If you’re anything like me, drinking your cannabis has always been the goal, which is why I’m toasting the folks at Wunder for their sparkling seltzers.
Let’s be honest: it’s hard to have an easy time consuming cannabis, even in 2022, even in legal parts of the country. Most places frown on smoking and vaping, which usually means you’re going to have to head outside for a fix. Edibles? Maybe with a trusted brand, once you’ve given them a test run. And while I marvel at my friends who can do a dab and then walk me through the latest updates in astrophysics a third time, I’m not joining their ranks.
The issue is simple—most cannabis products don’t give you tight controls on the taper of your high. Enter Wunder and their sparkling beverages infused with CBD, THC, and delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol.
Cannabis beverages logically seem like they’d behave the way other “edibles” would—a long wait followed by a gradual or sudden onset of effects.
The beauty of Wunder, though, is that if you’re casually and comfortably sipping one of their cans, you can effectively spread that 8 mg or 20 mg dose out over twenty minutes, half an hour, an hour—however long you take to finish a can.
Wunder, which launched in San Francisco in the summer of 2020, was the result of founder Alexi Chialtas’ stressful Silicon Valley job at the time. Employed at Zynga, Chialtas was leaning on alcohol to deal with job stress, and wanted an alternative.
Wunder was designed to deliver a relaxing body high while maintaining a clear head and presence. It’s the promise sativa lovers are always making about how their favorite strain leaves you high but socially engaged.
If he was looking for a replacement for a happy hour cocktail, he found it, in not one but two formats.
Higher Vibes
Higher Vibes is the high-octane format for Wunder: a 12 oz. can containing the biggest hits of THC. The cold beer on the porch, the mint julep in the afternoon sun, the tiki drink with an umbrella while you’re under a larger umbrella—it’s hard to describe the experience of Higher Vibes.
Crush a pack of four of these and you’ll be entirely burnt out, but enjoy one during happy hour or with brunch and, well, you’ll feel the muscles in your neck unclench. The nice thing about Higher Vibes is that there wasn’t a perceptible full-body high from a single can when you took your time with the beverage. Drinking it slowly spreads those good feelings out with the same satisfying ease of a master baker spreading icing on a cake.
Sessions
A chiller beverage option, Sessions delivers 2 mg of Delta-9 THC, 2 mg of Delta-8 THC, and 4 mg of CBD in each beverage. These had an expectedly more subtle effect, and it felt most appropriate at the end of a weeknight after dinner. I had a pleasant experience treating Sessions as a bedtime beverage, like a cup of chamomile tea or a cold glass of milk. It was relaxing, but not dominating.
Flavors vary slightly, but across both formats you’ll find Grapefruit Hibiscus, Blood Orange Bitters, Blackberry Lemon, Watermelon Basil and Lemon Ginger.
The herbal flavors were bullseyes—just the right pop of dry flavors without sickening levels of sweetness. The citrus flavors were a bit punchier but still refreshing first and foremost—all straight out of the can.
It’s the kind of thing you’ll want to throw in the cooler for the next few months, especially as things get warm, and the idea of a cold beer or seltzer just doesn’t offer you the right vibe.
