Next time you’re in a bar, look around to see how many twenty-somethings are drinking alcohol. It might be fewer than you think. This age group earned a bad rap in the workplace, but one thing they can be thanked for is the rising popularity of the “sober-curious” or “damp” lifestyle, which is the practice of moderation when consuming alcoholic beverages.

According to recent research from NCSolutions, a company that helps companies improve advertising performance, an increasing number of people in Generation Z, specifically those born between 1997 and 2002 who are legal to drink as of the study, want to drink less alcohol. Millennials also reported wanting to drink less. The reasons they give are wanting to improve physical and mental health and save money.

To meet that demand, companies are crafting alcohol alternatives, including mocktails and drinks infused with THC or CBD, both compounds found in the cannabis plant (THC will get you high; CBD won’t, as it’s not a psychoactive). Places like 8th Wonder Brewery, Wild Concepts, and Sipple in Houston have led the growing trend of infused drinks to cater to the sober-curious crowd.

How we got here

A few legislative changes paved the way for the explosion of CDB and THC products. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the Farm Bill, helped authorize the production of hemp by removing hemp and hemp seeds from the controlled substances schedule under the Drug Enforcement Administration, making consumable hemp products that contain less than 0.3 percent of THC legal in Texas. In 2019, House Bill 1325 authorized the production, manufacture, retail sale, and inspection of hemp crops and products, including both CBD and THC.

Companies rushed to supply a surging market. One local company, Bayou City Hemp Co., which sells cannabinoid products, wasted no time with filling it. The company began operations that same year.

“We wanted to have a product that could have similar velocities to alcohol, and I think there’s always been consumer demand for THC—we didn’t have to create this product to know that,” says Ben Meggs, CEO of Bayou City Hemp and 8th Wonder Cannabis.

Joel Canada, chief revenue officer of Bayou City Hemp and 8th Wonder, says the company is hyper-focused on cannabis-infused beverages and gummies for the “canna-curious” consumer. “The best way for us to capture that audience … is through beverage because it’s a familiar format,” Canada says. “Social consumption of beverages is ancient.”

In 2023, Bayou City Hemp acquired 8th Wonder, one of Houston’s most famous breweries. Meggs says the taproom allows the company to get feedback from customers. And with the THC beverages on tap, right next to the beer, they’ve seen the revenue from the THC drinks increase over time, but still not takie away from alcohol sales.

Newbies might worry about how THC-infused drinks will make them feel. Canada says a consumer will know within about 10 to 15 minutes how their body is going to respond to Bayou City Hemp’s 8th Wonder Cannabis products. Not only is the beverage fast-acting, it’s also not long-lasting because of the low dosage.

“People still want to socialize with their friends and have a drink in hand and also feel some sort of effect from that drink, but they don’t want the negative side effects that come with alcohol,” Meggs says. “These products that we’re producing meet that need.”

On 4/20 this year (the weed-themed holiday that happens every year on April 20), 8th Wonder teamed up with Ninfa’s for a THC-infused Tranquilita Margarita—it included 8th Wonder’s Ocho Verde cannabis spirit, Cut Above zero proof agave blanco, fresh lime, cucumber puree, and agave syrup. The drink was so good, it even earned a special shoutout from Mick Jagger during the Rolling Stones concert in Houston in April.

Bayou City Hemp’s goal is to sell the canned THC-infused drinks to major retailers. Right now, this includes Spec’s, Total Wine, and the Houston shop Sipple.

Moving away from alcohol

Sipple, a nonalcoholic bottle shop in Rice Village, was the first of its kind to open in Texas. It was founded shortly after Bayou City Hemp was, in 2021, by Helenita and Danny Frounfelkner. After working for years in the restaurant industry as a sommelier and beverage director, Danny realized the toll alcohol had taken on his body. In 2020, he buckled down on his nonalcoholic journey and began to research different brands of high-quality, nonalcoholic drinks. Helenita says the market lacked nonalcoholic options that were thoughtfully made and not full of sugar.

With his experience and knack for finding good-tasting products, Danny started a curated e-commerce shop and in October 2021, Sipple officially opened its brick-and-mortar to Houstonians. Now, the shop sells nonalcoholic varieties of wine, beer, tequila, vodka, whiskey, and many other spirits. The products offered at Sipple are carefully chosen based on the quality of ingredients. These beverages differ from alcohol on a molecular level (alcohol molecules are three times bigger than water molecules), so they will feel and taste different, Helenita says.

“More of the [younger] generation wants to be present with big moments and milestones in their lives. They want to have a clear memory of big events,” she says. “People think that the hole is only needing to be filled by those people in recovery or that identify as being sober, but the nonalcoholic industry is for everybody.”

Some Sipple customers are in recovery, but many others are shopping there for a variety of other reasons—religious reasons, a pregnancy, or simply a desire to reduce their alcohol consumption. Helenita and Danny are not fully sober, either. They worked with Bayou City Hemp to bring 8th Wonder products to their shelves and hope to carry more CBD and THC products in the future.

Houston-area restaurants have also caught on. Adyson Alvis, owner of Wild Concepts, says he saw an uptick in popularity of cannabis beverages around 2019 at Grinders Coffee, the company’s coffee shop and dispensary. More people started coming in asking for nonalcoholic mixed THC or CBD beverages. In 2022, Alvis opened Wild, which serves CBD- and THC-infused drinks and even food—first as a coffee bar in the Heights, followed by a restaurant in Montrose, taking over the former UB Preserv space. He says the goal of Wild Concepts is to create a space that encompasses everyone regardless of whether they drink alcohol or not.

Although diners were initially intimidated by the menu items at Wild, after some education, Alvis says more and more people were on board with the idea—and some have even become regulars.

“We’ve seen the knowledge of [cannabinoids] going up, as well as the willingness to try cannabis in Houston—especially as time has gone on with all the new products,” Alvis says. “Every day we’re getting people coming in saying ‘I’ve never tried this before; I really want to try it.’”