Easy & Refreshing CBD Cocktails-Cocktails for 4/20 • The Spirited Traveler

4/20 is day generally celebrated by those who partake in the 420 culture (cannabis related activities). Whether you do or not, is not my business. I’m not here to judge you, I am here to talk about CBD cocktails though!

In recent years, talk of cannabis has been front & center– from news of its legalization, to its reported health benefits. I’m not a fan of cannabis itself, no judgement, it’s just not my thing. However, I have looked into the medicinal uses of CBD oil to see if it would be helpful in my battle against RA. CBD is a none psychoactive cannabinoid found in cannabis, meaning you get the health benefits without the “high” associated with the THC cannabinoid.

Now, it’s up to you do your own research to see if you could benefit from its use, but I thought it would be fun to do some CBD Cocktails for you all today. It is 4/20 after all. 😉

420 Cocktails on 4/20

Most of the CBD cocktails I saw use actual CBD oil or a CBD syrup in their prep. I didn’t want to go this route–not to say I may not experiment with it in the future though. But CBD oil can be pretty expensive, plus it has a definite “herbal” taste, if you catch my drift… 😉 To each his or her own, but it’s not my ideal taste profile. Luckily, one of my local spirit shops carries Aurora Elixirs. Aurora Elixirs contain 15mg of CBD per bottle and they are very light and refreshing. Currently, there are 3 flavors:

Lavender Spice
Cayenne Citrus
Rosemary Grapefruit

These are way more my speed, taste wise, and I thought they’d make the perfect mixer for a couple classic cocktails I enjoy + a couple of new cocktails I created. So without further adieu, here are four 420 cocktails for 4/20!

Featuring:

Toggle

Summer Breeze

Last weekend, it was warm outside, so I wanted a refreshing beverage to enjoy on the patio while grooving in D’Nice’s Club Quarantine. So I stared at my bar, contemplating what I could put together when I remembered, “Hey, I have cucumber juice in the fridge from the Spicy Cucumber Margaritas (featured in my Pastel Cocktails blog). A light bulb when off & I knew Lavender Spice would pair well with it. Let me tell you, I think I hit on something with this one. It’s light, refreshing, and tastes like a sunshiny, spring day.

Ingredients

2 oz Hendricks Summer Solstice gin
1 1/2 oz cucumber juice
3/4 oz lime juice
Aurora Lavender Spice beverage

Directions

Combine gin, lime juice, and cucumber juice in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well.
Add ice to your favorite drinking receptacle and pour in mix
Top off with Lavender Spice beverage (about 2 oz)
Enjoy

I got sooo excited when I tasted this. This is may be my new fav early spring cocktail.

Vodka Tonic

I love a good vodka tonic & I love a nice spicy bite in my beverages. With that in mind, I thought the Cayenne Citrus would be perfect in this cocktail. I was correct!

Ingredients

2 oz Vodka
1/2 oz lime juice
Cayenne Citrus Elixier

Directions

Combine vodka and lime juice in a cocktail shaker ice & skake well
Pour mix into a glass with ice
Top off with Cayenne Spice

I don’t find the Cayenne Citrus to be very hot at all, is does carry a nice pepper tasting note. And for me, this was a great pairing with the vodka tonic, especially since it has those citrus notes and I usually asked for extra lime in my tonics. Next time, I may add a flick or two of cayenne pepper. I like to live on the edge sometimes. 😀

French Gimlet

One of my friends gave me the recipe for a French Gimlet almost 10 years ago because she knew how much I love St. Germain. The French Gimlet has the citrusy sweet notes I LOVE, which is why this quickly became a favorite cocktail of mine. I was thinking the Rosemary Grapefruit elixir would make a nice touch. I figured it would take a bit of the sweetness touch from the St. Germain and give it a more refined class feel. (Look, I can’t control my imagination- lol).

Ingredients

2 oz gin
1 oz St. Germain
1/2 lemon juice
Rosemary Grapefruit elixer

Directions

Put the liquor and the lemon juice in cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well.
Pour into your fav glass with ice
top off with Rosemary Grapefruit

This is quite tasty & polished, I must say. I could definitely see serving this at a garden or a cocktail party.

The Dragonfly

I had some Cayenne Citrus left and decided to try it in a gimlet variation. Why not? I happen to love gimlets and I am always experimenting with them. To make it a little funky, I with with Empress Gin this time.

Ingredients

2 oz Empress gin
1 oz St. Germain
1/2 lemon juice
1/2 to 1 oz Cayenne Citrus elixer

Directions

Combine liquor and lemon juice in cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well.
Pour into a glass with ice
Add Cayenne Citrus, give it a good stir, enjoy!

I really love the color I got from using the Empress Gin. If you’ll remember from my Tickle Me Pink Cocktails feature, mixing this blue gin with lemon juice produces a pretty purply pink color. For me, this just added to the drink experience and called summer to mind. Fun fact: last summer I received visits from some pretty & vibrant dragonflies. So I named this drink for them.

I hope you try one of these CBD cocktails. If you do, please let me know how you liked them.

Pin this article for ease of reference in the future!