There are a lot of gimmicky weed products on the market today. From gas station CBD to infused-everything-under-the-sun, it’s no wonder you might be skeptical about drinking weed. Logic tells us that chewing or sipping weed wouldn’t actually do much to get you high. Yet, there are tons of THC drinks on the market. So, what’s the catch? How do weed-infused drinks actually work, and will they even get you high?

Can You Drink Weed?

Have you ever wondered if you can boil weed in water and drink it? Well, you can, but it won’t exactly get you high. 

Raw cannabis contains the acidic form of THC, called THCA. If you consume THCA as is, you won’t get high at all. That’s because it needs to be decarboxylated first. Decarboxylation is a chemical reaction involving light and heat that converts the THCA into THC. This process of “decarbing” is what makes the THC active, producing the psychoactive effects.

Boiling weed is not enough heat to fully decarb cannabis, so an oven is the best route. Once it’s been decarbed, there is one more step needed to make the weed drinkable. Since cannabinoids are fat-soluble, THC needs fat like butter or oil to become bioavailable for humans. Without it, you simply cannot absorb the active cannabinoids. 

How Do You Drink THC?

In the early days of legalization, cannabis brands scrambled to find the right recipe to make THC perfectly soluble for infused drinks. Initial attempts resulted in chunky drinks that tasted awful. Or, worse yet, all of the plant matter particles would sink to the bottom of the container, and you’d be gulping them all down in one go. Neither of these were suitable ways to drink your weed.

Fortunately, newer technology has largely solved this problem, and now consumers can enjoy high-quality THC drinks that actually work as intended. This is due to nanotechnology that turns fat-soluble THC into a water-soluble substance that quickly emulsifies into any liquid. Dubbed nanoemulsion, beverage makers finally found the right way to make drinking weed enjoyable. 

Nanoemulsion erases the need for a weed butter or infused oil, which has proven ineffective for consumer goods. Not to mention, drinking a fatty beverage is not quite as enjoyable as sipping on a smooth seltzer infused with emulsified cannabinoids. Creating a nanoemulsion involves combining a cannabinoid into a type of colloidal particle and immersing them in water. The colloidal particles have a fat-soluble center that bonds with the cannabinoids before they can bond with water. 

This is the same process used to make things like salad dressing or mayonnaise, except once the THC is emulsified with water, it will not separate. Then, this weed water, so to speak, is blended into any kind of beverage imaginable. This is how you drink THC in a shelf-stable product.

Do THC Beverages Get You High?

THC beverages created with nanoemulsion technology get you high. In fact, because the process increases bioavailability, it actually gets you high much quicker than eating an edible. However, because you get high sooner, you also come down faster. This is part of the appeal of THC beverages. You can drink as slowly or as quickly as you like, experience the effects for a shorter period of time than eating an edible (or even smoking weed) and then be ultimately ‘sober’ in much less time as well. 

THC beverages hit your system much faster because the absorption begins as soon as the liquid hits your lips. Edibles must first pass through the digestive system, which is why they take so long to kick in. 

How Long Do THC Beverages Take to Kick in?

THC drinks using nanoemulsion work very quickly. You’ll feel the initial effects within 5-15 minutes. The beauty of THC drinks is that the high comes on slowly, peaking around an hour before it also slowly fades away. Within that first hour, you’ll be able to decide whether or not you’d like to have another. For most people, drinking 10 mg THC feels like a microdose. This is perfect for social events where you want to have more than a couple of drinks without getting too inebriated. 

So, can you boil weed in water and drink it? Sure, you could, but there’s a better way to drink weed, and it’s best left to the experts that craft high-quality bubble beverages. Pabst Labs High Seltzer’s ideal for any social gathering where you want to experience a different kind of buzz. 

You can order online and have them delivered straight to your front door, so you don’t even need to leave the party. There are four great flavors to choose from, and you can mix and match four or six-pack bundles and try them all.  Plus, Pabst has been doing beverages for quite some time (since 1844 to be exact), so can be sure you’ll be getting a quality beverage.