What’s better than waking up with a full-bodied cup of dark-roast coffee?
How about a full-bodied cup of dark-roast coffee infused with CBD? You heard me right; CBD isn’t just for soft gels and tinctures. You can now get your daily dose of CBD with your morning (or mid-afternoon) cup of coffee.
Intrigued? In this post, we’re going to be answering a few questions, like,
- What is CBD?
- What is CBD coffee?
- Why choose CBD coffee?
- How to find the best CBD coffee
What is CBD?
CBD is one of the 113 known cannabinoids, or chemical compounds, present in cannabis plants.
Cannabis? Doesn’t that have THC?
Sure. While cannabis, and specifically marijuana, is famous for THC and it’s euphoric and intoxicating effects, hemp, and the cannabidiol harvested from it is non-psychoactive. That means consuming CBD by itself won’t get you high.
How Does CBD Work?
CBD interacts with our bodies in a number of ways— the main being its effect on our endocannabinoid system— a network of receptors that helps our bodies regulate:
- Sleep
- Mood
- Stress
- General appetite and metabolism
- Memory and learning
- Inflammation
CBD mimics the endocannabinoids (internal) that our bodies naturally produce. Some believe that consuming CBD can actually help a user’s entire endocannabinoid system run more efficiently.
What Is CBD Coffee?
CBD coffee is the infusion of CBD into coffee and can be made in any number of ways.
In coffee shops, you may see options to “add CBD shot” to your drink. This entails adding CBD oil to your drink, whatever that may be— espresso, cold brew, latte, you name it. It’s easy enough to do, but you may notice an oily sheen on the surface of your drink.
Most retail CBD coffee you’ll find is made by either infusing CBD into the bean during the roasting process or adding powdered CBD isolate to the ground coffee.
What Does CBD Coffee Do?
Think about CBD coffee as a balancing act. Caffeine is a powerful stimulant and one of the main reasons that we all get out of bed in the morning. But, if you overindulge, you may find yourself getting the jitters and all that entails.
CBD, on the other hand, helps users mellow out. Too much can make you feel sluggish and ready for a nap.
The two complement each other quite well. CBD-infused coffee can give you the boost you need to start your day, but without the jitters of normal coffee.
How To Dose CBD Coffee?
Depending on how you choose to make your CBD coffee, this part may already be done for you!
Adding CBD Post-Brew
If you want to make your own CBD coffee, you’re going to need your very own CBD, whether it’s
- CBD Kief
- CBD Oil
- or CBD isolate powder for those wary of the trace amounts of THC in full-spectrum products
Measure out the amount you want to add to your coffee; we always recommend starting with a 25mg dose. Add the CBD to your cup prior, and pour your coffee. (Note: if you’re using kief to infuse your coffee— you need to make hot coffee. Otherwise, it won’t work)
If Using Infused Beans
Some CBD-infused coffees are created with the perfect cup in mind; meaning each serving of ground coffee will contain roughly the same amount of CBD. No oil droppers or kitchen scale required. Just grind, brew, and enjoy.
How To Find the Best CBD Coffee
To find the best CBD-infused coffee, you’re going to want to do a little bit of homework before you buy. First, ask yourself…
How was the Coffee Sourced?
- Is your coffee packaged ground or whole bean?
- Was it roasted as part of a small batch?
- Is it from a single source or does the packaging not indicate it?
Coffee connoisseurs will tell you that to truly experience coffee you should brew a single regional bean at a time and only grind your beans right before.
How was the CBD Sourced?
Finding out where your CBD comes from is just as important as making a good cup of coffee. You’ll want to make sure that the hemp that your CBD was derived from was grown in the United States.
Do some research too, into how that hemp was grown, and under what labor practices. Made with love may be a cliché nowadays, but made with dignity certainly isn’t.
What Does the Certificate of Analysis Say?
When finding your perfect CBD-infused coffee, you’ll want to have a look at its certificate of analysis. This report, preferably produced by a neutral, third-party laboratory, will tell you if the amount of CBD advertised on the package is accurate or not. This is important, as a 2017 University of Pennsylvania study found that nearly 70% of CBD products were mislabeled when it came to their advertised potency.
For more on reading your certificate of analysis, check out our post: How to Read a CoA
About Sunset Lake’s CBD Coffee
Sunset Lake’s CBD coffee was created with the perfect morning cup in mind. Each serving (12g of whole beans) contains 24mg of CBD.
Not only that, but we grow our own CBD hemp which we then use to infuse the coffee. And, as farmers, we take great care to ensure the long-term health and sustainability of our soil, meaning we never use pesticides or harmful chemicals on our hemp.
We approached our CBD coffee with the same beliefs in mind. That’s why we partnered with a local coffee roaster, who sources all of their beans from Rainforest Alliance Certified Farms.
You can read more about Rainforest Certified Coffee here.
How Do You Brew Sunset Lake’s CBD Coffee?
You can brew our CBD coffee with any traditional method— drip, French press, pour-over, but we do recommend avoiding paper filters as they can filter out a portion of CBD before it reaches your cup. We recommend using reusable, metal mesh filters.
Sunset Lake’s CBD Coffee Lineup
Our CBD coffee availability is subject to change. Because we work with a local small-batch roaster, the availability of single-origin sourced beans changes. This does allow us to introduce new and exciting limited releases constantly— each with its own flavor profile and mouthfeel.
We make our CBD coffee with help from Good Luck Coffee Roasters. With their extensive coffee sourcing network, roasting knowledge, and determination, we’ve dialed in a roast that gave us a nice morning dose of CBD and tasted amazing.
Updated 8/20/21
