The cannabis beverage game is a tricky one. While weed drinks are marketed as alcohol alternatives, the reality is that THC alone is not a social lubricant.
Drinking alcohol turns you out. You become social, silly, and careless to the point of regret. Cannabis, especially isolated THC, tends to turn you inward. You become introspective, vibey, and more hungry for snacks than conversation. The intrinsic break in the social effect of these drinks has hindered what was billed as its meteoric rise to the top of the industry. But if you ask me, they’re just mixing them wrong.
This is why I like Wunder, a cannabis beverage that combines THC and Delta-8. I’m especially fond of its new Higher Vibes line, containing 10 milligrams THC and 10 milligrams Delta-8 per can.
This review is specifically about the new Higher Vibes blackberry lemon flavor, which slaps for a number of reasons.
First impression
I like that Higher Vibes doesn’t just contain THC. For a weed drink to make you feel like you want to party, it has to have other things besides a nano-emulsified THC distillate. Even though that will hit you right away, it won’t hit in the way you want it to. Without the balancing benefits of other cannabinoids, THC can make you paranoid and anxious, the opposite of how you want to feel in a group setting.
While Delta-8 is a synthetic cannabinoid derived from CBD that should usually be avoided due to the unregulated nature of the synthetic cannabinoid market, the Delta-8 Wunder uses is safe, lab-tested, and contributes to the social nature of the drink. Not all Delta-8 is terrible, just most of it.
Taste
The blackberry lemon flavor tastes great, which is surprisingly rare for a weed drink. Nano-emulsified THC is a THC oil that has been broken down small enough to absorb into your bloodstream like alcohol, hence why the high hits you fast and hard, also like alcohol.
The downside to nano is that it tastes fucking nasty, bitter, gross, and overall not something you want to be drinking. The biggest hurdle drinks face is masking that flavor. Wunder crushes it in this arena with a taste that is berry, fruity, pure, and pleasant. You would never know it was nano.
Effect
These cannabis beverages are strong. 10 milligrams of THC and 10 milligrams of Delta-8 get you feeling more than just a little wavy, almost in a multiple-glasses-of-wine kind of way. It’s rare to see higher-dose beverages on the market because there is a misconception that low-dose beverages will create new cannabis consumers. It also creates a space for brands to charge insane prices for very little weed.
Wunder’s Higher Vibes, however, is not expensive — around $20 for a 4 pack, which would be 40 milligrams THC total. As an experienced stoner with a higher tolerance, I appreciate the psychoactive weight of this beverage.
Now, I love to drink alcohol but try not to do it as much anymore, so weed drinks are super appealing. I tried the new Wunder blackberry lemon beverage in a real-life situation where I went to a cannabis event with a bunch of people I work with. Anxiety, commence.
Normally I would drink some wine or something, but instead, I cracked the impossibly difficult child-lock on this beverage. The inauguratory sip is bomb. Crisp. Berry. Citrus. The effects hit about halfway through the drink, and I forgot why I was anxious in the first place.
The high from Wunder’s drink was balanced and lasted long enough for me not to be annoyed or want to go home, which is saying a lot for me. I was able to freely consume other cannabis products on top of it without getting anxious or too stoned, which I again attribute to the Delta-8 high, which takes the edge off normal THC.
Bottom line
Dispatch from my iPhone notes at the party: “The world drips like warm water. Sharp experiences like stress and pain are replaced with a yacht-like buoyancy and I don’t feel weird at all.”
Overall, this is a great drink for social situations and for those who want to be social in situations but don’t want to drink alcohol to get there.
Weedmaps’ product reviews reflect only the author’s dope opinions. Products are chosen independently by Weedmaps and the author.
