The Lucrative Business of Luxury CBD Dining and Drinking
Photo Caption: The James Hotel's in-room CBD dining menu, created by chef Andrea Drummer.
Skift Take
There is a green rush taking place in the United States, and the restaurant industry is not content to sit on the sidelines. Meanwhile, FDA regulation threatens to be one big buzz kill.
It’s après-ski hour in Aspen, Colorado, which means throngs of skiers are descending the white light slopes of Ajax Mountain in search of warming drinks and a wicked party.
Many head over to Hooch, a casual craft cocktail bar that resembles Laura Ingalls Wilder’s living room, if she were a progressive proponent of pot. (That’s no big deal here, given the fact that there are eight commercial cannabis dispensaries within walking distance, and it’s been legal to use marijuana recreationally in Colorado since 2012.) A bearded bartender named Cameron suggests a glass of the “Weed Tonic.” For $18, customers receive a mellow-yellow highball glass of Sipsmith gin, turmeric ginger syrup, and CBD bitters from a local Rocky Mountain brand called Strongwater.
For the uninitiated, CBD (cannabidiol) is a non-psychoactive chemical compound that cannot get you high. It is a naturally occuring extract from the hemp plant, often confused with marijuana because the same plant produces THC
