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Beer is over. We’ve evolved past the need for beer.
OK, that’s a little harsh, but I can’t pretend like the thought didn’t cross my mind as I spent this past weekend “testing” out Cann’s THC- and CBD-infused sodas. Cann, which started making its line of drinks in California in 2018, is currently only available for pickup and delivery in a handful of states right now (like California, Colorado, and Oregon). And my time with it only gave me another reason to be mad that weed isn’t federally legal yet.
I can’t speak for anyone else I routinely go to parties and picnics with, but as soon as sitting outside with my buds is preferable to running up my utility bill with a noisy A/C, I’ll be gripping a can of Cann. Sorry, White Claw.
What is Cann?
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Cann calls itself a “social tonic” on the packaging, but really, it’s a lightly carbonated, juice-flavored beverage that packs 2mg of THC and 4mg of CBD (two of the main chemical compounds in cannabis) into a roughly Red Bull-sized 8oz can. Yes, the name is a pun on both “cannabis” and “can.” It’s also got financial backing from Gwyneth Paltrow, whose recent business ventures might understandably make you skeptical. We don’t have to dwell on either of those things because, as I’ll explain in a bit, Cann is really good.
Aside from the cannabis aspects, there really isn’t much going on here ingredient-wise. Each can includes just five ingredients (such as carbonated water, cannabis extract, and agave) and none of it is artificial, per Cann’s website. Plus, they only come in at around 30 calories and are gluten-free so all the homies with gluten allergies can get in on the fun, too.
Cann comes in a couple of other form factors, as well, though I didn’t get to try those. You can empty a Cann Roadies packet into sparkling water yourself, or get Cann Lite, which only has nine calories. I wouldn’t personally deviate from the default configuration, but hey, more options are always welcome.
Speaking of flavors, Cann sent me three: Lemon Lavender, Grapefruit Rosemary, and Blood Orange Cardamom. There are more on Cann’s website, like Ginger Lemongrass and Cranberry Sage, but sadly, I wasn’t able to try all of them. That said, purely in terms of taste, there’s plenty to like about the flavors of Cann I did get to try.
“The best thing about Cann is that it doesn’t really taste like weed.”
Blood Orange Cardamom was easily my favorite of the trio. Despite its fancy-sounding name, it just tastes like orange soda with more citrus and less carbonation. It’s like juice that has just a tiny bit of kick to it to make you feel alive. Personally, I could go for even more bubbles. I find it refreshing when a soft drink feels like it’s sanding down the inside of my throat on its way down and accelerating the loss of my teeth. I’ll just get dentures when the time comes.
I’d put Lemon Lavender in second place. It’s got the sweet tang you expect from lemon with a slight edge of minty lavender, but not enough to negate the much more satisfying lemon taste. Unfortunately, Grapefruit Rosemary went too far in the other direction for me. The grapefruit part of the equation makes for a pleasant enough first impression, but that quickly gives way to a rosemary aftertaste that’s way too herbal for me. I don’t personally want any beverage to remind me of the nasty mouthwash they give you at the dentist’s office.
The best thing about Cann is that it doesn’t really taste like weed. If you’ve ever tried edibles, you know that even the most flavorful brownies, cookies, and gummies all sort of taste like someone mixed burnt grass into them. That’s how it feels to me, anyway. I only put up with it because the destination matters more than the journey. I never felt that with Cann.
But even if I did, I would happily drink it anyway. That’s because Cann does exactly what you would want a THC-infused drink to do: Get you high.
What can Cann do?
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Dear reader, speaking as someone with a pretty high weed tolerance derived from years of edible use, let me tell you: Cann works. Sure, such small amounts of THC and CBD probably won’t leave you motionless on the couch watching YouTube fireplace videos for eight hours, but I was shocked at how noticeable the effect was, regardless. For reference, a single dose of a weed edible is generally thought to be between 5 and 10mg of THC, and one can of Cann comes in well below that.
I popped open my first Cann in the midst of a month-long tolerance break from THC and felt the buzz before I’d even finished the tiny drink. My mood got better, my shoulders became less tense, and I couldn’t wait to drink more. I never became so stoned that I couldn’t function (I tried to keep it to one or two cans a day), but it made a terrific companion for playing Apex Legends with the crew, streaming the NBA playoffs, or watching Top Gun for the first time on Netflix.
(Top Gun kicks ass, by the way. Movies don’t need plots, they just need boys playing shirtless beach volleyball and romantically giving each other approval to be their wingmen.)
“Cann does exactly what you would want a THC-infused drink to do: Get you high.”
To its credit, Cann got me just stoned enough to properly appreciate a movie where basically nothing happens, and the nice thing is that there’s hardly any risk of going too far with it.
The buzz from one can of Cann ultimately doesn’t last much longer than an hour — at least it didn’t for me. The 8oz serving size means that you can drink more than one in succession if you know your tolerance level and feel comfortable doing so. It’s not like Hard Mountain Dew, where the friendly flavor tempts you into having too much of the alcoholic soda at once, leaving you to suffer from the hellish darkness of inebriation.
I’m actually pretty bummed out that you can’t get Cann easily in most of the U.S. because it would be perfect to bring to the park with your friends on a sunny summer day. As someone who’s personally fallen out of love with alcohol pretty hard over the past couple of years, it’s real nice to have a version of hard seltzer that makes me feel good instead of the kind of bad that has me guzzling down ibuprofen.
At the end of the day, isn’t that all anyone really wants?
I drank Hard Mountain Dew and felt like I was staring at God
Source : Cann is like LaCroix that gets you high. And it rules.
