New Cafe and Bar selling THC-infused drinks is a rarity in the country
Canni, a five-year-old hemp-derived CBD and THC shop in Walker’s Point, has completely transformed into a cafe and bar where customers can get THC- and CBD-infused beverages.
It's the first cannabis cafe and bar in the city.
Customers can get anything from a latte with 3 milligrams of THC-infused honey to a cocktail infused with 10 milligrams of full-spectrum CBD. The same cocktail can be made with shot of tequila instead of CBD.
“It’s really a pick-your-own-adventure situation,” said general manager Brooke Shawver.
The goal is to create a place where people feel safe to try CBD, THC or other plant-derived products, but also have options for people who don't want to partake.
“As someone who doesn’t drink alcohol, there hasn’t been a place like this for people who choose not to drink alcohol,” Shawver said. “That was something that was important to us, that everyone was included.”
That includes having a mushroom powder blend, mushroom tinctures and kava, a Pacific-island plant that can give mild intoxicating and euphoric sensations.
“We can embrace however you chose to elevate and feel good,” Shawver said.
Customizable coffees and cocktails inspired my Milwaukee
Cafe and bar manager Moonie Swaser developed the menu for Canni.
“I was already making coffee drinks with infusions at home, so to make it here was just natural,” they said.
Swaser was a longtime Canni customer and got involved a few months before the cafe and bar opened. They brought with them not only a decade of experience working at cafes around Wisconsin, but also their limeade recipe that took three years to make.
“We liked what they brought to our conversations about the curation of the menu and expressed a lot of innovative ideas,” owner Colin Plant said. “We brought them on and we spent the last four months building this part of the business, making these seasonal drinks that are inspired by our city and surroundings.”
Drinks are custom-made at Canni, where customers start by ordering a base. For cafe drinks that includes options like a 12-ounce cold brew coffee ($3), single espresso ($2), 12-ounce latte ($5), 12-ounce matcha ($5) and more.
For cocktails, they have options like Barry’s Blueberry Limeade, made with blueberry and homemade limeade ($5); the Riverwalk, made with blood orange, black tea and lemonade ($5); Cucumber Frost, made with cucumber, club soda and mint ($5); and Taro Milk Tea, made with taro, jasmine tea and milk ($8).
To those base drinks, customers have the option to add 3 milligrams of hemp-derived THC ($4), kava ($4), Malama mushroom blend ($4) or 10 milligrams of full-spectrum CBD ($3). Or they can add traditional spirits such as vodka, gin, tequila, rum or bourbon for a $5 upcharge.
How is a CBD or THC bar legal in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin has not legalized the growing or selling of marijuana, unlike neighboring states Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. Wisconsin also is the only state in the upper Midwest that has not legalized medicinal marijuana.
States that do not have any marijuana or hemp-related laws follow the 2018 federal Farm Bill, which allows for the growing and selling of hemp products.
Since then many stores, including Canni, opened to sell hemp products like CBD and later found ways to bring THC, the psychoactive component in hemp, to their stores.
Many places around Wisconsin found a loophole that allows for THC derivatives like Delta-8 or Delta-10 to be sold, given they were not regulated in the Farm Bill. Delta-9 THC, which is the main psychoactive component in cannibas, was regulated by the Farm Bill, which states that the dry weight of Delta-9 THC, which is also naturally found in hemp, cannot make up more than 3% of the product.
Plant said they have limited Delta-8 products available, but they have mostly stayed away from it given the compound has to be chemically manipulated. Instead, they mostly use Delta-9, similar to what many other Milwaukee hemp shops have done.
“Our products in edible form and drink form are based on dry weight,” Plant said. “If the edible weighs 2 grams, it can have 5 milligrams of Delta-9 THC.”
Plant said that there is no difference in the effects between marijuana-derived and hemp-derived THC and both give a similar high.
One-of-a-kind
Two dozen states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Some states have cannabis consumption lounges where users can smoke, drink or eat their THC in a social setting, but many states do not allow that.
In the places that do allow cannabis cafes, many make it illegal to sell products that don’t have cannabis in them, in what is called an Amsterdam-style lounge. Recently, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill to allow such places to exist.
Wisconsin doesn't have any laws that prohibit such lounges or cafes.
“There isn’t legislation to say that we cannot do that here. The lack of progress is working in our favor in a way," Plant said, noting he has visited dispensaries and cannabis cafes in other states and has not found a place where you can consume both alcohol and THC.
“For now, this is a unique place,” he said.
If you visit
Canni purposely kept the amount of THC in drinks lower, compared to the 5 milligrams that is more common in infused products like gummies, since Wisconsinites might have less experience with the psychoactive component.
“What we’ve learned over the years is to encourage slow and low consumption,” Plant said. “Most adults know what effects wine will have on them. People are less familiar with this. We want everyone to enjoy a responsible dosage.”
They are in the process of making a zine with information on their products so customers can learn more.
Canni still has a retail store, but in a smaller section toward the back of the space.
The cafe and bar, 810 S. Fifth St., is currently open and will be celebrating their grand opening Nov. 3.
Their current hours are noon to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Starting Nov. 6 they will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.
