Snoop Dogg brings something fresh to the drinks table

When you work for Snoop Dogg you are probably happy to accept a job title like "head of cannabis operations".

Snoop Dogg, born the more mundane Calvin Broadus, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor who has been known to enjoy a spliff or two.

He has sold 35 million albums worldwide and has just invested in a partnership with Harmony Craft Beverages to release a range of cannabis and "functional" drinks named Iconic Tonics. newsletter the drinks business reports

Functional drinks, for those not up with the jargon, are drinks with added ingredients that offer specific health benefits, beyond taste and hydration. Like cannabis-infused beverages,

As wellness and mindful drinking trends accelerate, the musical artist’s move to release Iconic Tonics is well-timed for the sector.

“I’ve always been about innovation, and functional beverages are the next frontier," said Mr Dogg.

"People want drinks that do more than just taste good – they want benefits, and they want choices. Harmony Craft Beverages has been pioneering this movement, and together now as Iconic Tonics, we’re bringing something fresh to the table. This is more than a brand - it’s a lifestyle.”

Snoop Dogg’s growing presence in the hemp-infused products categories already includes his Death Row Records Do It Fluid and Dogg lbs Doggy Spritz brands.

In addition, his portfolio also features a line of "mind-expanding elixirs" named Lifeblood by Love Yer Brain which have been co-created with Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips; Klaus - a line of infused mocktails by mixologist Warren Bobrow; Malus; an elevated cider; Herbaceé; a wine-inspired botanical-forward drink, and Lift: a line of hemp-infused seltzers. He's a very thirsty fellow.

“We’re building a platform that’s bigger than any one brand," says Iconic Tonics co-founder and CEO Evan Eneman.

"Consumers are moving beyond traditional alcohol and sugar-laden beverages - they want function, flavour, and experience. With Snoop’s cultural reach and our proven ability to develop and launch groundbreaking drinks, we’re setting the stage for the next evolution in beverages.

"We’re thrilled to have Snoop Dogg as an investor and partner. Snoop’s vision for the cannabis industry aligns perfectly with our mission to create positive change with our functional beverages.”

Tiffany Chin, head of cannabis operations at Snoop Dogg’s ventures, added: “We’ve built a trusted relationship with the leadership team at Harmony Craft Beverages for years, and this partnership is a natural next step.

"With our consumer reach and distribution and their expertise in functional beverages and commitment to quality, we’re poised for exceptional growth. Iconic Tonics will bring something truly special to consumers - great-tasting drinks with real benefits.”

Rebellion, cannabis and hospitality will be hot trends for 2025

More hospitable service, cannabis-infused drinks and more adventure are just three of the food trends to look out for in 2025. 

The New York Times reports that American consumers this year will be looking to break rules and ignore tradition. At least, that’s what the market researchers, food sociologists and other prognosticators are saying.

And we all know that what happens in the US quickly becomes a global contagion. 

“It’s a take-chances time right now,” said Andrew Freeman, president of AF & CO, a San Francisco consulting firm behind the Hospitality Trends Report. 

“Think of what we’ve just gone through," says Freeman. "The whole world shifted. And if the whole world is going to break rules, why not do it with what we eat and drink?”

The hottest trend in hospitality will be … hospitality, the newspaper says. 

So look out for for cosy counter service, soulful food served in comfortable dining rooms and shorter menus that mix value and deliciousness. Restaurants that connect to the community and offer work-life balance for employees will matter more than ever.

“We are feeling doom; we are feeling big feelings,” said Renee Wege, a trend expert and publications manager at the research firm Datassential. 

“So more than anything else, people are craving that cosy, warm hospitality and service.”

Protein will continue its rise to the top of the popularity pyramid, driven in part by gym users and Americans on weight-loss medications. 

Rebellious consumers, meanwhile, are pushing limits with unconventional choices, said Melanie Bartelme, a global food analyst and trend spotter for Mintel. 

They eat snacks when they should be eating meals. They embrace weird combination. 

Japanese convenience stores, popularly known as konbini, are open 24 hours and known for pre-prepared foods like onigiri and ramen. 

Soon, the Japanese parent company of 7-Eleven will start to export its konbini-style food to some of its US stores.

