THC Drinks Explained: What's In Your Can and How to Drink Less

[0:01] Walk down the beverage aisle and it looks a little bit like a science experiment. You might have nootropics, adaptogens, THC, CBD, CBG, spirit free this, functional that, everybody's promising calm and focus, energy, better nights out with no hangover, and most of us are wondering what any of it actually does. Maybe even if there's enough in the can to even matter. So I know I've been there holding a couple of cans trying to figure out which one is real, which one's a pretty label, and wondering if they do anything at all.

[0:36] So I'm super excited today on Dialed In Health. We're going to be decoding the whole thing. I'm sitting down with Anna Baskin, the founder of Hightail, and she's going to give us a little bit of a guide what all these things mean, how to spot a drink that actually works, a little bit about what clean should mean, and how to drink less without giving up the rituals that you love. So in today's episode, we'll learn how to look at these cans and know exactly what they're hiding or what they aren't hiding.

[1:08] So let's get into it. Health and wellness is confusing. There's a new trend every week. Everyone's got an opinion and half the time you can't tell what's legit and what's just good marketing. And we get it. We're in it too. Welcome to Dialed In Health. I'm Melissa Goodwin. Every episode, we bring in the people who actually do this work, providers, practitioners, the experts who see clients and patients every day. We ask the questions you'd ask if you were sitting across from them so you can find the right people, make better decisions, and feel confident about what's out there, whether it's peptides, gut health, water quality, ADHD, biohacking, or something you've never heard of, we're covering it.

[1:44] So let's get into it. Let's get dialed in. Welcome Anna. Thanks for being on the show. Amazing. Thank you so much, Melissa. I appreciate the opportunity to be here and chat with you. So I've known you from, we met actually at a women's networking group. And at that time, you were kind of a, you were kind of a, well, you are still a boss, but you were doing some pretty big work. So maybe give us a little bit of the background on yourself and what brought you.

[2:17] So you have created this. You've, is your brainchild, you've built the whole thing. Anybody can order it now on siphightail.com. So tell us how this all happened. Yeah. So I'm a pretty non-traditional entrepreneur, I'd say. I kind of towed the corporate line and did all the things you're supposed to do. So I started in management strategy consulting before and after business school. I worked at Walgreens doing kind of customer loyalty insights and strategy work, and then over to retail real estate for Brookfield.

[2:49] So that's kind of when we met and I was kind of doing a think tank internally to say how is like the customer evolving? What does that mean? And then what would that mean for them all? And how do we kind of future proof it? And from there I started creating businesses internally. So doing, you know, like a curbside delivery service at 10 locations with Sephora and DoorDash, for example. And that kind of gave me the entrepreneurship bug. So as an entrepreneur for like two years, I feel pardon the annoying word.

[3:21] And I really, really loved it and I love to build. And then, you know, things got more and more on the asset management side, which is just like deeply about financial instruments and not so much about the customer or the product. And also having two kids and working, you know, 60 to 90 hours a week and all the pressure. I just, it wasn't working. And so that really kind of dovetailed also with my personal life where my husband and I used to be big, you know, partyers we like to drink, especially during COVID.

[3:53] I mean, who wasn't drinking? And then I turned 40 and I was like, "Oof, this is not my fault. This hurts. It hurts so bad." Yeah. So that kind of takes the shine off of it when you're really struggling. And everyone I know is trying to drink less. And I was looking for options and really didn't see anything that spoke to me. I think you teed that up really nicely in your intro, right? So there's a lot of non-alc that can look like juice, really expensive juice and it's high in sugar and doesn't really deliver what you're looking for.

[4:25] And then there's a whole bevy of functionals that you're just not sure what it even means. So I'm really excited about getting into that today because I've been looking into this for two years. I mean, I'm by no means like the foremost expert, but I have thought about this like every day for two years. So excited to chat through what I've learned. But in any case, it really came from a place of burnout where I was saying, "This isn't working." Everyone I know is so stressed out and really tired. So what could I do?

[4:55] What could I put out in the world that makes you feel less tired and less stressed? And so that's what Hightail is all about is real relaxation and a little lift. You know, you mentioned entrepreneur and I was also in that internal innovation space for a long time. Now that I'm on my own as well, I like think of the term entrepreneur and I scoff a little bit too because I'm like, it's sort of like being an entrepreneur, but with no consequences. Training wheels. Yeah. You get that nice salary in 401(k) and all those things.

[5:27] But wouldn't train it. It's hard. Yeah. Yes. That's awesome. So tell me, you know, so you were exposed to a lot of different things. And, you know, I quit drinking. It's been almost 10, I mean, seven, eight years. And partly because one, it hurt a lot more as you get older. Second, I just wasn't the best person when I drank because I like to get it on too. I'd be like, all right, I'm on three.

[5:54] How about four? Let's keep going. And so it has been, there is a lot of like early on, you know, 10 years ago even, it was just juice. It was like crap stuff. And now there's actual spirits that are almost, they have like pepper and other things and they actually give a little bit of spice, but they almost, they're almost legit, right? I would say they were getting closer and closer. What made you want to go into this space? Because it really, you've kind of, it seems like you're going in after the female market a little bit more than.

