The Perfect Summer Party Drink? It’s Cannabis-Infused!

Ellen Scanlon (00:00):

This podcast discusses cannabis and is intended for audiences 21 and over. Recently, we polled How to Do the Pot’s Instagram followers and asked whether microdosing cannabis helps with stress. Microdosing is taking small amounts of cannabis with THC to get the benefits of the plant without feeling intoxicated. 80% of you said yes, microdosing cannabis does help with stress. And not only that, but our episode all about microdosing, episode 59, was our most listened to episode of 2021. I hear you loud and clear, and I have a great microdose product for you to try. Cured Nutrition’s Serenity Gummies.

(00:49):

I take a lot of CBD, it really helps me feel more balanced. And if you’re a CBD skeptic, I get it, but you might need more than you think to feel it. Each Serenity Gummy has 30 milligrams of CBD, which is a lot, plus about a milligram of THC, which is a really teeny amount that won’t get you high and is mostly there to activate this CBD.

(01:15):

They’ve added functional mushrooms, like reishi, and adaptogens, like ashwagandha, which all work together to help you feel calmer and more present. All the ingredients are third-party tested and sustainably sourced, and they don’t contain any artificial flavors, sugars, or dyes. And Cured Nutrition Serenity Gummies ship to all 50 states, plus we have a promo code for you with 20% off. What are you waiting for? Head to curednutrition.com, that’s C-U-R-E-D Nutrition, and use the code, do the pot, for 20% off. I think you will love them, and I’ll link to all the details in the show notes.

Jill Robertson (02:03):

It makes me feel more social but also relaxed. Sometimes edibles have too strong an effect on me and I get really quiet, but I find with cannabis beverages, that’s usually not the case, so I really like them for more social situations.

Ellen Scanlon (02:18):

Welcome to How to Do the Pot, a podcast helping you feel confident about cannabis. I’m your host, Ellen Scanlon. You just heard from How to Do the Pot’s California-based social media manager, Jill Robertson.

(02:38):

This is the fourth and final episode in our series all about weed drinks. These low-dose beverages are a new category of cannabis products that can be delivered to your door all across the US and are really catching on as an alternative to alcohol. In the first episode of the series, episode 196, I covered the science that is making the effects of low-dose weed drinks feel more similar to drinking caffeine or alcohol. If you’re trying a weed drink for the first time, know that you’ll start feeling the effects in about 15 to 20 minutes. In episode 197, I talked about why especially women are into these low-dose discrete beverages because they keep you feeling social and offer an option if you’re looking to drink less. Did you know that if you live in Texas right now, you can buy a low-dose weed drink at a bar even though adult-use cannabis is not legal there? I explain it all in this episode.

(03:50):

If you’re curious about making weed drinks at home, in episode 198, I get experts advice about making weed mocktails and cover careful dosing, which just means knowing how strong you want your drink to be. Before we wrap up this series, I want to give you a tip that I hope you’ll pass along to all your friends. I have learned a lot about cannabis and women’s menstrual cycles because I have endometriosis. Endometriosis is a painful disease that affects one in 10 women, and yet most people don’t even know what it is. The symptoms vary, but for me, my monthly cramps often feel like I’m in labor. It can be awful.

(04:45):

Cannabis brings me incredible pain relief with no side effects, and many women swear by cannabis for cramps in general, whatever their level of intensity. The reason I’m bringing this up today is because a woman’s tolerance to cannabis is affected by your menstrual cycle and your tolerance to cannabis can change by up to 30% depending on where you are in your cycle. Especially if you are not on birth control, it’s likely that you’ll feel more high from the exact same weed as you get closer to starting your period. It’s one of the reasons that cannabis is different than alcohol, especially for women, and this tolerance change is true for all types of weed. There’s a great chart on our website, dothepot.com, with all the details and I’ll link to it in the show notes. I don’t like a lot of surprises with weed. I like to know, as much as I can, how I can expect to feel, and knowing this will really help you do the pot the way that you want. So please share this tip.

(06:11):

Since we dropped the first episode in this weed drink series, we’ve also been asking around on our Instagram and to our friends in and out of the industry, to be sure that I’m answering all your questions and sharing the best, most helpful advice. Drinking weed is still a new thing and I want you to feel confident about it whenever you’re ready to try. In today’s episode, we will hear from women who have made the switch over to weed drinks and who want to share what they’ve learned about this new way to be social with cannabis. I asked California-based Shelbie Vasquez, senior client success manager for Yummi Karma, whether she likes weed drinks when she’s out.