Drinks spiced with cannabis and other mood-altering components like kava, guarana and an amino acid called GABA will grow as interest in alcohol declines, especially among Gen Zers, the newspaper predicts. 

“Younger generations see cannabis as having less negative side effects than alcohol,” said Candace MacDonald, co-founder and managing director of the marketing firm Carbonate. “We’re just beginning to see a shift in how this impacts their consumption.”

Image: Meghan Page, Scop.io

Stone the crows: meet the hotel with its own cannabis consumption lounge

Cannabis tourism is becoming all the rage.

The 420 Hotels Inc. will start work next month on the first licensed cannabis consumption lounge in a hotel in the US.

The cannabis club will offer a safe space for hotel guests and club members to consume marijuana in the historic Patterson Inn carriage house.

The 420 Hotels - a company only founded in 2021 - launched an equity crowdfunding campaign earlier this year to raise money for the project.

A National Landmark built in the 1890s, the Victorian-style boutique hotel is located in Denver’s Capital Hill neighbourhood.

Merchant and experimental plant breeder Thomas Croke, who later served as a state senator, commissioned the building of the Patterson Inn, where he lived until 1893 when he sold the property to Thomas Patterson.

The 420 Hotels group says it intends to expand to multiple locations over the next several years as more municipalities and states across the US pass laws that allow for onsite consumption of cannabis in commercial establishments.

It says it will offer "on-site guest service representatives who can provide advice and safe practices especially to first-time or novice consumers".

Stone me! 

# April 20 (abbreviated to 4/20 in the US) is considered as an occasion for smoking or celebrating the smoking of cannabis  

We don't want your kind of tourist

Despite a hugely competitive global tourism market, some countries are becoming increasingly picky about who they welcome.

A couple of weeks ago New Zealand hit the headlines when its tourism minister said Kiwis wants "disecerning tourists" not "backpackers eating two-minute noodles".

And now Thailand, which has decriminalised cannabis, doesn't want visitors who come to smoke weed.

“We don’t welcome those kinds of tourists,” Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told local media last week.

Thailand became the first country in south-east Asian to legalise cannabis for medicinal purposes and hasn’t outlawed recreational use with pot cafés and marijuana trucks (above) popping up all over the country.

Big fines or prison time remain a possibility for anyone lighting up a joint in public.

Anutin said the government’s cannabis policy is geared solely towards medical and health benefits including medical tourism.

But a recreational cannabis policy "might come in the near future," he said.

A classic fiver each way, then.

Meanwhile, Thailand's cannabis policy has drawn interest from regional neighbours like Malaysia, which is studying the use of cannabis for medical purposes.

In Tasmania, the capital city of Hobart does not want mega cruise ships docking.


Tasmania’s peak tourism body is pushing for a five-year ban on big cruise ships anchoring at Tasmanian ports.

The large cruise ships often carry up to 5,000 passengers who regularly disembark at Tasmanian ports.

The Tourism Industry Council has also passed a resolution which seeks to put a restriction on the number of people arriving on cruise ships per day.

Wine trails are 10 a penny, but how about a cannabis trail?

 

Cannabis is all the rage right now. 

Visit Thailand and you can buy cannabis-infused drinks by the beach, or buy your spliff supply from a local version of a food truck. 

In Canada, you just pop into your local cannabis store to pick up a joint or two, or maybe some gummies.

In Australia, of course, you'll find police with sniffer dogs at railway stations trying to smell out someone with a marijuana cigarette on their person. But we are a little bit behind the times. 

In Oakland, California, they recently launched their own cannabis trail - which is being actively by the Visit Oakland tourism folks. 

Oakland has been at the forefront of cannabis education and compassionate patient access for decades. 

"California and especially the Bay Area is known for having the best cannabis in the world," says the retailers at Cookies Oakland. 

With the city facing economic issues, by the 1990s city leaders were open to exploring uncharted avenues for downtown revitalisation. 

The potential for much-needed commerce spurred a new perspective on cannabis regulation and taxation, long before other cities across the country followed suit. 

For two decades, Oakland has been a cannabis policy leader at the state and federal level. 

