U.S. Spirits Brand Bringing Cannabis-Infused Cocktails To The Menu

The art of mixing a craft cocktail has grown increasingly unique in recent years as creative spirit-drinkers continue to expand their lists of usable ingredients. An Oregon-based company is adding another new item to the list: cannabis.

The owner of Lively Sprits says that Purejuana, America’s first known line of legal cannabis powders designed to be mixed in spirits, will let marijuana consumers make healthier cocktails and avoid the drawbacks of drinking liquor. The powder is made of flash-frozen cannabis flower designed to retain its flavors, aroma, and psychoactive effects.

“The future of the adult beverage sector is cannabis, and the cocktail is a familiar and accessible format ripe for innovation,” company CEO Matt Cohen said in a statement. “We’ve pioneered a rapidly dissolving dry spirit that delivers a true alcohol replacement, right down to the buzz, without diluting the distinct combination of flavors, aromas and psychoactive effects unique to each cannabis cultivar and the connoisseurs who appreciate them.”

Cannabis-infused beverages sold in the U.S. market have long used THC distillate, a processed cannabis concentrate that strips away the plant’s natural terpenes and cannabinoids. The result, Cohen claims, is an odorless, tasteless extract that gives users the same high each time. Purejuana instead derives full-spectrum THC from its flash-frozen flower to preserve the natural flavors of each strain.

Cohen compared the plant-derived spirit similar to mezcal or gin, calling Purejuana a “top shelf” soluble that consumers can enjoy as part of a traditional cocktail. He also recommended dissolving the powder in water or soda for a stronger taste of the plant’s unadulterated cannabinoid spectrum.

A single 10 milligram THC Purejuana shot packet is the ideal serving for one drink, Cohen said, and will cost about $3. The powders will come in five different strains — Venom OG, Blue Dream, Super Lemon Haze, Purple Punch and XJ-13 — and have onset and duration times comparable to a single serving of alcohol. While Lively Spirits calls its new cannabis line “alcohol-free” and markets it as an alternative to a booze-infused cocktail, it stops short of telling users not to mix Purejuana to cocktails with alcohol already in them.

Purejuana is launching only in California for the time being, but Cohen says the company plans to also expand to other states where adult-use is legal.