Shelbie Vasquez (07:04):

I do drink beverages in social settings. I’ve had a really great one at a Cannabis talk radio party recently, and they just make me feel really euphoric. I almost felt a buzz as I would with an alcohol beverage when you’re just feeling the first buzz, that euphoric feeling, so I love that. It makes me really happy.

Ellen Scanlon (07:25):

Happy is how Nurit Rafael, the California-based owner of ONA Life, a cannabis concierge service, feels when she drinks weed socially too.

Nurit Raphael (07:37):

I have tried a lot of cannabis beverages in a social setting and definitely know my perfect cannabis drink needs to have an even ratio, especially when I’m being social. So like a one-to-one or a five-to-five always work best for me. It always makes me feel uplifted, happy, balanced, energized, and ready to socialize. What’s funny is if I have more CBD than THC, it makes me super tired, so I have to be really careful not to consume certain beverages. I’ll definitely take like a roadie out with me, but I’ll only drink half, so I don’t consume too much CBD while I’m out.

Ellen Scanlon (08:19):

Painful hangovers lead Nurit to weed drinks. I can relate.

Nurit Raphael (08:27):

It’s super rare you will see me drinking alcohol. I get the most brutal hangovers when I do drink. Wine murders my head to the point of no return and the side effects from alcohol are just not worth it for me. I don’t have the time these days to recover from a night of drinking or day-drinking. Not to mention the bloating and the excess eating that comes along with after drinking also turned me off from drinking alcohol. Cannabis allows me to stay social in all these settings and allows me to feel happy and uplifted. So I have completely replaced any sort of alcohol in my life for cannabis and it’s been an amazing, and I’m just so grateful for all the new products that have been hitting the market. If there’s a night where I don’t want to necessarily be smoking because of my lungs, then I have the opportunity to crack open a can and really enjoy myself and participate in being social.

Ellen Scanlon (09:34):

Are you having a hard time relaxing at the end of the day without a glass of wine or a cocktail? Alcohol isn’t your only option anymore. Now in 39 states, you can have Happi, a THC-infused good mood-inducing sparkling seltzer, shipped right to your house. Happi is a women run company helping to make the transition from work, to play, to the next morning, a little easier. If you’re curious about a lower alcohol lifestyle but miss mixing up cocktails, Happi’s mojito, mocktail recipe might be just what you’re looking for. I recommend trying it with a can of Happi’s Lime Wild Mint, which has a refreshing tangy lime flavor. This flavor has five milligrams of THC. So start with a half a can, wait about 15 minutes. You’ll know by then if you feel great or if you want to add a little more buzz.

(10:38):

Here’s the easy recipe for Happi’s mojito. One ounce of simple syrup, one lime sliced into wheels, three to four sprigs of fresh mint, and ice for serving. First muddle the mint leaves with a few wheels of lime at the bottom of the glass. Then add ice and simple syrup. Pour in the Happi Lime Wild Mint and stir. To top it off, add more lime wheels and the fresh mint as a garnish, then enjoy. For better relaxation tonight, go to happihourdrink.com and order a four pack of Happi’s Lime Wild Mint Drink, a THC-infused seltzer. Happi is offering 20% off for How to Do the Pot listeners. That’s happihourdrink.com and use the code, do the pot, for 20% off. I’ll link to it in the show notes. And remember, it’s Happi with an I at the end.

(11:43):

Have you ever heard the cannabis industry called the Wild West? Hayley Herms, the California-based host of the podcast Stoned and Horny, shares how two weed drinks she tried had wildly different effects.

Hayley Herms (11:59):

Kandypens had a content mansion in the hills. They would either throw parties or events to introduce different brands. So I was at one of their parties and there was a few different weed beverage companies there, so you could sample the product. But by sample, I mean they gave you the full bottle, right? So I got a few of them put them in my purse, and then I was like, “Okay, I’m going to try this one.” So it was first, I remember it was a can, but they have really low dosage. It’s like two milligrams of THC, four CBD. And so I drank that and I was like, “Oh, I’m feeling great. This is amazing.” And I’m not much of a drinker, so I was like, “I should drink another one. Why not?” So I pulled out a different brand and it was really interesting packaging.