Several spots are officially recognized as Cultural Landmarks along The Cannabis Trail. 

In the Oaksterdam Uptown District, Blunts and Moore (above), and Harborside are historic markers of the short but busy history of cannabis in Oakland. 

Harborside is a pioneer of mainstream cannabis wellness and normalisation. It is here that the very first legal sale of recreational cannabis in California happened in 2016. 

Dotted throughout each diverse Oakland neighbourhoods are various cannabis shops featuring local product brands such as Fig Farms and Dark Heart Nursery.

From the canna-curious to canna-sseur, there is, apparently, something for everyone - and there is an official trail map featuring shops, places to chill out and recommended eateries. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: While cannabis is legal to purchase from licensed retailers in California, it is still illegal to consume cannabis in public. See Oakland Cannabis Trail. 

   

Just pop into your friendly neighbourhood pot shop

In Kingston, Ontario (and much of the rest of Canada), you just choose your cannabis shop from many on offer and walk in the door.

No ID. No hassles.

There are dozens of stores to choose from and you don't need a prescription or a note from your doctor to buy a few joints, a pack of gummies or some gear you can add to your tea or brownies.

No lurking around on street corners - just a helpful store assistant with advice.

In Canada, federal cannabis licence holders are allowed to grow cannabis for sale.

This ensures that all legal cannabis products meet strict product safety and quality control requirements, the Government says.

Legal cannabis products are only sold through retailers authorised by provincial and territorial governments, with one exception: individuals who are authorised by a health care professional can register to buy cannabis products for medical purposes directly from a federally licensed seller.

Every package of a legal cannabis product has the standardised cannabis symbol, mandatory health warning messages, plain packaging and labelling that is child-resistant and an excise stamp, which is different for each province and territory.

Adults are allowed to purchase legal cannabis products, seeds and plants from authorised retailers.

In most provinces across Canada, the legal age to purchase and consume marijuana is 19. In Alberta the legal age is 18 and in Quebec it is 21.

In Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta, the law states that people can smoke cannabis where they can smoke cigarettes. So a street corner spliff is fine.

I shopped at Spiritleaf on Princess Street in Kingston, described as a "Cannabis Dispensary".

In addition to in-store shopping they offer curbside pickup and home delivery. And it is open until 11pm. They have a huge array of products.

Kingston is known for its markets and its striking 19th-century limestone architecture.

It serves as a great base for exploring the Thousand Islands and the St Lawrence River and its national park: and has plenty of pot shops.

Visit https://spiritleaf.ca/

Thai cannabis reform: but hold on to your spliffs for now

Thailand, the first south-east Asian country to legalize medical cannabis in 2018, is set to become the first Asian country to decriminalise recreational cannabis for personal use.

Thailand's Drug and Food Administration has proposed removing cannabis (which is known locally as ganja) from a list of controlled drugs, Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said.

Under the new regulations, people will be allowed to grow cannabis plants at home for personal use after notifying their local regional authorities. Cannabis used for commercial purposes, however, will require further licenses.

But anyone planning to grow or smoke cannabis should be patient as the new law is not in effect yet.

The Bangkok Post reported that the law will be implemented 120 days after it’s been announced in the Royal Gazette.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said: "Just hold your horses for the time being." 

"Until the law is cleared, caution should be exercised," he said. "It isn't something that can be done freely."

Image: Alex Alexander Scop.io

Stone the crows! Cannabis treatments are all the rage

Regular readers will recall Anantara Chiang Mai’s resort restaurant launching what it said was "a healthy and nutrition-rich cannabis-infused menu".

Now that same innovative hotel group is promoting a range of healthy spa treatments featuring cannabis products. 

