When my comrades at The Austin Chronicle told me that this year’s Hemp Beverage Expo was going to be held here in our very own Austin, Texas, I saw a weed-leaf-shaped bat signal in the sky and I knew what I had to do. At the registration table, I selected the “High-Drated” ribbon flair to add to my press badge and locked in for a full day of learning about the future of the hemp beverage industry.
I started off the day at 8am sharp at a Women in Hemp breakfast and immediately made my way to a table sporting hot coffee, fresh fruit, and some delicious (completely straight-edge) pastries. A guitarist serenaded the group from the corner and I found myself at a table with a lead scientist from a testing lab. Women in Hemp is part of the Hemp Beverage Alliance and aims to create a supportive and collaborative environment for women and nonbinary professionals in the hemp beverage industry.
Between sipping our coffee and discussing the mechanics of hemp beverage testing, we heard from the group’s co-chair, Leigh Gall of Cannabis Beverage Certified, about the state of the industry. To the surprise of no one, we learned that women have historically been left out of leadership in hemp, but Gall and co-chair Paige Ross of Climbing Kites have been part of the momentum for that to change. “We showed up on Capitol Hill,” Gall said, “and we represented not just professionals, but we represented moms; we represented logic; we asked for regulation. It was beyond the lobbying. It was an opportunity to connect as women, as our authentic selves, to show up and not have to wear a mask as this persona of what we sometimes think professionals should look like.”
Gall gave the women in the room three pieces of advice that have application far beyond the hemp industry:
Make sure that you are taking credit for the work that you are doing.
Stop doing other people’s work for them.
Speak up.
Next, we heard from Jana Ritter, one of the founding partners of the brand Joy Rush. Ritter came up in the alcoholic beverage industry. “I sat in a lot of rooms with mostly male-dominated C-suite teams creating brands for females. Boy, isn’t that something,” she laughed. It took too long for women to be part of the alcoholic beverage industry, she said, but it’s not going to take too long here. And just like that, I realized: I too am a woman in hemp.
Fired up from female empowerment and two cups of coffee, I headed off to sit in on industry panels and immediately found myself the only woman in a room full of men, listening to an all-male panel about the future of the hemp beverage industry inevitably shifting toward the 3-Tier System (production, distribution, sale) that rules the alcohol industry. “Everything is negotiable,” said a panelist wearing a blazer over a T-shirt. So true.
My second panel, “Knowing Your Supply Chain,” was a little more lively, featuring a discussion between a director of sales, a founder and farmer, and a director from a testing lab. I saw a familiar local face in Aaron Owens of Tejas Tonic, who answered a question about red flags in the supply chain by emphasizing the importance of knowing which farm your hemp comes from. Vanessa Snyder of SC Labs pointed out that “if you see testing as annoying, you’re in this for the wrong reasons.” It was encouraging to hear from hemp beverage professionals who highly valued integrity throughout the entire development process. I also learned that hemp testing is much more complex than alcohol testing. Alcohol has one active molecule, whereas hemp products have thousands.
My third and last panel featured a heated discussion of the legal aspects of hemp beverages, titled “The Rules Are Still Being Written.” We heard from a CEO, a lawyer, and the executive director of the Texas Hemp Business Council. Andrea J. Steel (the lawyer) said what everyone was thinking: “The entire federal redefinition needs to go.” The panel discussed the fearmongering in public discourse, absurd when comparing alcohol deaths against marijuana deaths. Everyone agreed that the future is in low-dose THC beverage models, and no one agreed about what the market will look like after November.
Let’s get to the fun part – the expo itself. The showroom in the Palmer Events Center was lined end-to-end with rows of tables, all displaying their flashy marketing materials and sporting tiny cups of hemp-infused beverages. A sign at the door encouraged “Know Your Limits,” reminding us that “if you sample six 2 oz. servings, you could be ingesting 10 mg of THC. Start low and go slow.” Mind you, it’s the middle of a Thursday. I promised myself only to try small amounts of the products that truly stood out to me or caught my eye as an innovative addition to the saturated industry. Some standouts:
Sparkling THC rosé: Created by the founder for his wife and all constituents of the “rosé all day” community, Silent Flower derives from California grapes. I’ll admit that I was hesitant at first, but was pleasantly surprised by the robust flavor.
Caffeinated THC lemonade: From Laughing Lemonade, bright and colorful packaging boasted copy reading “Fizzed, infused, and highly amused.” I see this style of hemp beverage gaining popularity with the twentysomething crowd.
THC spirit: From Marfa-based Jota Living, the cosmic-themed packaging of their “Social Potion” cheekily dubbed “Raunch Water” stole the show. A 1.5-oz. serving contains 10 mg and made good on the promise of strawberry sweetness and botanical bitterness combining for a “grown-up finish.”
THC wine: I was skeptical when I approached the booth, but Bloom & Barrel intrigued me with its promise of “real wine.” Completely non-alcoholic, the THC-infused red drank exactly like a cabernet is supposed to.
THC-infused coffee syrup: From a plucky young brand called Stir the Pot, we have “coffee ritual, rethought,” with flavors like vanilla cream, salted caramel, and Mexican hot chocolate.
Readers can find some of these products distributed locally and others only online for now. I encourage Austinites to try out local spots that offer hemp beverages, such as Sweet Sensi Cocktail Lounge on Congress, where I recently tried a Blackberry Bramble cocktail, substituting 5 mg of THC for the typical gin component, and enjoyed a dark and moody atmosphere in the heart of Downtown.
Although I ultimately prefer consuming my weed old-school (smoking a joint on my balcony while the sun sets), a day of learning about and taste-testing hemp beverages has me speculating that Austin’s craft beer scene may soon have a new competitor.
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This article appears in July 10 • 2026.
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