Toast the moment!
CBD drinks are the No. 1 food trend top chefs anticipate for 2019, followed by CBD-infused foods, according to a survey by the National Restaurant Association.
Published this week and first reported by USA Today, the survey polled more than 650 professional chefs around the country, all members of the American Culinary Federation – 77 percent of whom picked CBD drinks as the trendiest item for the New Year. CBD foods came in second, followed by zero-waste kitchens.
[SEE ALSO: What is CBD? And how can the ‘not-high’ cannabis compound help me?]
State legislation signed late last year makes it illegal for California restaurants to serve CBD cocktails and food. And passage of the Farm Bill, which legalizes hemp at the federal level, doesn’t override the FDA’s own ban on selling CBD in food or drink.
You can still DIY your CBD.
Nothing about California’s law, or the FDA’s position, prevents people from making CBD-infused cocktails and dishes at home.
“I like CBD because it helps cut anxiety and aids people in some low-key fun,” says Jonathan Diaz, bar manager of PopCultivate, a team of culinary chefs who established the Cannabis Supper Club. Diaz tells Eaze that it’s almost impossible to over-do it with CBD, which seems to have no toxicity point in humans, even at extremely high doses.
“I have never felt any negative effects of a CBD drink or edible, nor have I heard of anyone really experiencing anything other than a chill sensation,” Diaz says. “My girlfriend, who is hypersensitive to the effects of [THC], never feels anything negative with CBD infused beverages. So, if she can drink it, anyone can.”
Diaz says his drinks are “about 5 mg, so they’re pretty mellow … If you’re looking to get super buzzed, CBD is not going to do it for you. If anything, you might get a little sleepy.”
But how does it taste?
Distillate oils and non-flavored tinctures can be added directly to food and cocktails with little or no impact on their flavor profiles.
“The CBD doesn’t make it taste differently,” Diaz said. “You can add it to anything that is already tasty just to include the anti-anxiety and anti-inflammatory effects of CBD to your day.”
Depending on their suspensions, oils and tinctures mixed with water-based drinks like tea and coffee might separate and float to the top – but that doesn’t prevent their ingestion or absorption. And of course you’ll want to know how the CBD is going to interact with whatever else you’re putting in your body at the moment.
“Some people mix CBD with coffee, but I prefer a beverage that’s strictly relaxing,” Diaz says. “I recently had a drink from a shop around the corner from my house which was basically, just a mix of citrus juices with CBD added, and it was delicious.”
There are no CBD mixology ‘rules’. But there’s common sense.
With CBD-only, no alcohol cocktails, you’ll want the taste of the mixture to complement the CBD source; tinctures with more of a “cannabis taste” go better with herbaceous flavors, like tonics and bitters-based drinks. For some thing fruity or fresh, you’d be better off with something close to flavorless.
As for liquors, it doesn’t seem to matter much, Diaz says – whatever your favorite may be can play nicely with CBD.
“I love mezcal. So, mezcal cocktails are my favorite,” Diaz says. “I like to make one with pineapple, lime, jalapenos, mezcal … and CBD of course.”