There is no lack of inventiveness or boundaries in sight for use of CBDs, which are appearing ubiquitously in everything from lotions to candy to sparkling water, the latter being the subject of this review with Beak & Skiff’s latest offering: Organic, CBD-infused sparkling water with a mango lime flavor. (We recently reviewed some of their hard ciders.) In fact, Beak & Skiff actually offers a range of CBD products including oils, balms, edibles, and a variety of beverages in addition to this one.

As a quick non-authoritative tutorial, CBD is short for cannabidiol, which is a component of cannabis and is derived from the hemp plant, a cousin of the marijuana plant. Its medical benefits continue to be heavily researched but seem to be more widely accepted and less regulated than its marijuana counterpart. Drinkhacker does not evaluate any medial attributes or claims of this drink or any other, but the CBD infusion is worth mentioning since, despite this being a non-alcoholic drink, there is a warning on the can to “keep out of reach of children.”

So let’s get into how this tastes.

Put simply, it is very refreshing and a nice change to the flavored sparkling water category. The mango and lime flavors really are just accents of the fruit, with no sweetness and just the pleasantly bitter essence of citrus in evidence. If you’re familiar with CBD, the grassy herbal notes in the palate won’t be a surprise, as well as bit of dryness that comes with the finish. The bitterness of both the citrus and the grassiness work well here, and for those seeking for alternatives to sweetened versions of sparkling water, this is a welcome alternative. (For the general audience of flavored sparkling water, these notes may take some getting used to.)

I don’t usually consider food pairings when sampling drinks of any variety, but this strikes me as going very well with full flavor rich sauce-laden dishes — perhaps a pulled pork sandwich or pad thai.

B+ / $40 for a 12-pack of 12 oz cans

Beak & Skiff Organic CBD Sparkling Water - Mango Lime

$40

8.5

Rating

8.5/10