Defy is a new brand of CBD products pioneered by NFL Hall of Famer and Super Bowl MVP Terrell Davis, who suffered from migraines for years before finding a cure in the form of CBD. Now he’s hawking Gatorade-like performance drinks spiked with CBD, and a topical cream.
We checked out the three drink flavors — all are non-carbonated, naturally flavored, sweetened with erythritol sugar alcohol instead of sugar, and come in 16 oz plastic bottles. Each contains 10% juice and has 20 calories per bottle. There’s a healthy mix of vitamins in each serving, plus 20mg of “performance spectrum hemp extract.” Also of note, each batch is lab tested, and a QR code on the front of the bottle offers results. (However, I had some trouble scanning these codes on some bottles, due to the way the shrinkwrap warped around the plastic, causing distortion.)
Ready to amp up your Powerade with some CBD? Let’s dig in.
Defy CBD Lemonade – It’s a pretty sweet, almost saccharine rendition of lemonade — very lightly tart but rather candylike. Still, the terpene notes are evident, particularly on your first few sips. The sweetness gets to be a bit much about halfway through the experience, but with some diligence you can push through it. It probably helps if you’re dying of thirst after a long day on the football field. Rating: 7/10
Defy CBD Mixed Berry – The intense maraschino cherry note gives this a melted Sucrets character, which is considerably more cloying than the more approachable Lemonade expression. It’s just much too sweet for me, and doesn’t have the moderate refreshing quality that one wants from a “performance” drink. That said, it does manage to completely wipe the terpenes off the palate, if that’s your jam. Rating 5/10
Defy CBD Orange Mango – Fairly harmless, with a vague “orange drink” flavor to it. Mercifully less sweet than the Mixed Berry flavor, it’s approachable even for the long haul, with only a very modest terpene funk. It kind of works with the tropical mango note, in a tiki drink sorta way. Rating 8/10
Format: beverage, 16 oz bottle
Dosage: 20mg CBD per bottle
Strain: hemp
Calories: 20 per bottle
Price: $36 per six-pack plus shipping
Value: $0.30 per mg of CBD
Availability: National
Product website: drinkdefy.com
Defy CBD Lemonade
$26