The Best THC Drinks of 2026, Tested: What to Buy Before the Ban
| August 6, 2026
I've been reviewing THC drinks and mixing them into real cocktails for years on my YouTube channel, and everything on this list is something I've actually bought, tasted, and in most cases filmed.
Quick primer if you're new here: these are all hemp-derived THC drinks, federally legal under the 2018 Farm Bill, which is why you can buy most of them at stores like Total Wine or order them online. Effects usually start in 15 to 30 minutes. If it's your first time, start with 5mg and wait a full 30 minutes before round two. My THC drink dosage guide covers this in detail.
Buy While You Still Can
One thing to know before you pick a favorite: a federal law passed in November 2025 bans hemp-derived THC drinks starting November 12, 2026, unless Congress acts first. Every drink on this list is still legal to buy today, and that's exactly why this list matters right now: the next few months are the window to figure out what you like and stock up at normal prices. The full story is in my THC drink ban explainer, working discount codes are on the THC drink discounts page, and you can check your state's shipping rules here.
Best Overall: Crescent 9 THC Seltzer
My favorite THC drink, full stop. Crescent 9 uses real fruit juices and purees instead of the bland "hint of flavor" seltzer treatment, the nanoemulsion THC kicks in around 15 minutes, and the potency range goes from 5mg starter cans up to 50mg for experienced users. I wrote a full Crescent 9 review if you want the flavor-by-flavor breakdown. The 10mg variety pack is the easiest place to start.
Best for Real Cocktails: Artet
Artet is the rare THC drink designed like a bar ingredient instead of a finished beverage. It's an aperitif with gin-style botanicals and a genuinely Campari-like bitter edge, and it now comes in three strengths (2.5mg, 5mg, or 10mg per serving) so you pick your dose. I've stirred it into a THC Negroni Sbagliato and a smoked old fashioned, and it held up like a real amaro both times. Full thoughts in my Artet review.
Best for Margaritas: Grind with Gratitude
Grind with Gratitude is a citrus THC spirit at 10mg per serving. The citrus flavor makes it a natural in agave-style drinks. It's the base of my coconut THC margarita, and it's become my default answer for "what do I put in a THC marg."
Real talk before the next few picks: the spirit-style THC bottles: Grind, Ellora, Willie's Remedy, Nowadays, and Calmezzi's original flavor taste more alike than their marketing suggests. They share a similar hemp base character, and blind, I'd have trouble telling some of them apart. That's not a knock on any of them. It means you should choose based on dose options, price, availability, and what you're mixing, which is exactly how I've organized this list.
Best Spirit Alternative for Classic Cocktails: Ellora
Ellora is Crescent Canna's THC-infused spirit. This one is 10mg per serving and built to use in place of base spirits. I've used it in a Jack Rose and a whiskey-style sour, and it's the one I reach for when I want a classic cocktail structure with no alcohol in it.
Best for Beginners: Willie's Remedy
The brand that broke my YouTube channel's ceiling: my Willie's Remedy videos are the most-watched things I've made. It's a spirit-style bottle that comes in both 5mg and 10mg per serving versions of the same product, which makes it beginner-friendly: start on the low-dose bottle, and the five cocktails we make with it feel like real drinks, not compromises.
Best THC Soda: Keef
If you want something that tastes like actual soda, real sugar and all, Keef is my recommendation.
Best Low-Sugar Soda: Daizy's Social Soda
Daizy's takes the opposite approach from Keef: real fruit juice, 5 to 25 calories, and barely any sugar, with 10mg of delta-9 THC in every 12oz can. The flavors lean nostalgic (Grape, Tropical Punch, Strawberry Lemonade, Passion Fruit), and the Grape is the one I genuinely love. My boyfriend says it tastes like grape children's Tylenol. We are at an impasse. Try it and pick a side. No affiliate relationship here, I just keep buying it, and it's stocked at Total Wine and Spec's if you'd rather try a single can before committing to a 12-pack.
Best Canned Mocktail: Better Than Booze
Better Than Booze is a Nashville brand making canned craft mocktails with flavors that read like an actual cocktail menu: Rosemary Grapefruit Paloma, Elderberry Gin & Tonic, Mint Mojito with Lime. The hemp line runs 2mg THC plus 6mg CBD per can, with 5mg and 10mg versions if you want more kick. Those 2mg cans make it the most sessionable drink on this list. You can have a couple over an evening the way you'd nurse a couple of beers, which nothing else here really allows. This is another one I buy with my own money (no affiliate link), and another easy Total Wine pickup.
Most Fun to Experiment With: Nowadays
Nowadays has a clean, plant-forward flavor that plays well in almost any cocktail. It's the base of my clarified THC cocktail that comes out looking exactly like water. If you like to tinker, this is your bottle.
The Wildcard: Calmezzi Agave
I'll be straight with you: I don't enjoy Calmezzi's agave flavor on its own. Sipped neat, it's not for me. But it's built as a 1-to-1 agave-spirit swap (5mg THC + 5mg CBD per serving), and in a cocktail with enough going on (like my THC margarita with beer foam) it does its job and the drink works. Buy it to mix, not to sip. Their original flavor is closer to the other spirit-style bottles above if you want something that works well on its own.
THC products are intended for adults 21 and older. Effects vary by person and product, and THC will show up on a drug test. Start low, wait before you take more, and don't drive after. This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, Cocktail Underground may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Every product here is something I bought or was sent and genuinely use.