[6:23] Yeah, I think for certain, the THC side of my business, I think is more female forward because it's all about that micro dose of THC. And that's CBG. So I think anybody could enjoy it, but women, I think have so much on their plate specifically and you know, the mental load and all that. So I think the idea of just like stoning out and having like a 10 milligram drink is not a thing for us as much. And I think dads are the same way, but people have different tolerances of any gender.

[6:54] So I just saw the biggest gap in the market towards women like us because the current options are pretty bro-y. It's a little bit California surfer dude, Cheech and Chong, Snoop Dogg, like these are real brands, which got less, but not, I don't think they're, you know, I think they would agree that they're not tailored. That's a goal. So you saw a lot of things that when you were an entrepreneur, I shouldn't say this, entrepreneurs are no quotes.

[7:23] When you were an entrepreneur, what made you, what did you see happening in beverages specifically that made you, and I'm going to crack one of these because like, oh yeah, right now I love that. I'm also having a halo because I have one every afternoon. Okay. So I can like power through the slide gap. I've got both. I've got in lava, high tail, double fist. The halo and the I did. I was excited coconut pomegranate yuzu. So it's cocoa.

[7:50] It's chocolate. Cocoa. Thank you. So here we go. That one. Think of like a sexy little like espresso martini or a nightcap kind of vibe. Okay. I'm excited to try this one. So tell me while I dive into this, the beverage space, what made you, I can smell it. It's awesome. I agree. What made you want to get into the beverage space and this specific space in beverages? Yeah, again, I think as a huge wine person that was struggling to enjoy wine the same way, I was looking for that same occasion.

[8:23] So five o'clock still comes. I still have to cook dinner for my kids and do all the things. And I don't want to release that ritual. I want something that signifies the end of your kind of nine to five and the start of your second shift as mom. And so again, I didn't see anything out there that was like had a great mouth feel and was beautiful on the palate and kind of gave that effect also of that, you know, when you have your first glass of wine, you're just like, you know, and then so I was chasing that feeling.

[8:54] So how can I create that for others? And that's when I got very excited about drinkable hemp THC, because I think the distribution capability of hemp THC, meaning you could get it at the grocery store or, you know, just on my website kind of de-stigmatizes it and makes it just a drink. Right. So I've never been like a big weed person. That's not my MO. And it's not really not a weed brand. It's just trying to chase that impact of lightning your load for you and making you less tired so you can enjoy your life.

[9:27] Yeah. Well, the whole category of functional drinks, non-alcoholic feels like it kind of just exploded. What do you think is is dry? Like I've heard even like younger, younger millennials and I don't know what I forget what all the different generations are, but they're not drinking as much. Right. Which some of that's great. What do you think is driving all of this like non-alcoholic functional sort of theme that we're seeing?

[9:56] Yeah, I think there's cultural reasons and then there's like science reasons. So first maybe nerdier, but the science reason is well, of course, the loophole in the Ag bill that made hemp THC legal. That is a big thing. But then second, the science of nanoemulsification really brought this to the forefront because previously if you tried to drink THC, which is the psychoactive component of the cannabis plant or the hemp plant, it would float on top in distillate form and it's disgusting.

[10:30] And you would just like it's like drinking Bong water. Like why? Why? And so it would be like oily top kind of a thing. Yeah, it would just like it wouldn't boil in water. You know, so nanoemulsification, you know, when you make a salad dressing and you emulsify it, so you mix together your vinegar and oil, you know, those pretty little gobbules you get where they've sort of merged. That's what happens on a microscopic level in a nanoemulsified THC beverage. So if you're using the good stuff, it will kind of disperse all throughout the drink and you have a really easy, even drinking experience and it's undetectable in taste and scent if you want it to be.

[11:09] There's others that add the terpenes and make it taste more like weed because some people are looking for that. I am not. Got it. So that is I think why it exploded. It's like, oh, these actually can taste really good. Where previously that wasn't a thing. And I think culturally when there's awareness, right? Like, I think we just all went out and drank and everybody did. And there was so much like marketing pushed at us to do that. And, you know, moms, wine, juice, we were doing that.

[11:36] And I think there's a real shift towards intentionality. So I don't think it's so much that they never drink because if you look at the percentage of sales of non-alc and THC in those categories, almost 80 percent still also drink alcohol. So it's not like a huge prohibition vibe. I think it's just what we see is a lot of zebra striping. So maybe you'll have a cocktail or a glass of wine and then you'll have a high tail and then maybe you'll go back and you'll have a little Aperol spritz or something like it's up to you.

[12:08] So I think people are just more interested in choosing for themselves versus kind of accepting a status quo of what they they were told they should be doing. Plus you feel better in the morning. So yeah, and I think people are really into health and wellness, right? So I don't know about you, but I'm like getting up early to go play tennis or I've just started doing lagree. And that is brutal. Oh, my God. I call it torture Pilates. It's great. It is really, really hard, like keeping your muscles under tension for like 55 minutes with the modified.

[12:41] What's it called? Reformer machine. I'll get back into that. But I dare you to do that hungover because it's not a thing, not a thing. So, yeah, I think a lot of people want to get up and go on a hike or like do other things that are social in a different way. And it's not in a way. I think that's beautiful because they're moving a lot of social activities up to the daytime. Like you don't have to just go out at 10 p.m. to meet friends. You can like meet them at eight for coffee or a functional beverage after lunch.

