shifts in the way people drink continue to disrupt how and where we socialise. Cannabis cocktail bars anyone?”
