The Chill Factor

BY SAM DANLEY

TZUCO, AN UPSCALE Mexican restaurant in Chicago, is mixing CBD (Cannabidiol from hemp plants) with hibiscus syrup, lemon juice, and slices of serrano peppers. At Nick’s Westside in Atlanta, diners can unwind with a specialty beverage featuring CBD, amaro, apple spice, and lemon. These spots are among a rising tide of restaurants offering CBD infusions in the form of non-alcoholic mocktails, allowing guests to join in the ritual of socialized drinking without loads of sugar or the dreaded hangover.

Chicago-based Flora Hemp Spirits works with Tzuco, Nick’s Westside, and dozens of other restaurants to cater to sober-curious and cannabinoid-curious patrons. Hospitality veterans Adam Peabody and Danny Jahnke launched the company in 2019 after noticing an uptick in the number of mocktails being ordered.

“There were a couple alcohol alternatives out there, but none of them were really saturating into the restaurant world, and none of them had functional ingredients,” Peabody says. “We

HEMP-DERIVED knew there had to be something better, rather than just mixing together a bunch of juices to make a mocktail.”

CBD IS LEGAL AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL UNDER THE 2018 FARM BILL, BUT REGULATIONS STILL VARY STATEBY-STATE, WHICH MAKES FOR A TRICKY ENVIRONMENT FOR RESTAURANT AND BAR OPERATORS TO NAVIGATE.

For restaurants looking to add CBD drinks to the menu, the company offers Flora Essence, an alcohol-free cannabinoid spirit featuring 25 milligrams of CBD per 2-ounce serving. It also offers Flora Delta 8, which provides users with a mild buzz from THC (the psychoactive part of cannabis). These serve as 1:1 replacements in just about any gin or vodka recipe.

Hannah Vittengl, beverage director at Devils Head Ski Resort in Wisconsin, pairs the products with fruity recipes, adding the cannabinoid spirits to mojitos and blending them with pomegranate juice or grapefruit juice.

“I find that people are really curious about it,” she says. “Once they see it and we tell them about it, they get pretty excited to try it out. It’s a great option for people that don’t drink, and with the growing fad for mocktails and the decline in drinking, it’s definitely telling us that this is the future.”

Peabody says education is a key component, especially when it comes to CBD offerings. Though the compound doesn’t produce the same psychoactive effects as THC, it can help users feel more relaxed.

“There’s definitely a big education hurdle to let people know they’re not going to get stoned from this, and CBD isn’t going to make them fail a drug test,” he says. “Another piece of that is going into restaurants and letting them know that it’s acceptable for them to serve, and that a lot of places are already doing it.”

The regulatory landscape for restaurants serving CBD is somewhat of a gray area, but for the most part, Peabody says restaurants and bars are able to openly sell CBD infusions. The compound is derived from both hemp and cannabis, and the origin can play a role in its legality.

“Being involved with restaurants and bars is a really big part of what we do, and that’s why we decided to go the hemp route rather than the cannabis route,” he says.

“With cannabis, you might only be able to sell a product at dispensaries, depending on where you are, but for us, a big part of the reason we made Flora was to give people in social settings an alternative to consume,” Peabody adds.

Hemp-derived CBD is legal at the federal level under the 2018 Farm Bill, but regulations still vary state-by-state. Some states may have their own rules that limit the availability or use of CBD products. Others might have specific labeling and testing standards.

Flora uses a water-soluble hemp- derived CBD isolate. Other options include full-spectrum CBD, which contains all of the other cannabinoids and compounds found in the plant, including trace amounts of THC. There’s also broad-spectrum CBD, which contains all of the plant’s original compounds except for THC.

Different types of CBD work better for different menu items, says Bill Stewart, product design consultant at Portland-based Half Baked Labs. He works with chefs, consumer packaged goods brands, and cannabis companies to develop a wide variety of CBD infusions, from beverages and baked goods to hors d’oeuvres and entrées.

“If you’re doing something sweet, I recommend going with an isolate, because there’s very little flavor,” he says. “Watersoluble CBD isolates are an easy choice for drinks, because you just put a couple pumps into the beverage, stir it up, and you’re done.”

Broad-spectrum and full-spectrum

CBD have the added benefit of an “entourage effect,” where multiple compounds interact to produce a greater sense of relaxation. But those extra compounds also create a stronger flavor and aroma.

“There’s a number of different ways to deal with that. One way is to beat it down with stronger flavors, like chocolate or salt,” Stewart says. “Salt is a nice addition to a dish containing full-spectrum CBD because it turns off the bitter taste buds.”

Another strategy is to enhance those earthy and bitter notes with complimentary flavors. Pepper, citrus, and pungent spices like ginger work well with CBD infusions. In savory dishes, the cannabinoids can be treated as another herbal note, blending right in with rosemary, oregano, and other similar flavor profiles.

CBD can easily be added to olive oil, butter, or other kitchen staples to create any number of functional menu items. Stewart says salad dressings, dips, spreads, icing, dessert toppings and other low-heat recipes offer an easy point of entry for chefs looking to hop on the CBD trend.

“If I had one summary for restaurants, it’s that it’s not as crazy or as scary as you might think,” he says. “It’s a lot easier to incorporate CBD into your menu than most people anticipate.”

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