[13:11] Well, there was a point where, you know, when I was in the corporate world and especially like the you know, that you get to like an executive level and there is like the after work sort of happy hour thing. And I always felt like I was making people because I didn't want to drink because I sometimes have to get on a plane and I would get panic attacks if I was super hungovers. I hate that feeling of like being panic attack and you get on a plane. Not a good combo for people that are like high, highly anxious or whatever.

[13:41] Right. And so I just was like, I just don't want to drink. But I felt like I was making other people uncomfortable by not drinking, you know. And so I would do little tricks like get a soda water and put haven't put a lime in it just so other people would feel like I was with them and not make them feel like they had to be guarded. Right. With what they were saying or whatever. So I love having options now that things like I can now go to a restaurant and get a non-alcoholic beverage. At the table and have it look like a real beautiful beverage and not have it look like I'm drinking, you know, Diet Coke. Right. No shade on Diet Coke, whatever.

[14:17] No, but totally. It just feels like you didn't want to be a killjoy. You're just trying to choose for yourself. And I think that's right. Like people just thought you were pregnant. If you. They'd be like, oh, so I see if you would like hide and pretend and get your soda water. Right. Yeah. And I hated that part of it because I was like, I still want to hang out and talk with people. I still want to feel like, you know, and not make them feel guarded. Like, oh, we're all having a drink and we can relax and actually be humans now. But like there really wasn't a lot of options, you know, five years ago, 10 years ago.

[14:48] And now I feel I feel like that is changing. I can definitely feel that changing. I think on premise, that's still not as much as I wish because I do like because I still drink just much less in frequency and volume than I used to. But when I do drink, it's because I don't have a little bit more of a drink to a restaurant and they don't have. They don't have like a little goes to drink or a functional that'll just because you do want to let loose a little bit. You want to have some kind of effect. At least for me. And some people don't. And that's cool, too.

[15:16] Like I think it's all about you choose. Choose your own adventure. Like if you're fully people are super, super sober and they're really dedicated to that. And that's amazing. And that's also partially why I made Hightail Halo, where it's just innocent and there's nothing naughty or addictive or psychoactive about it. Right. Right. Because that's if that's your vibe, that's great. And then I have the original Hightail with the micro dose of THC. If you really want to feel a little effect and that's CBG, which really brings calm and focus and a little boost of energy to the brain.

[15:47] So that one's a little more social. And that just makes me feel more relaxed, which I can't do on a mocktail. Yeah, that's fair. So when you see functional beverage on something, you know, tell me, you know, you have you've been dedicated to like clean ingredients and things like it's eyes look at, you know, and I guess I never even thought about that. I would see adaptogen on something or I don't even know if I'm saying this right. Nootropic, nootropic. I see nootropics.

[16:15] Nootropics. I like that, too. Nootropics. So when you see that, you automatically think, well, this is healthy. This is good. This is a word that means health, but not always. Right. Like there's hitting things in. Yes. Right. Well, I think also there's so much ingredient stacking as to be a bit of a dog's breakfast. Or like, what is this? And does any of it have sufficient concentration to even make me feel anything? So to me, healthy is natural. Like the closer to a plant or a natural forming thing is probably what our body wants. Not a bunch of like chemicals that someone, you know, cooked up in a lab. So yeah, I think some of the energy category, for example, I would never have those drinks, like 200 milligrams of caffeine. So I would just like have a panic attack. Yeah.

[17:03] Speaking of not wanting to be on a plane on a substance or they'll have like 17 ingredients and they say that's isn't that so great? It's going to do, you know, the sun and the moon and and change your tires and wash your dishes. I'm like, I don't know. That strains credulity to me. And so I really wanted to look at ingredients that are have a history of clinical research to suggest that they actually work and then just keep it simple. And again, I'm laser focused on feeling relaxed and feeling a little more energized. And I don't think anything else out there does both. Quick break. This episode is brought to you by Vitality Growth Labs. If you're a health or wellness practice and you're wondering why your phone isn't ringing in the way it should Vitality Growth Labs builds the systems to fix that. Get found, build trust, fill your calendar, AI authority stacking, videos that connect with your clients, real tools,

[17:55] strategy and execution that results in real revenue. Visit VitalityGrowthLabs.com or check the provider directory at VitalityGrowthLabs.com slash the directory to find a trusted wellness provider near you. All right. Back to the show. So tell me a little bit about this ingredient stacking in the dosage because I guess I haven't thought about that either. So when you think about or you see a can and you're looking at it and you see like how do you tell what the dosage is going to, how do you know if the dosage is going to work?

[18:25] Yeah, you often don't. And so that's why I like simple. So again, for me, so for talking about Halo, I have two ingredients, right on the adaptogen. And one is just a mineral or excuse me, a vitamin. So yeah, I, again, because I'm trying to go for calming and focus and a little boost of energy, L-theanine was the ingredient that stood out to me.

[18:52] And L-theanine is a compound that is found in green tea. So this is something we've known as healthy for us for thousands of years, right? People have been drinking green tea because it has health benefits. And there's been studies since 1950 on L-theanine to suggest like, hey, especially with a little bit of caffeine, this really energizes the brain in a way that brings focus. And so adaptogens work with your body's stress response and help balance that out.

