Next Draft

CITY LIVING

CANNABIS CONFIDENTIAL

Some of the cannabis-infused seltzers available from Good Feels in Medway. PROMOTIONAL PHOTO

Good Feels latest cannabis company to join the seltzer race

Eric Casey

Special to Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK

Cannabis in a can? It may just be the next big thing.

Good Feels — a cannabis beverage company based in Medway — is hoping to make a splash with the launch of its line of flavored seltzers, and is the latest local company to make the bet that consumers preferences will continue to evolve as legalization makes cannabis more mainstream.

Cannabis beverage technology has come a long way in just the last few years. In the early days of legalization out on the west coast, drinks were not exactly sought after by most consumers. A lack of research and development in the nascent cannabis beverage world often resulted in drink products that tasted heavily of chlorophyll, with producers usually attempting to mask this taste by loading their drinks with sugar. The resulting concoction usually tasted akin to Gatorade with some grass clippings in it, and the effects would often be unpredictable in both duration and intensity.

Thankfully, cannabis beverage technology has come a long way in the past few years, with Improvements in cannabis extraction and emulsion techniques allowing for the creation of cannabis beverages that don’t actually taste like cannabis. Perhaps more importantly, proper emulsion of cannabinoids in the beverage allows for the effects to take place much quicker when compared to traditional edibles, helping novice users avoid making the mistake of consuming too much.

These features make beverages an ideal entry point for the canna-curious person who prefers a consumption method that doesn’t involve smoke or vapor. Beverages currently make up just a small amount of total cannabis sales in the U.S, but many are betting that will begin to change soon. Good Feels is one of a number of cannabis companies that is betting that consumer preferences will evolve away from tradi-

THE NEXT DRAFT

When new beer isn’t new enough ...

Matthew Tota

Special to Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK

The urge returns, a mix of thrill and yearning. When willpower fails to contain it, I turn to guilt, which works about half the time.

It is an impulse most craft beer drinkers have felt — the desire to go out and buy new beer despite already having a fridge full of it. It cannot be controlled by reason. It comes and goes like a nagging craving. And no matter how many shiny new four-packs you buy, the hunger for something fresher never subsides.

Insatiable.

Why do we do it to ourselves? We can’t afford it. We don’t need it.

Another Friday afternoon where I’m planning er-

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It’s hard to fight the desire to go out and buy new beer despite already having a fridge full of it.

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rands based on how close they will take me to a bottle shop. I go grocery shopping at Wegmans in large part because I can finish the trip in front of a bright, full display of beer. My barbershop sits minutes from a stellar craft beer store; I didn’t plan that, but you can bet that after every cut, I’m freezing my ass off in the massive walk-in cooler, salivating in front of the “New Arrivals” rack.

It’s a costly addiction. Most fourpacks run anywhere from $15 to $21. Buying one or two a week quickly adds up. So much of that beer will, inevitably for me, go to waste. I try to imagine $5 bills sitting in the back of my beer fridge that I cannot spend. Eventually, I’ll take them, crumple them up and one by one drop them down the drain. And still I buy.

Like most bad habits, it’s irrational. The satisfaction that comes after picking up another four-pack lasts perhaps a day – just long enough for me to drink one. Beer doesn’t go bad in a week, I know. Yet that knowledge doesn’t stop me from getting bored with something far too fast, then having that boredom alleviated by a post on Instagram announcing three new IPA drops. Then I’m in the car, then at the store, then pouring a glass, then seeing the cycle repeat itself. This pattern of buying helps craft beer. Craft breweries thrive by constantly releasing fresh beer. The releases at times are dizzying. Brewers loves building excitement – and fear: the fear of missing out, of the beer selling out. These two emotions keep the best and most popular breweries in business. Scarcity, or the illusion of it, is a powerful marketing tool.

So how do I fight the urge? The Northeastern University psychology professor David DeSteno has found that the emotion of gratitude can be used as a tool to boost self-control, even defeating the urge to impulse buy and staving off the need for the instant gratification that follows. I’ve gotten better recently controlling the urges to go out and buy in part by taking more time to enjoy the beer I have, relishing and savoring it.

If I do pick something to take home, I more and more try to find larger packages. Getting a 12-pack over a four-pack can prove a smarter purchase. More beer often equals more value. On the other hand, I appreciate the breweries and stores that sell singles: I can try an enticing offering without committing to a four-pack and running the risk of wasting the beer I don’t finish.

Last week, the urge to buy returned while driving home after getting my car repaired. I knew the route took me past a bottle shop, and I had seen a post on Facebook about two shipments of Other Half Brewing it had on hand. It turns out the one I wanted had sold out. They had the other. I passed, though. I perused a little, admired the fridge, but didn’t purchase anything. I left empty-handed, but satisfied, thinking on the fridge full of beer waiting for me at home.

