8th Wonder, one of Houstonians’ favorite makers of craft beer and spirits, was acquired by Texas cannabis operator Bayou City Hemp Company last week. The sale, one of the biggest in Houston beer history, follows a series of collaborations between the two companies on non-alcoholic THC beverages that have been ongoing for more than two years.

“This isn't a buyout,” says Ryan Soroka, who founded 8th Wonder Brewery in East Downtown in 2013, later adding a distillery in 2018, and a cannabis dispensary in 2022. “Bayou City Hemp is a local business who values and cherishes our local brewery. They respect and love our history and legacy and they want to catapult it into the future. It’s exciting times.”

8th Wonder started with beer, and Soroka says it’s not going anywhere. The acquisition means faster growth and distribution to top retailers in Texas like H-E-B, Kroger, Walmart, Total Wine and More, and Spec’s, as well as facility improvements and operations. But the CBD and THC products are what consumers are looking for the most these days, he says.

With the fast-growing cannabis sector in mind, Bayou Hemp and 8th Wonder are combining forces to distribute and sell their cannabis, beer, and spirits products together across the country. The companies are aiming to place Houston on the map as a pioneer in the industry.

“Houston always takes a back seat to other Texas cities, and the way we’re doing things here doesn’t exist anywhere else,” says Benjamin Meggs, Bayou Hemp’s CEO. “We’re also doing it right by leaning into regulations and complying with federal and state laws while also making it safe to consumers.”

The partnership between the two companies began after restaurateur Chris Shepherd introduced the teams. Just eight months later, they kicked off their first drink, Wonder Water Herbal Seltzer, one of the first THC beverages in the country.

Canna-curious 8th Wonder visitors can now try all hemp-derived seltzers—including Wonder Water, as well as newer products like Howdy's THC Paloma and Ranch Water, Third Coast-Beach Break Berry THC, and Mixer Elixir-Ranch Water CBD—at the new distillery and dispensary across the street from the brewery. “We recognize that the future of the beverage market is going to be a lot of non-alcoholic adult beverages and ready to drink spirits,” Meggs says.

After producing alcohol for 10 years, which is heavily regulated and considered a dangerous substance when overconsumed, Soroka, Meggs, and chief revenue officer Joel Canada say it’s time to break the taboo of cannabis products, most of which in Texas are infused with hemp-derived Delta-8 or Delta-9 THC, now legal in the state.

Soroka, who is taking on the role of chief brand and marketing officer in the combined team, says rolling out these beverages in a low-dose form will help consumers dip their toes without worry and in a safe, effective way. Canada says they want these products to be just as sessionable as a beer.

“In our efforts in this endeavor, we are trying to bring cannabis out of the shadows and into the light,” Soroka says. “We don’t want people to be on another planet, but we’re trying to link this to the social norms we’ve been accustomed to for centuries, which is drinking alcohol.” 

With a world-class facility at Bayou City Hemp, including everything from top-tier infrastructure to the expertise of multiple chemists, the new company is ahead of many other players in Texas’s emerging cannabis industry.

“We know that this market is going to get saturated,” Canada says. “There’s going to be bigger players coming in, and we want to do it right from the start and stand the test of time in this new world of alternative adult beverages.”