Where To Find CBD-Infused Cocktails and Beverages in Austin
Discover Austin bars and cafes serving creative drinks made with CBD, from cocktails and mocktails to tea and coffee
For those who want to celebrate 4/20 in style or just want to enjoy a beverage to relax after a long work day, a well-executed cocktail or latte infused with CBD is a real treat. Luckily, plenty of Austin bars, restaurants and cafes recognize CBD’s value as a calming ingredient, and they’re playing around with this hemp product in unique and exciting ways. We’ve rounded up seven spots that serve their own CBD-laced cocktails and coffees, along with three prime places to find refreshing canned drinks with a touch of hemp.
For CBD drinks made by bartenders and baristas, check out:
Summer House on Music Lane
The chic yet relaxed all-day restaurant at the Hotel Magdalena is always a great choice for beautiful surroundings, fresh New American eats, and engaging cocktails, but they’ve recently become very CBD-curious in the best possible way. This year (on 4/20, of course), Summer House on Music Lane will launch “High Tea,” a CBD-infused daytime tea service held from 4:20 to 7 p.m. on the third Sunday of each month. The $65 service includes CBD-infused tea, a glass of sparkling wine and a variety of snacks such as potato-chip chocolate chip cookies, PB&J pudding and chili cheese gougeres. Guests can also order CBD cocktails à la carte, including drinks like Willie’s Stash—made with matcha, lion’s mane mushroom extract, blue spirulina and CBD-infused lavender syrup—and Golden Hour, featuring gin, iced chamomile tea, lemon and a chamomile “preroll.”
Cosmic Pickle & Cosmic Saltillo
Those looking for laidback energy and top-notch drinks, the Cosmic mini-empire (which currently includes Cosmic Pickle in South Austin and Cosmic Saltillo in East Austin) is always the right move. So it’s no surprise that these spacious indoor-outdoor bars eagerly embrace CBD and offer 20-milligram CBD add-ons to any of their cocktails or coffee beverages. We especially like to add CBD to The GiGi, Cosmic’s N/A cocktail with adaptogen-loaded seltzer, grapefruit, lemon and mint.
Stargazer
In a few short months, Stargazer has become a smash hit on Springdale Road thanks to its enormous open-air dining space, its family-friendly energy, its tasty food trucks and its impressive coffee and cocktail programs. But Stargazer has no intention of stopping there. They’re also ardent CBD enthusiasts who want to help their customers enjoy this botanical product in as many ways as possible, which is why they allow guests to add CBD to any mocktail or coffee beverage or to swap it in for alcohol in any of their cocktails.
Radix House Coffee
With so many options available to coffee-loving Austinites, it’s difficult for any one shop to make a lasting impression in the crowded field. But Radix House, a coffee truck in South Austin off William Cannon Drive, stands out thanks to its vocal support of mental health and its commitment to serving CBD beverages. Encouraged by studies that linked CBD to effective treatments for PTSD and other mental illnesses, Radix House was an early adopter of this hemp product and proudly serves both “regular” coffee, espresso and tea and beverages that include CBD infusions.
Sahara Lounge
Anyone claiming that Austin has totally lost its “weird” these days has clearly never visited Sahara Lounge before. This delightfully eclectic East Austin bar and live performance venue has been a gathering place for artists, music lovers and free thinkers for over a decade, and Sahara Lounge’s beverage menu reflects its quirky spirit. In addition to creative takes on classic cocktails, Sahara Lounge offers a curated selection of nonalcoholic options. The Dragon’s Milk—made with dragon fruit, guava nectar, CBD, Topo Chico and lime—is a crowd favorite.
Austin Daiquiri Factory
It’s tough to be in a bad mood at a design-your-own daiquiri spot. Austin Daiquiri Factory, an East Austin shop devoted to its namesake slushies, offers a playful experience with bright neon colors, tropical fruit flavors, and customizable spirits. The menu includes options like piña coladas, classic strawberry daiquiris and a variety of fruit combinations, with the added option of a CBD infusion.
Picnik
A Burnet Road restaurant and cafe that’s beloved for its meticulous ingredient sourcing, healthy dishes that don’t compromise on flavor, and deep knowledge of adaptogens, Picnik is an ideal place for CBD newbies to give this product a try. Picnik offers the option to add CBD to any alcoholic or nonalcoholic cocktail, as well as coffee or tea. They offer happy hour daily from 3 to 6 p.m., with all cocktails and zero-proof drinks available at half price.
In addition to signature CBD cocktails and coffees, Austin bar-hoppers can frequently find canned drinks infused with hemp at local venues. A few versions that we’ve spotted recently are Good Spirits “Austin Palmer”, an artisanal hemp seltzer with flavors inspired by the Arnold Palmer (available at Cheer Up Charlie’s and Busty’s); Howdy Lemonade and Ranch Water, Texas-made infused beverages available at venues like Radio Coffee & Beer, Ants Beer Cafe, East Austin Hotel and Haymaker; and the new collab between Jester King and Tejas Tonic known as “Tripping Springs.” This hemp sparkling water will come in watermelon mint, pineapple and peach apricot, and after its launch at Jester King’s Green Acres Hop Fest and Springtime Art Market on April 19, it will be available for purchase at beverage shops all over Austin.