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tional methods of consumption as more new consumers are introduced to legal marijuana.

The company was the brainchild of Jason Reposa, who founded Good Feels in August of 2020. Jason turned to cannabis for relief from health issues, but was looking for consumption methods that didn’t involve having to hide from his kids. After getting laid off from his job in early 2020, Reposa began exploring ways to enter the cannabis industry, and quickly noticed some of the early success that other cannabis beverage companies were beginning to have. Undeterred that a few companies had beaten him to the punch, Reposa looked at the larger picture.

“How much [revenue] is alcohol getting? We’re talking about a much bigger market than one company,” he said, “If you plant your flag in the ground now, you could be the next Boston Beer Company.”

The company was able to get off the ground at remarkable speed in an industry where permitting and licensing requirements often lead to delays — all in the midst of a global pandemic. And even though Good Feels first hit shelves only a few weeks ago, early signs have been promising. Some retailers have already placed additional orders, and a number of well-established dispensaries have added Good Feels products to their menus. With the amount of dispensaries in Massachusetts that have come on-line in just the last year, there’s certainly on shortage of potential retail partners for cannabis product manufacturers at the moment.

In addition to seltzers, Good Feels also offers a line of “beverage enhancers” that can be dropped into any beverage to add both flavor and/or cannabinoids. Each seltzer contains about three milligrams of THC and two milligrams of CBD. The beverage enhancers offer consumers a more customizable experience, with the amount of cannabis being controlled by how many drops the user chooses to add to their drink. The first four seltzer flavors that Good Feels is launching with are black cherry, blood orange, grapefruit and raspberry apple.

“We sampled over 250 people with 35 different flavors to settle on the four flavors we’re launching with,” said Reposa. Similar to Red Stripe or vintage Coors, Good Feels beverages come in a distinct, stubby glass bottle.

While the immediate future currently looks bright for cannabis beverages companies in Massachusetts, challenges lay ahead. In addition to the increasing number of cannabis beverage companies in the Massachusetts market, large, well-established beverage companies are also eyeing the cannabis space closely. Seattle-based Jones Soda company recently announced they are releasing a brand of cannabis infused sodas in California, while the aforementioned Boston Beer Company has started a Canadian-based spin-off company focused on producing cannabis beverages.

None of this is deterring the folks at Good Feels. The company is planning on launching another round of fundraising soon, with eyes on funding the construction of another production facility and eventual expansion into other products and other markets. Reposa dreams of the day where stigmas have diminished and regulations have been relaxed to the point where his products will be as available as alcohol is in social settings.

“I can see it as clear as day. I don’t know if it’s five years from now or ten years from now, but it’s eventually going to happen where Good Feels will be on draft in a bar.”

Musical

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them it would be nice to play Alyssa or Emma or else otherwise I had done 300 performances (in the ensemble). So they came back and offered me Alyssa,” West said.

Most of the touring cast is brand new to the show.

“It’s just been such a gift to play her (Alyssa) and make her my own,” West said.

“The Prom” has been touring for several weeks. “Its been going well,” West said. Touring during COVID can be stressful, she said, but shows have only been shut down once during a run at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore. “Everyone is vaccinated.”

From Minneapolis “The Prom” is scheduled to go to Chicago, and then The Hanover Theatre. West said she’s never been to Worcester before. “I’m excited. Very excited. That’s the joy of the touring.”

The tour is currently scheduled to run until dates at Kansas City, MO, in October.

Would West extend her involvement if the tour gets extended?

“We will see,” she said. “I’m looking forward to October. It feels like an eon away. That’s kind of the world of an actor. You can’t really plan far in advance.”

But as she’s also exploring the musical with pretty much a whole new cast on the road from the Broadway show she’s still learning. “It (’The Prom’) really has a lot of gifts to give,” she said.

Bees and Thank You looks to change local ecolog y one grilled cheese at a time

Monica Sager

Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Worcester’s Bees and Thank You is taking the “save the bees” mission everyone has heard to a new level – and onto the road.

The food truck is working to not only feed customers delicious grilled cheese sandwiches but also educate them about insecticides, positive impacts people can have on the environment, and their power to create local, sustainable change.

Co-Founder Ryan Margulis said that he hopes the organization is able to make a lasting impression on humanity as well as the environment.

“We’re always trying our best to promote sustainable ways of living,” Margulis said.

Margulis, grew up in Lowell and attended Emmanuel College, was inspired by Sister Dorothy Stang. She filed legal claims on behalf of those whose land was being stolen in Latin America, enacting an environmental movement and advocating for reforesting the stripped down areas.

