Welcome to Weed Weviews, a verbal foible that’s become the very real name of this monthly column. Think of it like our Doin’ Beers series, but for weed. This month I revisited a few brands with new flavors, a beer company dabbling in THC, a super-can of weed, and a stoner cocktail. Alright, let's do this!
Vibes’s Bomb Pop
About: There are lots of abs on Vibe’s website! I also see palm trees, people in pretty swimwear, and sand. Kinda funny that the company that makes Vibes, Nothing But Hemp, is based in St. Paul (though to be fair, while most of their shops are in Minnesota, they do have a few in Florida). After scrolling past the abs, this drink description caught my eye: “Indica Grapefruit Kush Vibes™ time to relax and get arsoused.” Aw, I got the Sativa variety; no arsousal for me.
Where I got it/price: About $6 from Surdyk’s. (I lost the receipt!)
Flavor: I was hoping for a melted bomb pop, a delicious mix of cherry, lime, and blue raspberry. I absolutely love the vodka bomb pop drink at the Fair, so I know my way around an adult bomb pop. But Vibe's take on the summer treat is not it. This thing is artificial cherry-forward, with a weird chemical smell (sulfur?), burned plastic flavor, and strange aftertaste that reminds me of a dill pickle sticker I had as a kid that hit you on the back of the throat.
Blast-off time: 30 minutes, tops. But I slammed this thing to get it out of the way. I should also note that Vibes is loaded. There’s 10mg THC in each can, plus 5mg CBG, CBD, and CBC each.
Experience: Folks, I was stoned. I watched Love Lies Bleeding and had a great laugh at the movie’s delightfully strange climax.
Purple J’s Raspberry Island
About: Purple J’s makes kombucha THC bevvies in two flavors: Raspberry Island and Blackberry Hill.
Where I got it/price: $24.99 for a six pack (I’ve seen these at Marigold and Flipside by the can, if you’re looking for it in the wild).
Flavor: Oh hey, this is nice! This is kombucha! It has a jammy, raspberry smell with a bit of gasoline tang (I mean that in a good way). There’s a nice, tart, berry flavor on the initial sip, ending with a vinegar and lime bite at the back end. If you're down with kombucha, there’s nothing to not like here.
Blast-off time: Twenty-ish minutes. This one I drank fast because I really liked it. It's a 10mg’er too, so it will get you where you’re going.
Experience: Great! My stomach was a little testy after drinking too much coffee that day, so this was a nice reprieve for my body.
Ganja Skoden’s Sparkling Lime Margarita
About: Three Minnesota buds (Leiataua Dr. Robert Jon Peterson, Kelly Sander, and Richard Nicholson) from different backgrounds (Samoa, Anishinaabe, Jamaica) make this drink as a celebration of their friendship and their cultures. The name comes from Sander, who grew up on a Wisconsin reservation, and is a sped-up slang meaning “let’s go then.” You can read our full profile of these cool dudes here.
Where I got it/price: $8 a can at Marigold.
Flavor: OK! This may be the first margarita THC drink I’ve had that actually tastes like a margarita! Why is that so hard? Anyway, they nailed it here. I taste lime, I taste agave, I don’t taste anything weird. That aftertaste is normal. This is just like a nice/fancy cocktail mix you would get from a liquor store and it goes down easy. Bonus points for being mildly carbonated.
Blast-off time: Twenty-ish minutes? I went for the 10mg cans, though they do have a fiver as well.
Experience: Just good sunny-day vibes. On my second go I split one with a friend, who agreed this tastes like a classic margarita. These might be good for sharing at a chill backyard BBQ hang.
BRĒZ
About: This West Palm Beach, Florida, brand mixes THC, CBD, and mushroom extracts (non-psychedelic) for a variety of different highs. The one I tried had lion’s mane in it; a helpful checkout lady warned me not to drink it at night because this ‘shroom packs a punch of energy. Day stoning!
Where I got it/price: $8 at Marigold.
Flavor: This is fine. I can’t imagine delightfully slamming it like I did the kombucha or the marg, but I can get through it more easily than the bomb pop. A lemon-forward carbonated drink with a bitter back end (I assume that’s lion’s mane?), it has a perfumey aftertaste that didn't bother me, but might be off-putting to some. It’s not horrible, but I’m not gonna tell you to buy it for the flavor.
Blast-off time: About 30 minutes. This was a 5mg THC, 10mg CBD, 2,200 lion’s mane mix, so it’s not going to hit you super hard.
Experience: It was fine. I cleaned, I read, I had a normal Sunday on this stuff. I did notice a little bit of an energy jump, but no more than what I would get from a glass of iced tea. I know some people feel CAFFEINATED after chasing the lion though, so keep that in mind if you decide to try it.
