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!
Birch’s on the Lake
About: This bevvy is made by a supper club of the same name on Long Lake, MN. Its brewhouse has a nice mix of lagers, porters, IPAs, and its THC bubblies include blueberry, cherry, and ginger ale.
Where I got it: Marigold for $7.
Flavor: Oh man, this is good ginger ale. Like, the real ginger ale. The kind with actual ginger root. Spicy, fresh, not too sweet. This is legit delicious.
Experience: This is a 10 mg can with 15 mg of CBD, so you will be melty. The ginger also makes this a great drink for upset stomachs; I found it neutralizing my body after a heavy lunch and it saved my afternoon.
Ivory Tiger
About: This sparkling THC drink was made by 1820, a family-owned beverage company based in Portland, Maine. You might know Geary Brewing Company, one of their other brands, which claims to be "New England’s first craft brewery." They also dabble in a few other THC drinkables, including the Ride the Wave series.
Where I got it: Found this at Marigold for $6. I’ve also seen it in the Lowry neighborhood at Lund’s.
Flavor: Oh yeah. I am drinking a bottle of tanning lotion and I love it. I was expecting a fruit punch type of thing, but the tropical cherry flavor tastes pineapple forward with coconut on the back end. Maybe they didn’t quite nail the “cherry,” but the “tropical” is there.
Experience: This is a 5 mg can, so it’s a gentle buzz. It’s also got about 50 mg of caffeine in it, which is about half of what you get from a cup of coffee, so it can be a nice little midday pick-me-up.
Uncle Arnie’s
About: Sometimes when I go looking for an origin story for a THC product—or hell, even just where a company is based—I end up down a weird rabbit hole of nothingness. From Uncle Arnie’s “about us” section: “Uncle Arnie’s all of us, none of us…” The FAQ section tells me that Uncle Arnie’s is made “right here in the States!” Vague!
Next, I turned to the can itself, where I saw a note that it was “infused by VERTOSA,” a Walnut Creek, California THC emulsion lab that specializes in “increased bioavailability.” Still not much.
I went to Google next, where I found this article about Uncle Arnie’s securing $7.5 million in funds from Mindset Capital and Delta Emerald Ventures. Mindset Capital, which has a simple but somehow oddly creepy website, is a Cali-based private equity firm, while Delta Emerald Ventures is an NYC investment firm.
What I am saying is this is a case of companies birthing companies. The singularity is here.
Where I got it: This was sent to me (by a computer? Unsure!), but I have seen Uncle Arnie’s at Marigold and at Hennepin Liquors for around $8 a can.
Flavor: Sugar! The watermelon tastes like watermelon bubble gum, Barbie, and the color pink, while the Arnie Palmer-style iced tea and lemonade tastes like instant tea with some simple syrup thrown in for good measure. Both have an aftertaste of cotton candy. Neither are awful, but you’re not gonna feel grown-up drinking this; it’s basically stoner Kool-Aid. Definitely don’t drink one before bed.
Experience: These are 10 mg cans and will hit you like 10 mg plus sugar. I drank this and got some housework done.
WYNK
About: Another rabbit hole! From what I can tell, WYNK is the product of PA-based Warehouse Beverage Co. and Virgin Islands-based drink makers Canvas 340 LLC. Inspiring stuff.
Where I got it: This was also sent to me, but you can find them at Chicago Lake Liquors, MGM, Top 10 Liquors, and other places alcohol is sold.
Flavor: OK, I know these were probably made via corporate committee, but they obviously invested in a good research group. The 5 mg ones are flavored seltzers with a nice tang. My fav was the black cherry fizz, which had an artificial cherry flavor that wasn’t cloying or too candy-like. My least favorite was the lime, which oddly tasted more like stomach acid to me than citrus (a friend of mine said it reminded them of cumin?). Meanwhile, the 10 mg cans are full flavor, with a nice tart lemonade taste that’s pretty easy drinking. These are all 0 cal drinks though, so don’t go looking for real fruit flavor.
Experience: When I saw the name I thought of “wink,” a gentle little nod that these will get you stoned. These are not those kinds of winks. These are more like the Lucille Bluth/winking eye meme from Arrested Development. At least, the 10 mg are. What I am saying is, these are strong. A good time, but strong.