[19:25] And so that's really what I was looking for. And they also compound over time is like they help overall become healthier and better at managing your stress. So I really love that. Because this is something not only that helps you today, but like as you continue to use it, you just become, your body becomes better able to adapt. It's right there. And so I love that. And then of course, vitamin B12 is essential for our energy and is so good for us. But we mostly just get that from diet. And so particularly meat and dairy have high concentrations of B12. So if you're a vegetarian or you're vegan, it's very likely that you would be deficient. And you know, everybody that gets the flu, they go and get a B12 shot or they get like a B12 drip because it just really helps you feel yourself again. Okay, so adaptogens, you said are more like stress

[20:18] response and help your body to adapt. That's right. What's the note? What's it you said, no tropics? Yeah, so no tropics are all about cognition. And they're more immediate term. So those are things like lion's mane or reishi or Guayasa that immediately help with brain function in different ways. You know, a lot of drinks will have like magnesium or things like that in them because they're more calming and but those are like really calming. Like I would put that almost in the sedating category.

[20:51] Okay. So that's like your nighttime do before you go to bed, which is not where I wanted Hightail to live if that makes sense. Yeah, my whole point is like, you can have one and keep on trucking. It's not going to take you out of the game because we got too much to do. So the halo is more so this one is more has L-theanine and the vitamin B12. This is more energy, adaptogens, helping you deal with stress, and give you a little boost of energy. 100%. So L-theanine with caffeine kind of focuses the brain too. So I don't know about you, but I have that hamster wheel going sometimes. And I just find that I can like crank what I love about it is it's very subtle. So if I have an energy drink or like a third coffee, then I'm like, you know, I'm like tweaking out. Yes, my mind's racing. Maybe I'm like, I'm not tired, but I'm like, am I productive and focused,

[21:43] right? And I think especially in perimenopause, you know, with brain fog and the things that are happening. I love L-theanine because it just brings focus and you can just get shit done. So how much L-theanine do you need? So each high-tail halo has 50 milligrams, which is about what you need for the day. And it also has 100% of your recommended daily B12. So I really wanted to get you everything that you needed. A lot of people take a supplement, which is great. Your body absorbs supplements differently than the beverage. So you can see for you what works best. But I do love L-theanine as an ingredient.

[22:20] I think however you can get it in your body, you should. Well, and it's interesting you say that because I've interviewed a lot of functional medicine providers and they also love L-theanine. So I see that on the shelves of most of those functional medicine clinics. So that resonates. What are the things you'd mentioned clean? What do you see in a lot of, we'll just take the halo, just because we're talking about adaptogens and energy. What do you see in a lot of energy drinks that gave you pause? You're like, I definitely don't want that in mind.

[22:53] Yeah, I don't have one in front of me. And I think part of the challenge is that you can't remember what it is and you can't pronounce it. So there's a lot of X's and Y's and Z's in it, and it's not a word. So if you turn it around and you're like, I've never heard of that substance before, I can't pronounce it. And I don't know what it is. To me, that is not clean. So we're simple. We just have naturally derived ingredients, the B12, the L-theanine, a little fruit juice for color and flavor. And that's it.

[23:25] And organic cane sugar. Again, a lot of people like chemical sugars because they'll have lower calories or they can say they're no calorie. But to me, again, I don't trust that. I think that confuses the body and I would much rather have real organic cane sugar that the body knows how to process rather than alternatives, which we don't. So let's move on to the, the C- so CBG, THC, that those, those are the things in the, this one is really good, by the way, the cocoa.

[23:56] Hey, do you love it? The cocoa pomegranate use it. That's my favorite. Yeah. Well, and when I read it online, I was kind of like, well, I don't even know what Yuzu is, it's in a lot of things now. Yeah. It's an Asian citrus. It's really beautiful. It's like much less aggressive than like a lemon or lime or orange. It's like a subtle, delicious citrus flavor. It's amazing. I wasn't sure when I ordered it. I was like, this could be great or it could be dicey, but it's, it's, and what the black tea, I think that's what you have in all of them.

[24:26] That's the, that's no, the black tea is only in the strawberry hibiscus tea. Okay. But I do have real chocolate from Ghana in there. And it's got bright pomegranate and then just a little hint of Yuzu. So it's not too sweet. It has a little balance. Yeah. That must be the, that must be the magic here. So tell me, because I see a lot of THC drinks, you know, and I, you know, I went to college, so I'm familiar and I'm like, okay. The drinks now, like some of them are 25. I've seen a 50 milligram.

[25:01] Well, so they go up to a hundred plus. So I would be weird function on that. Well, not to be a downer, but there are certain use cases like cancer patients or military vets with PTSD that need like a lot to counteract what they've got going on. Okay. So God bless. If you want to mainline at a hundred milligrams and that's your situation, great. I would be in the hospital for two days on fluids because I wouldn't be able to function and I would probably freak out. Yeah.

