Written By:
Johnny Gold
If the drink you want to replace is the one at the end of the day, there are three real options: kava, hemp THC drinks and kanna. Kava is calming and sociable. THC drinks are dosed in milligrams and land differently from person to person. Kanna is for the front of the night rather than the end. None of them go with alcohol.
First, what are you replacing
- The taste and the ritual: non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits have gotten good. We do not carry them, and we would point you to them first if the taste is all you miss.
- The drink after work: kava.
- The drink at a party: kanna, or a low-dose THC drink.
- The last drink of the night: kava, or something from Nothing After Four.
Kava
A root from the Pacific Islands, drunk for a very long time and usually in the evening. Calm, unhurried, sociable. It comes in cans, drink mixes, gummies, and a non-alcoholic spirit you can mix with. More in Best kava drinks.
Skip it with a liver condition, with alcohol, or if you are pregnant. Potentially intoxicating, so not before driving.
Hemp THC drinks
Cans and sodas dosed with hemp-derived THC, usually somewhere between 2 and 10mg a can. They come on faster than a gummy but slower than a beer, so give the first one an hour before you open a second.
- Cycling Frog Black Currant: 5mg THC and 10mg CBD per can. A gentle place to start.
- Cantrip sodas, 10mg. The 50mg pack exists. It is not a first drink.
- High Tonics from North Canna Co: 10mg per can, four flavors.
- Crescent 9 Ginger Lemonade.
These are intoxicating. Not with alcohol, not before driving, and know that hemp THC can show up on a drug test the same as any THC.
Kanna
A South African succulent taken as a chew, chocolate or elixir. Lifting and talkative rather than heavy, so it is for the dinner or the first hour of the party, not the couch afterward. Not for anyone taking an SSRI, an SNRI or an MAOI. More in What is kanna.
Side by side
- For the end of the day: kava.
- For a party: kanna, or a 2 to 5mg THC drink.
- For a month off drinking: kava in a can. A month off is easier when the thing in your hand is not a compromise.
- For a drink that tastes like a drink: a non-alcoholic kava spirit, mixed.
Questions people ask
Is kava better than alcohol? Different, not better in any way we can promise. It is not alcohol, and it is never mixed with alcohol.
Can I mix kava and a THC drink? We would not, at least not the first time. Try each on its own and know how it sits with you first.
Will a hemp THC drink show up on a drug test? It can. Hemp THC is THC.
What is the least intoxicating option? A CBD soda. CBD is not intoxicating.
More in Alcohol-Free Nights. Or pick a feeling.
Nothing here is medical advice. Kava, kanna and hemp THC have not been evaluated by the FDA. Some links on this page earn us a commission. It never changes what you pay.