Pop's Blue Moon tavern, at 5249 Pattison on The Hill
Over the past year, the St. Louis market has enjoyed a trend experienced by the rest of the country: the arrival of new and unusual takes on non-alcoholic beers, cold brews, and variations of CBD and hemp drinks (which may or may not include alcohol). Local bars and restaurants are being forced to consider how much they wish to invest in making sure that a new demographic of emerging, on-site drinker is covered by their menu, especially since the benefits of CBD have been well documented.
In some cases, with CBD especially, tinctures are used to infuse drinks upon order. But a large and growing number of canned options are also flooding the market, with both distributors and buyers becoming acquainted with how much to stock and at what price points. What follows is a broad overview of a few bars and restaurants and how they’re handling the new—forgive the pun—infusion of product lines.
Crafted: Derived from the cannabis plant, cannabidiol, or CBD, is finding a ready market of buyers in St. Louis, through retail storefronts, mail order businesses, and, in some cases, bar programs. Located in the Tower Grove East neighborhood of South City, Crafted enjoyed a pop in sales when adding CBD to cocktails several months ago.
Courtesy Crafted
Proprietor Dani Davis says that “we are doing well with our CBD program. The release party was a huge success. We are partnered with CBD Kratom. Every seasonal cocktail menu features one signature cocktail that has a flavored CBD tincture as an ingredient. And then we have the other flavors that people can add to any cocktail of their choosing for a small upcharge. We have had people add it to beer, cocktails, as well as their sodas.”
Right now, the Crafted BlackBerry Julip (pictured at right), is the featured CBD cocktail on the spring menu. Ingredients include: Tres Agaves Reposado; fresh lime juice; muddled blackberries; fresh mint; mint CBD tincture; agave; and a splash of club soda. Cocktails on the menu are $9 (including the CBJ), while CBD infusions to any other drinks are $2.
Pop’s Blue Moon: Affiliated with both the WellBeing Brewing concern and his family’s Pop’s Blue Moon, Joshua “Loyal” Grigaitis has been steadily growing an N/A clientele at that little bar on The Hill, with a booze-free Saturday-night program finding immediate appeal. It’s possible that the bar will be moving that event next door in May, when a long-discussed expansion will happen; an attached, empty building will become a CBD retail shop, with a full line of canned CBD drinks, hopped teas, NA beers, and other delights available.
Courtesy Pop's Blue Moon
Even before expansion, a simple, bright neon sign advertising CBD hangs in the window of the bar, where infusions of different flavored tinctures go for $3.
The space next door, Loyal suggests, will “focus on a ton of education. That’s really the number one thing. At the CBD shop next to the Moon, we want to have a place that’s comfortable for people to come out and socialize with other people who are into the culture. CBD shops right now can feel sterile, like a pharmacy or dispensary. There might be a counter, but not even a chair where you can sit and talk about products. We don’t want to be so money-driven, but have it as a place for alternative healing.”
The target date for that event is May 18, when Pop’s will be celebrating a 20th anniversary under the current ownership. Between now and then, Pop’s will continue to take part in what Loyal calls “the cannabis revolution.” Ask your bartender for how to take part, as you’ll have options.
Tamm Avenue Bar: A Dogtown location that serves a variety of patrons (day drinkers, weekend partiers, UFC fight fans, and everyone who wants a Mac’s Local Eats burger), Tamm Avenue Bar’s also been forward in its push to include the new wave of cannabis- and hemp-flavored drinks. As of last week, the bar was pouring SweetWater’s Mango Kush, a wheat ale that’s part of the brewery’s 420 Strain series. Not surprisingly, the “hemp-type” flavors contained in the beer give a sensation that you might expect, with a very weedy aftertaste that will linger on your palate for the next few hours.
Courtesy Queen City Hemp
Bartender Erin Stewart warned of exactly that sensation when pouring a pint, while also running through the neighborhood bar’s other options, “including those Queen City Hemp CBD Seltzer waters. Guava, passion fruit, lemon lavender, and blood orange.” She says that those, and the drafts, “have both been really popular.”
She jokes that she’s gotten the learn the inner lives of some of her regulars in a way she hadn’t expected, as “having the skunky beers on draft has really opened my eyes as to who smokes the wacky tobacky. So many people that I assume didn’t smoke would say ‘smells like what I smoked earlier.’”
Exit 6 Pub and Brewery: For some, Cottleville’s a good distance away, making trips there a must whenever in the immediate environs. For others, though, it’s the neighborhood bar, bringing both parties a combination of in-house favorites (like the killer Vanilla Cream Ale) and products from all over. Cans, bottles, and drafts are all in evidence on a regular basis, with Exit 6 taking a chance on some titles from smaller breweries and distributors.
Courtesy Rock Wall Brewing Company
A recent pair of visits meant a chance to taste Hemptails, a new malt beverage featuring a hemp-seed-forward taste. They were carrying the Passionfruit flavor at Exit 6, but other versions include Citra Gold and Hemp’d, with its a straightforward, punchy hemp taste. As you’d guess, the two fruitier versions contain a bit less of the vibe that you get with Hemp’d. When you open the can, the hemp component really pops. Though that dies down with each sip, that initial pop tends to stir your senses, as well as those of anyone sitting within about 5 feet.
Hemptails is not to be confused with a non-alcoholic CBD drink, which Exit 6 also carries, at a considerably lower price tag than many local sellers. Instead, Hemptails pours at a brisk 8 percent ABV and the easy drinking quality of it the product (think a canned ice tea) makes it possible to catch a little too quick a buzz, if not careful. And if Cottleville’s a good 30-minute drive through multiple municipalities from your home… well, yeah, take that second can as a to-go item.