[25:30] That's way, way, way too strong. So for me, you know, we all have our own endocannabinoid system in our bodies and that helps us regulate our hormones. It's great. And so I think that's why there's so much excitement around the cannabis plan in general, because as it is rescheduled, we'll be able to study these things definitively. And there'll be a lot more medical uses because it's pretty great. That said, some people are just naturally more sensitive to it than others. Okay. And so I would start low and slow, right? And some people tell you that's a 10. I will tell you, I can't finish a five without like, I literally can't read a cookbook or I can't. I was like, can you order pizza? I'm like, I cannot. I've made myself so dumb at this time that I cannot read. Yeah. Yeah. So I had not, I mean, my first one, my first drink I

[26:24] had tried was a few years ago and we were on a, you know, on location. It was in the evening and I grabbed like what was available and they, it was like a restaurant, right? We were on the East coast and it was 10 milligrams and I was out in my mind. Yeah. That's a lot. I don't want to do this. Like I don't even, I used to, like I went to college. I know what this is supposed to be like. This is not like that. And it freaked me out for a long time. Two things. Canvas is not like it was when we were in college. It is much, much, much stronger. So they've just kind of purified the strains and God knows what we were getting to back then. It was not so much fully tested, invented like it is now in the, in the regulated is a good thing. Right. So that's one.

[27:11] And then I think it is a huge risk to the category and a huge disservice to customers to just have a number on there without context and sell it. Cause you don't, how would you know what that means? And in drinking alcohol, for example, if we're going to call it 10 milligram, like maybe like a New Orleans, like hurricane or something, there's a lot of green alcohol in there, but to watch out, right? Yeah. But if you have too much, your body will get rid of it.

[27:39] Right. So we throw up. That's not true in THC. It just goes right down the hatch and then you're, you're affected until you're not. And so that can be a multi-day period. And I think that's unfair to the customer to have, to have that strong of impact and potency with no context as this is a new and emerging category. So I do think regulation will help with that. We'll see if that comes out and tell 10 milligrams or five milligrams. I know there's different opinions on this and I am constantly told in social media how, you know, I am wrong and I can't feel anything and I should definitely have a 10, but you know, we know our bodies and, and they know theirs. So if you, if you look at strong potency, you have at it.

[28:29] I cannot hang. So that's what Hightail's for. It's to welcome people. Also, I have people that are like hardcore smokers that just like it. They're like, it's fun to have a drink instead. And they're like, I like that it's low dose because I would prefer to smoke. I'm not trying to get high from your drink. I just enjoy having a social beverage and it's light enough where I can have many if I should feel so inclined. And then also the CBG, I think really does make a difference. So I know a lot of people that say they feel the CBG more than the THC because it is such a low dose.

[29:01] So yours is a 1.5 milligrams. Yes. So I always, I've talked to like over a thousand women at this point and a lot of men who tell me that they bite a five milligram gummy in half and that's their night. So they really like to be at about that two and a half milligrams. And so I made Hightail one half milligrams so that you can have two. Because if you're out in a social setting who wants to have one drink, you call it a night, like you kind of want that second bevy. And that's, that's the vibe.

[29:29] And it's really funny because it's not like alcohol, like your size and your metabolism really have nothing to do with it. It's just like I said, that I know cannabinoid system where you're like, my husband's huge. She played football at Northwestern. He was the offensive lineman and he's like as lightweight as I am on the THC side. Oh, that's interesting. But you don't want to get into like a beer drinking competition with him. Right. It's a different thing. So you can't think about it like as you were talking, I was like, so there's like Michelob ultra light, right?

[30:03] Yeah. I don't think, you know, like a lot of women drink that one is like less calories or whatever. But it's also, I think, I don't know if you can drink as it's still a beer, but it feels like it's less than very low ABB, right? So they'll get into like the 2.5% ABB. So it's mostly water. It's like a hot water at that point. Okay. So as you're, so I was trying to make an equivalent in this way, in this way to like what a high tail might be if it's like a McUltra, but to me, I say it's the Rose all day, right? So I drink Rose because it's more like 4% ABB. So I can have two or three over a period of a couple hours and be fine.

[30:40] Whereas if I'm even a darker, like red wine, let alone the tannins and the sulfites and such, I I'll get much more drunk. So those could be like 9%. So you can have like more than two Rosés for the one red in many cases. Got it. Okay. Let's talk about the CBG because this gets super confusing to me. As a there's like Delta 9, Delta 8, all these different Delta things, there's CBG, CBD, and that's where I'm just like, I'm out. This is like, it's so confusing. Yes. So first, the Deltas never have Delta 8. That was like a previous iteration of when they were trying to make him THC more like cannabis THC.

[31:28] Okay. So that is like not, it's not a good product. There's no need, no need. Everything should be Delta 9. Delta 9 is the chemical compound of cannabis THC. And then the hemp derived THC is able to create that same compound with science. So those, that is what Delta 9 means. I think people use it in a lot of different ways. And people always ask me that I'm like, any THC is Delta 9 as I understand it. It can be derived from hemp, it can be derived from the cannabis plant, but molecularly that is Delta 9. So don't worry about it is what I'm saying. Okay.

[32:02] It should all be Delta 9. If you see Delta 8 run in my head, don't do that. And then the cannabis plant and the hemp plant have like 10,000 components to them. There are so many cannabinoids and we don't know much about so many of them because they'll have slight traces, right? But what's so exciting about that is they do different things for your body. CBD is by far the most prevalent and CBD is the non-psychoactive component of the plant, meaning it does not make you high.

