Matt (my husband, the man behind Drink Like Fantastic, & the resident Local Milk drink expert) and I teamed up to bring you a unique (and dangerously delicious) CBD cocktail recipe to serve at your New Year’s Eve party (or sip on the couch!) to ring in 2019. The star ingredient? CBD.
I’d been wanting to experiment with CBD oil as an ingredient in cocktails & elixirs all year, so when one of our local friends, Fred, gave us a sample of the CBD oil he’s making at Little Tree Labs (you can use the code BOSSDOSS10 for 10% off if you want to try it!), I knew now was the time. My favorite cocktail of 2018 was, by FAR, the ume sour at Monk in Kyoto and another ume sour at Rintaro in San Francisco, and my favorite spirit is mezcal. So, the only logical thing to do was to try to make a CBD oil laced mezcal ume sour. The result? Well, you just have to try it. And a quick PS! I am teaching a free, live workshop on all things growing your Instagram in January and you can learn more and register here!
Read on for the recipe and to learn what all the CBD oil hype is about along with our favorite pet nats (natural sparklings!) for our NYE cheers…
What is CBD oil?
CBD Oil is oil derived from the Cannabis plant (and usually cut with another oil like MCT oil), but it contains no THC (the stuff that gets you high). It can be used in a CBD cocktail recipe as an ingredient or dropped on top (it looks pretty on top of the foam!), and you can put it into all sorts of other elixirs or simply take straight as a daily supplement.
How does CBD Oil make you feel?
This is going to completely depend on you and your unique biology. Some people report nothing. Others people report heightened focus. Better sleep. An overall feeling of relaxation or well-being. Reduced anxiety. The list goes on.
How did it make me feel? Well…I’ve only started taking about .75 mL in the evening, so I’ll let you know! I’m definitely anxiety prone, so I would be elated to find a natural way to treat it! I’ll update this when I have more personal experience. The important thing to know: CBD oil does NOT get you high, but it might yield a more laid back buzz than a straight mezcal fest alone…which is a pretty good thing in my book! There’s an interesting article on it in Healthyish here. You’ll have to try it and judge for yourself ultimately!
What are the Benefits of CBD oil?
While there isn’t enough evidence yet to say anything conclusively CBD has been claimed to help with pain, anxiety, insomnia, fight cancer, and reduce the risk of diabetes. We use an oil in this CBD cocktail recipe, but you could also use a CBD tincture.
Is CBD oil legal?
In my state, Tennessee, it’s legal so long as it’s derived from hemp and not marijuana. For comprehensive information, I found this article to be helpful!
What does CBD oil taste like?
It taste like good weed smells. While it varies product to product, it has a distinctive, earthy cannabis flavor. For those unfamiliar (good on you) with the smell it’s a grassy, earthy scent a bit like a sage smudge stick.
Also…uh, what’s ume?!
Ume (or “umeboshi”) are Japanese pickled plums! They’re salty, sweet, and super tart. They’re one of my favorite ingredients in the whole world. Note: a little goes a long way and they vary in size. This recipe is written for “small” ume which are a little bigger than a marble. If you have bigger ones just halve or quarter them. And some ume are sweeter than others and some are more salty. A good place to start would be the Ozuke brand which is more catered to a western palette. They are a bit larger than what I’ve used, so I’d start with about 1/4 of one! You can find traditional Japanese style ume from Eden foods at most Whole Foods, your local Asian grocer, or online.
Our Favorite Pet Nat’s and Natural Sparkling Wines
Ask at your local natural wine shop! If you don’t have one, some of these can be found online or maybe at your local package store (depending on the quality). If you can get your hands on them (they can be hard to find!) they make a great alternative to champagne!
- Zero Infinito by Pojer e Sandri (Italian)
- Bacchus Pet Nat by 2 Naturkinder (Germany)
- Vej Brut (Italian)
- La Grapperie by La Bueilloise (French)
- Partida Creus BB
Looking for some other cocktail recipes? You might like some of these from years past!
CBD Mezcal Sour Cocktail with Ume Plum
Ingredients
- 1 ounce mezcal
- 1 ounce ume plum wine
- 1 small ume plum pitted
- 2 teaspoons simple syrup
- 1 dropper about .75-.5 mL CBD oil or tincture (optional, this is delicious without it!)
- 3/4 ounces lime juice
- 1/4 ounce rice vinegar can omit and just use more lime juice here
- 1 teaspoon egg white or 1 ounce aquafaba canned chickpea water for vegans
- splash of club soda for topping
- matcha powder optional for garnish
- green herb like mint optional, for garnish
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker muddle plum until broken up and pulpy.
- Add a handful of ice, the mezcal, ume wine, simple syrup, CBD oil or tincture, lime juice, rice vinegar, and egg white. Shake vigorously to combine.
- Pour through a strainer into classes and dust lightly with matcha powder and top with a sprig of green to garnish if desired.
