If you ever get a hankering for a cocktail, but are staying away from booze for the evening–or month or forever, Sweet Crude offers a sweet replacement. These yummy canned “cocktails” have been created to mimic the taste of popular mixed drinks. Each can contains 20 MG of CBD and terpenes to take help release stress without booze.
Anyone who has spent any time with me knows that I love to hydrate and support Austin-local businesses. While I definitely consume my fair share of alcohol, it’s great to have an alternative that is so tasty!
Sweet Crude kindly sent me product to try out and hosted me at a virtual media cocktail-making event with Hey Bartender so I could help get the word out.
Sweet Crude OG Tonic and Mellow Mule
For now, Sweet Crude comes in two flavors, OG Tonic and Mellow Mule. The OG tonic is mixed based on the flavor profile of a classic gin and tonic. I actually liked it more than I thought I would, because I drink neither gin nor tonic as a rule. Sweet Crude OG Tonic is bright and effervescent with juniper and lime terpenes, and contains no tonic water.
Sweet Crude Mellow Mule tastes very much like a Moscow Mule. The spiciness of the ginger comes through, balanced nicely with lime and, surprisingly, pineapple. I love this flavor profile, even if it’s a bit sweeter than the OG Tonic. It isn’t easy to distinguish from a boozy one, which is kind of fun if you’re looking for that kind of kick. The ginger beer gives it that extra zinga zinga mau mau.
The initial point of Sweet Crude was to provide an alternative to boozy drinks with something that tasted similar to cocktails and simultaneously helped to take the edge off with the CBD and terpenes. As we learned in our virtual cocktail making class with Hey Bartender, you can dress them up with herbs, fruit, and even mixers, as you might with a classic cocktail. You may also use add booze, using the Sweet Crude drinks as the base for a cocktail. There are no rules here. You do you, babe.
Why Create a Zero-Proof CBD Cocktail?
CBD Cocktail creator and founder, Talia Bennick, suffered from awful migraines at one point, the kind that sent her to bed in a dark room to recover. Through a process of elimination, she came to realize that alcohol exacerbated, and possibly even triggered, these migraines. She first reduced her alcohol intake, but soon decided it wasn’t worth the risk of migraine and gave it up all together.
Being social, she still enjoyed going out with her friends, and became frustrated with the lack of non-boozy options that tasted good or still had a kick and some positive effect on her mood. Bennick explains, “I craved a sipping experience for the nights when I just didn’t feel like alcohol, but wanted to still be my best, most outgoing self.” She started experimenting at home, and liked the calming benefits of the CBD (cannabanoid oil) and the added mind-body connection terpenes can bring. Bennick worked to create flavors reminiscent of boozy cocktails, and she has hit a home run with Sweet Crude.
The Magic of Terpenes
Sweet Crude launched in August, 2020. They are already gaining traction, already featured in an article in Forbes. Within cannabis culture, well informed people may discuss terpenes frequently. While terpenes may be found in CBD, Sweet Crude includes specific terpenes from the plants that give these canned drinks their flavor and impart some additional magic to one’s mood.
In the Sweet Crude blog, Bennick explains Terpenes and how they work. “Terpenes are the compounds responsible for a plant’s aroma. Simple as that. When we smell a plant’s fruit, leaves, or sap, terpenes are the horsepower behind those fragrances.” There can be as many as 100 terpenes in a single hemp plant. Several of them affect one’s mood, creativity, energy, or focus, and Bennick has selected the terpenes to go in each Sweet Crude cocktail for those properties as well as the additional flavor experience heightened by these aromas. Long story short, terpenes add bonus magic to the drinks.
Hey Bartender and Sweet Crude Virtual Cocktail Class
Launched during the lockdown, when everyone and everything was homebound, Hey Bartender offered a way for people to socialize virtually and learn how to make bar-worthy cocktails at home. The Hey Bartender team who led our Sweet Crude virtual cocktail class was lively and fun. They led us through dressing up our already flavorful CBD drinks with mint, lime, bitters, and the like. They provided us with the recipes and necessary ingredients ahead of time, so everyone could prepare.
While I am extremely grateful to be vaccinated and to see more and more people also getting their shots, I’m not sure how long it will take everyone to start venturing out to public spaces, at least in full force. Therefore, it would be great to keep Hey Bartender in mind if you want to host a virtual happy hour and make cocktails with friends or colleagues in other places. This would be a fun team building event, as is, with Sweet Crude and Hey Bartender.
The Sweet Crude team is working on new cocktail concoctions even as I type this blog post. The new flavors are still under wraps, but if they are anything like the OG Tonic and Mellow Mule, expect them to be tasty, non-alcoholic, CBD and terpene infused goodness in a can.
Where can you find Sweet Crude? If you are in Austin like me, look for this product at Quickie Pickie, Royal Blue Grocery, The Meteor Cafe, and Thom’s Market, among others. They are expanding to stores in other markets as well, so if you aren’t Austin local, use the store locator on their website. They also ship to several states.
Each 4-pack of 250 ml cans runs $23.99, with an option for a monthly subscription for both at a discount. While these have functional ingredients for that feel good vibe, they do have some cane sugar in them. The OG Tonic comes in at 18g carbs/can, and the Mellow Mule has 24g carbs/can. When you consider a twelve-ounce Coke has 46g, and that the boozy versions have a similar–and sometimes higher carb count, it still comes out as the healthier option.
Keep an eye out for Sweet Crude at pop-up markets and festivals, too, as I see that Bennick and her team are often out there, handing out samples. Follow their Instagram page for the latest announcements and pop-ups. I love these easy non-boozy CBD drinks.
Eat Like Blogger Drink Like Poet 