(12:43):

It was shaped like a joint tube, and so you just opened it up and it was liquid inside and it was called A Liquid Death. I should have just been warned by the name of it in general, but I took a sip. I was not a fan of the taste, so I probably drank one-third of it, not even half. 20 minutes later, all of a sudden it was like, bam, like I got punched in the face. I can’t even describe this high. It was like a movie high, where everything is just going so slow and you’re just like, “What is happening?” I was just wondering through the galaxy in my brain. Moral of the story, be really careful with your dosage. Read things before you drink them, because I did definitely not read the Liquid Death joint label, and I should have.

Ellen Scanlon (13:40):

Back in 2020, one of How to Do the Pots very first episodes was about being California sober, a term that means you’re choosing not to drink alcohol and consuming cannabis instead. It was kind of a new thing then. Fast forward to today, and polls show that more than 90% of people feel that drinking alcohol is a big part of America’s culture and that one in three Americans are trying to drink less. Expanding the market for weed drinks with wider access, more brands, different flavors and products, is going to open them up as an alcohol alternative. In California, there are a lot of weed drinks available in legal dispensaries. Shelbie loves having choices.

Shelbie Vasquez (14:38):

We have Pabst Blue Ribbon, who they make High seltzers, and that has definitely helped change my relationship with alcohol. I don’t need to drink alcohol anymore. I now drink these Pabst seltzers, the Canns, Uncle Arnie’s, the new Habit beverages. New brands are coming out that just give you a much better euphoric feeling versus alcohol.

Hayley Herms (15:05):

Jill Robertson, who you heard at the beginning of the episode, is figuring out the rhythm of drinking alcohol and low-dose weed drinks with her friends.

Jill Robertson (15:17):

I like to have a weed drink with dinner sometimes in a more social setting. Often, I’ll drink the ones with a low dose of CBD and THC to give a nice subtle buzz. When I’m going out with friends, I’ll usually mix alcohol and weed sometimes in the same drink, or just separately throughout the night is also good. I’ll drink cannabis beverages instead of alcohol or I’ll have it as a second drink, so I don’t drink as much alcohol, because I try to be very mindful and moderate when it comes to alcohol and cannabis consumption. So having these low-dose beverages available is really great for me.

Hayley Herms (15:51):

Let’s talk about mixing alcohol and weed drinks. What does it feel like? Jill helps us out.

Jill Robertson (15:59):

It makes me feel more social, but also relaxed. Sometimes edibles have too strong an effect on me and I get really quiet, but I find with cannabis beverages, that’s usually not the case. So I really like them for more social situations.

Hayley Herms (16:12):

And what is happening in your body when you mix weed drinks and alcohol? Most of our knowledge about this is anecdotal because there isn’t a lot of research about cannabis beverages. What we do know is that having alcohol and cannabis together can enhance the effects of both. So be aware that blending the two might make you feel more and intoxicated. It can do things like slow your reaction time and impair your decision making. Please don’t drive a car.

(16:57):

Have you ever stood in the aisle at Whole Foods, just sort of in awe at the number of different options for kombucha? And be honest, a few years ago, did you even know what kombucha was? Weed drinks are kind of like that. They’re opening up a new category in cannabis and in beverages. Nurit shares how excited people are to learn about them.

Nurit Raphael (17:26):

Every time I bring cannabis with me to a friend’s house, a house party, or my family’s for dinner, I have the entire party or dinner asking me about a hundred questions regarding the beverage. Everyone is so intrigued with the idea of drinking the cannabis and it’s still so new, that everyone is very curious.

Ellen Scanlon (17:49):

I am really excited that low-dose weed drinks are here and becoming more available to everyone across the US. I hope this series has helped you understand what cannabis beverages are and why you might want to try one. And if you do, I’d love to hear from you. Please reach out if you want to share a story or if you have any questions, to hi@dothepot.com or DM do the pot.

(18:24):

Thank you for listening to How to Do the Pot. For lots more information and past episodes, visit dothepot.com. Are you one of the thousands of people who love How to Do the Pot’s newsletter? If you’re not getting it, please sign up at dothepot.com. And if you like How to Do the Pot, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. It really helps people find the show. Thank you to writer Joanna Sokoloski and producers Madi Fair and Nick Patri. I’m Ellen Scanlon and stay tuned for more of How to Do the Pot.