As Thailand is preparing to reopen its borders to international guests, Anantara Spa has unveiled a Thai first addition to its signature treatment menu with the launch of cannabis-infused spa treatments. Coinciding with the decriminalisation of certain elements of the cannabis plant, Anantara Spa is harnessing the restorative and anti-inflammatory compounds contained in cannabis and bringing the traditional healing properties of cannabis into modern wellness practices. Rich in antioxidants, anti-inflammatory compounds and pain reducing properties, the medicinal purposes of cannabis have been brought back to the forefront of alternative therapies.  Cannabis has been utilised across central Asia for centuries.  Among the offerings are: The perfect antidote to long haul flights, the Restful Slumber Journey including a cannabis-infused aromatherapy massage, cannabis salt-infused foot bath and a relaxing cup of CBD-infused tea. After a day of sightseeing or adventures, the Cannabis Stress-Release Journey unfurls tense muscles knots using a cannabis herbal compress ball, or Luk Pra kob, which has been known in Thailand for centuries. For top-to-bottom pampering, the Head to Toe Calming Journey combines a scalp massage with foot reflexology to melt away tension.  The treatments are available at Anantara Spas across Thailand including the Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel, Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort, Anantara Chiang Mai Hotel and Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort (above). For more information see https://www.anantara.com/en/spa-and-wellness

Stone the pros! Meet a new cannabis-infused gourmet menu

The health benefits of cannabis leaves have long been touted by the medical profession and with the Thai Government’s recent decriminalization of most parts of the marijuana plant, they have now ended up on a fine dining menu.

Anantara Chiang Mai’s The Service 1921 Restaurant and Bar resort has launched what it says is "a healthy and nutrition-rich cannabis-infused menu".

Diners can enjoy signature dishes including deep-fried seabass with crispy cannabis leaves and a cannabis tamarind sauce (above); spicy grilled prawns with traditional Thai herbs and cannabis (below); and braised pork spare ribs with a shitake mushroom and cannabis soup.

Although the THC-rich flowers, buds and seeds remain off-limits, other parts of the plant such as the leaves have been removed from the prohibited list in Thailand.

Cannabis leaves are seen as highly nutritious and contain significant levels of essential vitamins and minerals.

The new menu also includes cannabis-based drinks.

The Service 1921 Restaurant and Bar is situated in a colonial house that is the centerpiece of Anantara Chiang Mai Resort.

Opened in 1921 as the British Consulate, the house is celebrating its centennial this year. It was the former home of the consul’s family and included a courtroom, offices, servants’ quarters and stables for elephants.

Anantara has a portfolio of 35 properties in Thailand, the Maldives, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Zambia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Tunisia, Portugal and Spain. See www.anantara.com.

Try a little cannabis in your gin and tonic

Fancy a little bit on canabis infused in your gin? The Cannabis Company’s Myrcene Hemp Gin is billed as a feel-good spirit to warm us up as the weather gets cooler. 

Myrcene Hemp Gin has an earthy aroma and distinctive earthy flavours as a result of 15 botanicals including juniper, orris, angelica, rosemary, sage, lavender, balanced with a soft touch of myrcene, an active terpene in both hemp and hops. 

It is known for its restorative and healing properties. 

Crafted in Healesville in the Yarra Valley, Myrcene Hemp Gin was the first in Australia and is available online via The Cannabis Company and at Dan Murphy’s stores ($99). 

It is promoted as 100% Australian grown, organic and made using the cannabis sativa plant, grown in Tasmania. 

The terpenes are added into the distilling pot to create an aromatic and flavour-rich juice. The gin has a rich medicinally flavoured goodness. 

While I make no claims for its health benefits, there is a growing body of evidence pointing to the therapeutic benefits of various terpenes. 

“The Myrcene Hemp Gin has become a staple spirit for so many households, and the feedback we constantly receive about the beverage is nothing short of amazing,” said Alexandra Poznyak, managing director of Treeline Beverages, a division of The Cannabis Company.

“The cannabis sativa plant is one of the world’s most restorative botanicals, used by healers for thousands of years. 

"We’re excited to offer a drink that not only tastes good, but also does good, using some of the world’s best-quality hemp grown right here in Australia. 

“We are on a mission to promote the natural healing power of the cannabis plant, challenging the orthodox principles of the big pharmaceutical companies, and Western medicine.” 

My esteemed South African correspondent Raymond Dibden reports there is also a similar product from that country: Monks Mary Jane from the Monks Distillery in the Western Cape, the first South African gin to be infused with hemp.

See www.cannabiscompany.com.au. The Myrcene Hemp Gin is not intended to be, or consumed as, a medicinal product.