[32:37] It's great. It has anti-inflammatory properties, anti-anxiety, but it is associated with sleep. So if you're having trouble sleeping, I think having like a CBD tincture is such a good idea. I used to do that, especially postpartum. I couldn't sleep. I'd be like so stressed and I would just take a little CBD tincture and that would be enough to calm me down and I could sleep. That said, that's not what I wanted in a social experience. When I've tried some of my competitor's drinks, they're very high in CBD and they just make me kind of comatose. It's like earth to Anna. I'm just staring at a wall. Not even because I'm stoned, it just slows me down. It's like turn the volume down. The first time I went and had two, two and a half milligram THC drinks in California. Then I

[33:30] was talking to my husband on the phone and he was like, "Anna, I can't." I was like, "What?" He's like, "You're on like half speed." I was like, "I can't talk to you anymore. You have to go to bed." It was like, "Fair." But I don't like that feeling. Some people do. That's fine. But for me, I don't like feeling like I'm not a pleasure to speak with because I can't form a coach in thought. That is how CBD me. Other people love it. It's amazing topically as well.

[33:59] Especially my mom, her generation, rub some CBD cream on arthritic spots. It's incredible. By no means am I CBD hater, but I think it sucks for a social beverage. It doesn't make sense to me because it just makes me so tired. Then CBG, they call the mother cannabinoid. It is a cousin, think of it. It also has no psychoactive components, so it doesn't make you high. But it's associated with, again, anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety. They're studying it in IBS.

[34:34] There's all these wonderful things about it. My favorite part about it is it gives a little boost. Most of the cannabis plant gives an effect that's a little bit more sedating. CBG gives a little energy and lift and also some focus. Again, I think I told you this before we got on, but it helps me be a better mom because it just hones me in a little bit. That external noise turns off. My son will be like, "Can I tell you more about Magic the Gathering?" I'll be like, "Let's go." You know what I mean? Because otherwise I'm like, "Oh, I've got to do the dishes." I'm unloading and I'm cleaning and I'm doing this. I'm not with him necessarily. It does help me be more present in my life, which is my favorite thing about it. I think you had mentioned earlier

[35:25] when you have wine, or back in the day for me still, when you have wine or a cocktail or whatever, you're like, "I should probably have four or five of these." You know what I mean? It just keeps in that part of your brain, which is like, "Let's go." With THC drinks, it really does not do that. I've been surprised having been consuming high tails most days for over a year. If I'm home by myself, I'll have one and I'm like, "I'm set. I feel great." It would be good for my business, to have people want more, but I think it's good for your life and your body to just feel like, "I feel really good and I'm set." Well, maybe you could develop some accompanying knitting kits or something. You're just chilling. Yeah.

[36:12] Lock in and maybe you can sell some specialty Magic the Gathering sets. Yes. My God. I would be such a hero to my son if I did that. Like a collab or something. Yes. I love that. You said a word that, again, you said cannabinoid. Canavanoid. How do you say that? I'd say cannabinoid. All right. I'm not an expert on pronunciation. Yeah, me either. I don't want to get eaten alive by the internet, but that's how I do it. If you're watching this and you say something, you can correct us in the comments.

[36:45] Tell me, you said how many can have... Like 10,000. What do they all do? What is it? Everything's different. They're just components. There's molecular structures in the plant. There's lots of them. Another really popular one is CBN. That one is specifically for sleep. If you see a gummy, there are some drinks that have it too. CBN is really beautiful for sleep. And then there's one called THCV. And that one is newer. So a lot of excitement coming out of that.

[37:16] Allegedly, it is like an appetite suppressant and gives a lot of energy. So I was excited about the energy part of it. But yes, it's technically designated. It is chemically derived a bit and they process it. So I couldn't make the claims of being clean and natural with THCV. And also there's some states that don't allow it. So that one is harder to find, but you'll find it in certain states. And there's a lot of promise with what it could be used for. So have they just taken the plant, like you've got a tea, let's say you have a marijuana plant, right? And then synthetically isolated each of these compounds and then just menu like, so, okay, so this is CBG.

[38:02] We think that this, we know that this does this. Everything now has CBG in it or CBB in it or whatever. That's exactly right. Okay. So CBD is the most prevalent and it was the easiest to get. So that's where we started. And hemp is a great farming plant. It grows everywhere. It cleans the soil. It was actually like part of our founding fathers. They almost put hemp in there because they're popular plants. Of course they weren't taking any THC out of it, but it's a plentiful native plant to the United States. And yeah, so they've been taking things out of it. You made it rope, you made it shirts. And then also like what else could it be?

[38:41] Right? So like many natural plants, there was medicinal uses and the CBD was the first wave of that. And then there's just so much more to be learned. So I'm excited to see what's next. So let's say you're walking down the grocery store aisle and there's like spirits, beer, wine, cocktails, functional drinks, THC, CB, your options, the ones with no no nootropics, nootropics, adaptogens. How do you choose what to buy? How would you help a consumer navigate that?