“One of my classes was on Catholic social teaching,” Margulis said. “She did a lot of great things in the Amazon for uptake and farmers there to get their land back from loggers.”

Stang was a champion of forest preservation and defender of small farmers.

“I was super inspired to help out with that movement,” Margulis said. “After a while though I realized that people had a problem connecting with an issue that was far away. I wanted to find a way to connect people with the bees.”

Margulis looked into honey bee pollination in the United States and learned about the need for more of the buzzing insects. There are a handful of commercial bee farms that exist to ensure that crop farmers receive the pollinators necessary to grow their goods. Essentially these commercial beekeepers provide services to a bigger system of agriculture, retail, food industries, and all of the systems and demands that interact with them.

“I became super fascinated about the whole shipping process that exists and uses honey bees,” Margulis said. “The bees live on the back of flatbed trucks and they ship from farm to farm for different pollination periods where they’re exposed to single crop pollination, various pesticides, and they’re entire life is just on a truck. There’s nothing natural about it.”

The bees are bred to do the work. Margulis said this also leads to a lot of “genetic manipulation within the bees,” providing a lower quality of life.

“Over time, it’s just not doing good things for them,” Margulis said.

So Margulis set out to change the local impact on the honey bees, bringing a community feel to having conversations about what is happening to the honey bees.

Bees and Thank you is now focused on creating a more conscientious consumer culture to help reduce the dependency on pesticide as well as genetically modified perishables, as both dramat-

Bees and Thank You co-Founder Ryan Margulis said that he hopes the organization is able to make a lasting impression on humanity as well as the environment. PHOTO COURTESY RYAN MARGULIS

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ically decrease bee populations.

Co-founder Nick Laorenza added the grilled-cheese aspect to Bees and Thank You. Laorenza, who is from Haverhill and went to Central Catholic High School with Margulis, has worked to grow the business to serve over 30,000 customers to date.

For the first year or so, the two travel around mainly during the summer time mainly to places that would allow them to set up shop. They raised money and spread awareness.

After a few years, Bees and Thank You has now gotten into fairs. This is the group’s first full year with the food truck.

All grilled cheeses are served on Texas toast with raw organic wildflower and clover honey as well as the customers choice of extra toppings. Menu items include the classic, which is American cheese with crystallized wildflower honey; the “sweet,” which blends American and Havarti cheeses; and the fire, which is a spicy mixture of American and buffalo wing cheddar cheeses. There is also a vegan option with shredded Daiya and “follow your heart” mozzarella cheeses.

“The food is the way we’ve been able to provide for all of this,” Margulis said.

The honey currently comes from a sanctuary in New Boston, New Hampshire as well as other local farms. There are hopes though for another sanctuary to be built soon at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Wellesley, MA.

Bees and Thank You hosted a few events at the Horticultural Society last year.

“This year, we’re bringing the bees there. We got approval to bring the bees on site,” Margulis said. “They love the idea. They love honey. They love the food. This year we’ll really explore that relationship.”

Margulis mentioned classes for both children and adults to learn more about bees and their pollination benefits. He even added that there have been times where families have come up to him at the food truck and the seven year old kid knows more about the bees because of Margulis’s programs, “and they love it.”

“It’s a great experience to have…We’ll really have a hub,” Margulis said. “Now we’re really going to have a place where we’re going to be able to promote actual events. It’s a beautiful space.”

Margulis and Laorenza provide seed packets and information pamphlets to people as they travel with their food truck, spreading awareness and ensuring they are playing an active role in taking charge of the ecological issue.

“We’re letting people know how they can help at their own homes,” Margulis said. “A portion of the proceeds goes to opening up our bee sanctuary as well as doing all of this stuff at the Mass Horticultural Society.”

Customers are able to also buy Bee Well Box subscriptions through the Bees and Thank You website, BeesAndThankYou.org, or at the Bee Well Box website itself, BeeWellBox.com. By partnering with local beekeepers and farmers, unique boxes of honey bee products are curated and sent to subscribers. Each box includes three jars of immunity boosting hardiness honey, one exclusive product, everything to start a pollinator garden, and a surprise gift.

Little bee collections sell as low as $70 per box and provide six pounds of honey. Big bee collections go for as little as $100 a box and have 12 pounds of honey in each box. They each delivered four times a year.

The subscriptions allow Bees and Thank You to build bee sanctuaries.

Tickets start at $39. Save with group rates.

Tuesday/Family night & Wednesday/LGBTQ night include a post show Q & A with the cast.

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April 26 - May 1 TheHanoverTheatre.org 877.571.SHOW (7469)