There’s CBD-Infused Coffee Now & It Could Be A Game Changer For Anxious Morning People

It seems like CBD-infused treats and food items are everywhere these days — and now there’s another one to add to the list: CBD-infused coffee is a thing, and you can get it at an ice cream shop in Maryland. According to Bethesda Magazine, Silver Spring ice cream shop Moorenko’s now offers Flower Power CBD-infused coffee. How’s that for a morning pick-me-up?

Flower Power, which is based in New York, sites “[providing] coffee and edibles that will enhance the life experience of health-conscious consumers through the use of legal, non-mind-altering infusions” as its mission. You can buy their pre-ground coffee online to make at home — but it’s also available in a small handful of coffee shops in a few different states: Three are located in New York; one is in Nashville, Tenn.; and now Moorenko’s in the Washington, D.C. area has joined the ranks.

On April 11, Moorenko’s — a D.C.-area favorite for the past 16 years — posted a request for customer feedback on their Instagram page. “We are considering bringing a new product into our café out of Brooklyn, NY: Flower Power Coffee,” the ice cream purveyor wrote. “It is a coffee infused with CBD — a… non-intoxicating compound found in cannabis that [reportedly] has multiple health benefits (especially for those dealing with chronic pain) as well as potential psychological benefits.” Moorenko’s asked customers to let them know what they thought about the idea of them offering CBD-infused coffee — whether they saw it as “something that a family friendly ice cream and coffee shop can carry and still be family friendly,” if the idea of it being on offer was off-putting, and so on and so forth.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t approved CBD for any of the reported benefits those who use it say it has; as such, Flower Power Coffee is careful to note on their website, “The statements presented on this site have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The use of cannabidiol for the prevention or cure of disease has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration or USDA.” They continue, “Flower Power Coffee Co. therefore, makes no claims to this effect. The products offered on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease and are for consumers age 21 and up.” However, an expert panel did unanimously recommend in April that the FDA approve a CBD-based drug, Epidiolex, for the treatment of childhood epilepsy; as the Washington Post reported earlier in 2018, at least two reputable studies have shown CBD can alleviate seizures. The FDA is expected to make their decision on Epidiolex in June.

In any event, Moorenko’s reported on their Twitter feed a few weeks later that the response to their feedback request had been “overwhelmingly positive” — and, well… here we are.

Flower Power offers a wide range of blends in their online store, but Moorenko’s features just the Costa Rican blend, according to ABC7 News. The blend is described on the Flower Power website as “full bodied with a good balance and a lively acidity.” While a regular, non-CBD-infused cup of Moorenko’s coffee costs around $1.95, a cup of Flower Power will set you back a bit more; due to the CBD, it runs at around $5.95 per cup. Moorenko’s will not sell the coffee to minors, reports ABC7.

CBD won’t get you high; unlike Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, it’s not psychoactive. (Flower Power Coffee products have no THC in them, according to their FAQ.) However, some studies have supported it as a possible treatment for anxiety, while others have shown it to be effective as an anti-inflammatory. There’s still a lot of research left to be done around it — and again, the FDA hasn’t approved it for any of its reported benefits yet; what’s more, contrary to popular belief, it’s not actually legal in all 50 states — but those who use it report, anecdotally, that they sleep better and feel less anxious when they take small doses regularly. Remember Not Pot, the CBD-infused chocolate with two milligrams of CBD per piece that made the rounds last fall? That’s the kind of dosage we’re talking about here.

There are about 30 mg of CBD in each full package of Flower Power’s coffee; given that each package makes 36 fluid ounces of coffee, that averages out to about 1.2 mg of CBD per ounce. If you drink a six-ounce cup of coffee, you’ll be getting around 7.2 mg of CBD in your drink. (That’s quite a low dose; according to a 2012 overview of the literature existing around CBD, clinical trials have only seen medically significant results when the dosage is around several hundred milligrams.)

Moorenko’s owner, Susan Soorenko, stresses that the CBD-infused coffee won’t get you high. “It’s not intoxicating,” she told ABC7. “I don’t want to give people the impression if you drink enough of this you’re going to see colors.” She did note to Bethesda Magazine, however, that she believes she felt its reported calming effects when she tried it out: “I don’t usually drink coffee because it makes me jittery, but this didn’t make me jittery, she said. “And I did sleep really well that night.”

If you’re not located in the D.C., New York, or Nashville areas, you can still order Flower Power coffee online via their website. Just make sure you check your state marijuana and CBD laws first.