[39:16] Yeah, I think ideally you explain like a mood or a vibe to them because I don't think they should have to learn this. Like it's a lot. I don't want you to have to think about it. That sucks. So when that's why, again, I'm really trying to hone in on a mood and indication, right? So Hightail Halo is your 2pm coffee swap. It gives you calm focus and energy and a can. That's it. Do you need to know about adaptogens or vitamins? No, you do not. Just try it. If you're looking for those feelings, try it. See how it feels for your body. Same thing with Hightail Infused. I don't care if you know what THC or CBG are.

[39:52] Think about that as your 5pm wine or beer swap. And that is a recent moment for you between the chaos of your day and the joyful chaos of your evening. Again, that should bring relaxation and lift. That's it. So if you want relaxation and lift, think Hightail. Like I don't care if you know what CBG is. Does that make sense? Yeah. So I think we should do a better. We're being too led, I think, as a category with the ingredients and that's weird. So if I'm Tito's vodka, I don't say like potatoes, let me tell you about them. That's weird.

[40:24] Because no one cares, right? You just want a martini or whatever, a gimlet. You don't want to know about the component ingredients of ethanol. I would agree. They have made it very confusing. And I think part of that is on purpose because as a consumer, there's people like me who are like, what's this? I haven't heard of this. I'm going to buy that and see if it does something for me. Right? Yes. I think there's a lot of marketing buzzword bingo kind of. And I don't like that. I like it to keep it clean and simple. And I think we should be honest with customers about what we do or don't do for you. Let me read a few statements to you and you can react to them and tell me what you think. Okay. So here's statement number one. THC drinks and CBD drinks are basically the same thing.

[41:10] Zero percent. True. CBD, again, has no psychoactive effect. So you will not feel high. You might feel relaxed, but with THC, you should feel like a bit of an intoxicating feeling. Okay. If it says functional or adaptogen, it's good for you. I don't think so. I think, listen, any of the ingredients that are functional or adaptogenic are certainly not bad for you. Right. But what else is in there?

[41:43] Because there could be a lot of preservatives or kind of inorganic odd components. So just check your labels. Again, if you see some X's and Y's and Z's, it's probably not clean. How do you leave it on the shelf? Okay. Non-alcoholic drinks are mostly sugary soda for grownups. I think that was true. I think a lot of brands are really doing interesting stuff and a lot are kind of merging with functionals. So there are functional spirits and things that are trying to give some effect. So there's a lot out there.

[42:17] I don't dabble too much in that because I kind of like my evening to the evening and I would rather have a THC beverage than a zero proof functional. But again, it's choose your own adventure. If you're someone that's like fully sober, I think like ritual, little saints, there's some really great brands that have beautiful products that they really try to emulate like the flavor of gin. If you love gin, I again, I think because I still drink, I would just rather have the real deal if I'm going there.

[42:49] But also even non-alcoholic wines and stuff, I think low and no alc has been, it's really come a long way. They've done a lot with the science to get that to taste better and not just be grape juice. And I think some are really balanced. I'm friends with the founder of Oceano wines. So she makes like gorgeous non-alcoholic wines that tasting indistinguishable from full out. So it kind of depends again on what you're looking for and what treats you right. And I think you can blend all these categories into your life kind of organically.

[43:22] It doesn't have to be, you know, black or white. All or nothing. I agree. All right. A THC beverage hits the same as an edible. Oh, I love this question. No. And that's the best thing about drinking THC. So if you have a properly produced nano emulsified THC beverage, it's absorbed into the body right away. So you'll feel the effects between like eight and 15 minutes for a lot of things. I know for mine. And then it fades in about an hour. So it's much more analogous to drinking alcohol than it is to a gummy. Gummies take 90 to 240 minutes to hit peak efficacy. And then you're on that ride until you're not. So to me, you have much less agency and control when consuming a gummy than you do when you have a drink. And I don't, like I said, my whole premise of my company is that

[44:13] we don't have time to check out, nor do I really want to. Yeah. I think the other risk with gummies is that because it takes so long to feel it, people often have a second and then they get themselves in trouble. Yes. And that's actually when I mentioned the first time I had the 10 milligram drink, I was like, oh, you know, I was like, I don't feel anything. And then I just slammed it. And that was not the right thing. Especially at the higher potencies, I think given it five, 10 minutes, see how you feel, maybe 20 minutes, see how you feel. It's the right move.

[44:47] All right. More milligrams means a better product. No, I think this is so funny. I'm so glad you brought that up. That is how the category is perceived from a value perception. And it makes no sense to me. Because if you use alcohol as an allegory, you know, rubbing alcohol is not the most expensive thing at the grocery store. Champagne has a lot less alcohol in it than, you know, beer. But why do we pay $100 for Dom Perignon? You know, it doesn't make sense to me. It has nothing to do with the cost. THC emulsion is actually very inexpensive. In other words, like my one and a half versus my 10, if I were to produce a 10, would have almost no impact on my cost of goods sold. Like segments of pennies. So that doesn't make sense. The reason drinks cost different amounts is the quality of their input. So

[45:40] because I'm using all natural things and I have to do tunnel pasteurization, it just costs a little bit more versus, you know, I could pump some chemicals in there and have a much cheaper beverage for you. But I don't want to. That makes sense. Quality always costs a little bit more. If you've if someone has been, you know, curious, but they are like, they're scared because they feel like a THC. Maybe they have never smoked pot or they're not very familiar with with the THC industry. They're curious, but they're a little nervous.

