Viv & Oak isn’t “weed wine,” but it’s in the neighborhood, arriving in a traditional 750ml decanter, stoppered with a cork, and built atop a base of fermented California grapes. But Viv & Oak contains no alcohol (“less than 0.5% abv,” anyway). Instead, the active ingredient is THC (and/or CBD in some of the 5 versions of the beverage). The company sent us its Shimmering Scarlett 50mg product, which contains 50mg of THC total and no CBD. It’s based on dealcoholized zinfandel; a rose wine-style version is also available.
The taste is, well, daunting. Cloudy and maroon in color, it doesn’t exactly pass for wine in the glass. Nor does it come close on the palate: Despite containing just 3 grams of sugar, it’s incredibly sweet stuff that tastes exactly like Concord grape juice concentrate, fizzed up with a ton of carbonation. It’s rather overbearing, like drinking carbonated sweet & sour sauce, with a pungent fruitiness that seems designed to temper the terpene notes. These are indeed well-hidden, emerging only fleetingly on the otherwise ultra-sweet conclusion. I was really only able to finish half a glass before calling it quits.
And yet, the beverage is effective. Even with just a ~5mg dose of THC, I found Viv & Oak to be powerfully relaxing in less than half an hour, and it definitely helped me get to sleep quickly and stay asleep through most of the night. At 70 cents per mg of THC it’s not a great value if all you need is a sleep aid, but if the taste of the product resonates with you, it’s definitely something to consider sipping on when everyone else around you is drinking wine.
Rating 5/10
Format: beverage, 750ml bottle
Dosage: 10mg THC per 5oz serving (5 servings per bottle)
Strain: unknown
Calories: 16 per serving
Price: $35 per bottle
Value: $0.70 per mg of THC
Availability: California
Product website: vivandoak.com
Viv & Oak Shimmering Scarlett 50mg Cannabis-Infused Beverage
$35
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