[46:12] How would you help them kind of feel more comfortable? Or what would you tell them to do if they're curious about trying a high tail? Yes. So I think high tail is the right place to start. I'm the lowest that I know of out in the market. And I would say take your time. So I do have customers where I'm like, why don't you pour yourself like a little wine glass, like half of a high tail and just drink that for 20 minutes and see what's going on. And I really don't think that's going to be overpowered. Like that was never my point. I think on your first high tail, again, you feel the CBG more. But I just was at a tasting last week and the woman came in with a big glass of wine and then I did my little spiel and I tasted her on all the high tails. And she was like, I feel fantastic. She's like, I did not drink my wine.

[46:54] She had probably like three quarters of an high tail. And she was just like, I feel it. Like I feel good. So you never know. And I'm like, can I have a 10 please? This feels like nothing. So just, you won't know until you try it. I do have a friend that has never tried cannabis and she doesn't feel them. And she could probably hang with a five or a 10. Because again, you're just naturally have that, that higher tolerance. Yeah. Okay. Well, for people who've been curious now, we've been chatting for a little bit, where can they find you? How do you, can you order high tail in every state? I think you can, but tell us, tell us how to connect with you, how to order a high tail and what's your favorite flavors. So sip high tail.com is my primary source, but I am in 12 accounts around the Chicagoland area and I'm trying to get into chain retail. So more to come on that.

[47:46] For high tail halo are uninfused skew that is launching on Amazon imminently. So please check you will get it in two days. It's on prime. So that'll be really exciting. And then my favorite flavor, like I said, Coco pomegranate Yuzu is my favorite. Cause I think it is the most unique. So I don't think you will have tried anything like it. I think it is so delicious and indulgent without being overpowering and it's still refreshing and light. And it surprises me every time. So I think it drinks most like a wine in it kind of opens up and blooms as you drink it and you get a different kind of flavor experience every time you go back to it. What I do love about it, and I mean, obviously you're not paying me or anything. I'm saying this because I have tried it and I enjoy it.

[48:37] I tried a different brand and it was like really syrupy and sweet. So I've tasted a few that are like really heavily like sugared. And this tastes, it tastes light. It tastes like a lightly, like a tea almost with a little bit of sugar. I know this one doesn't have tea. It's the Coco flavor, but it's a light drink. It's not like I'm overpowered. Like feel like I'm just ingesting a ton of sugar. So I love that about it.

[49:08] The other thing that I noticed, cause I always noticed when women design things, we always, we look at the details, it opens from the top. Like this is great. I love that. It's really easy to open and close. Yeah. You don't have to rip it open. No glass cutters needed. With a six pack or like a six pack of beer or something, you gotta rip it open. So there's always a little detail that I think that, um, we may not, I mean men notice details too, but I, I just feel like when you make things for other women, like we notice those little things that are like, Ooh, like little delights. Um, so I think it's too much for saying that.

[49:41] Yeah. I really wanted to do the 12 ounce test. Um, do you remember the Coke and Pepsi challenge? Yeah. In the 90s. So that was a coup on Pepsi's part, because if you have two ounces of Pepsi, everybody liked it better than Coke. But if you have 12 ounces, everybody likes the Coke better than Pepsi, of course not everybody, but you understand the statisticity. Um, because Pepsi and by the end you were like, it's like cloyingly sweet. It's too much. Um, and I was very conscious of that and designing Hightail. I really, one, I wanted to keep it 60 calories or less, because I want you to be able to have two for the calories of a glass of wine. Um, but secondly, just, I wanted it to be yummy and refreshing and, um, delicious without being like too sweet.

[50:27] Yeah. I love it. Well, it's great. Thank you. Thank you for being on the show. This has been an episode because, and it's just the whole industry is so confusing, I think, to a lot of us that I really appreciate that you helped to kind of break, break that down for us and explain what all these things mean. So thank you so much, Anna. Such a pleasure. It flew by. Yeah. And so fun to have like women building great things. So I love, I love highlighting that. And if you are interested, we'll put all the links to Anna's products, um, and Sip Hightail in the notes. So go ahead. If you're and you'll be able to see all of those, uh, links and you can correct us on any of our pronunciation too. So if we do that, if it's how much I'm applying, I'm sure.

[51:12] Thank you so much again. Thank you, Melissa. Hey, that's our show. If someone came to mind while you were listening to this, if you thought, Hey, my sister needs to hear this, or I should send this to my mom or my buddy would get a lot out of this, please share it with them. Just hit the share button and send it their way. You never know what one conversation, one episode, or one piece of information can do for someone who's been looking for answers. And if you haven't subscribed yet, please do it now. It takes two seconds. It's free. And it means you won't miss an episode.

[51:41] We've got incredible stuff coming up and I don't want you to miss any of it. And if you're a health or wellness provider and you want to be on the show, we'd love to hear from you. There's a link in the show notes to get in touch. We're always looking for people doing interesting work. Who want to share what they know. And one last thing, I get asked all the time about the products and brands I actually use. So I put together a list of sponsors and favorite products that have worked for me and my family. If you're curious, that link is in the show notes too. Thank you for being here. And I really mean that I'm a list of Goodwin. The line is open. See you next time.