CBD Coffee – The NEW Cannabis-Infused Craze?

Given the long-term popularity of coffee and the recent CBD trend, it was only a matter of time before manufacturers combined the two. An estimated 64% of American adults drink coffee daily, while around 120 million bags of coffee are produced globally.

A Gallup survey from a couple of years ago showed that 14% of Americans had tried CBD, a percentage that has recently increased. Therefore, it’s clear that the market for CBD coffee is potentially huge.

Of course, combining two extremely popular items doesn’t always have the desired effect. In this article, we outline what CBD coffee is, what it could do, along with possible benefits and side effects. We also look at the top brands in this sub-niche while explaining whether DIY CBD coffee is a good idea.

First, however, let’s look at the difference between CBD, marijuana, and hemp-infused coffee.

CBD Coffee vs. Marijuana Coffee vs. Hemp-Infused Coffee: What’s the Difference?

Many people want to know how CBD coffee differs from cannabis coffee or whether hemp-infused coffee is the same thing.

As it happens, hemp and marijuana are two plants from the same cannabis species, Cannabis sativa L. The major difference is that hemp doesn’t get you high. This is because legal industrial hemp in the United States contains a maximum of 0.3% THC by dry weight.

While both CBD and THC are found naturally in the cannabis plant, THC is the one that’s responsible for the stereotypical high. CBD provides similar medical and therapeutic effects without any intoxication. Therefore, marijuana-infused coffee may cause you to get stoned, whereas CBD coffee will not.

While CBD is found in hemp in abundance, it doesn’t necessarily mean that hemp-infused coffee will contain the cannabinoid. CBD is primarily found in the plant’s flowers, leaves, and stalks. If a company uses hemp’s seeds, on the other hand, it will contain minuscule levels of CBD at best.

As a result, you need to ensure that if you buy ‘hemp-infused’ coffee, it contains CBD.

How Is CBD Coffee Made?

CBD is an active compound in the marijuana plant. Thus, it needs to be properly extracted and isolated from other compounds before infusing it into beans during the coffee roasting process.

However, this isn’t as easy as simply soaking some beans in a “hemp-infused” oil. Nor is it a case of splashing a few drops of CBD tincture into dry coffee grounds before brewing a fresh pot.

The best manufacturers have spent years perfecting roasting processes that allow for efficient CBD infusion without sacrificing taste.

Rather, the natural oils that the coffee beans release during the grinding and roasting process need to be used as the actual CBD carrier. Otherwise, master brewers have found that the overall coffee taste becomes severely compromised.

The best CBD coffee brands spent years devising and perfecting specific roasting processes that allow for efficient CBD infusion without sacrificing any traditional coffee taste.

Health Benefits of CBD Infused Coffee

Many people drink coffee due to its purported health benefits. For example, even the aroma has anti-anxiety properties. Coffee also:

• Acts as a natural antioxidant
• Improves brain function
• Reduces the risk of liver cirrhosis

CBD also has many possible health benefits, although further research is required to solidify such claims. Nonetheless, CBD could:

• Offer natural pain relief
• Reduce anxiety and depression
• Decrease epilepsy symptoms
• Alleviate headaches and migraines
• Improve sleep function

To be clear, there isn’t much research into the health benefits of CBD coffee specifically. Even so, combining the two could prove extremely fruitful.

The majority of people experience the effects of coffee within 10 minutes or so. You will have processed up to 99% of the caffeine within 45 minutes. Moreover, caffeine could influence your system for around five hours.

CBD oil can take 30-60 minutes to affect and can remain in the system for six or more hours. Therefore, the timing is just right when you consume CBD coffee.

Now, let’s look more closely at three possible CBD coffee benefits.

CBD Infused Coffee Benefits – What Does the Science Say?

If you’ve ever drunk too much coffee, you’ll be familiar with adverse effects such as increased anxiety. However, using CBD oil coffee instead could mitigate these issues and offer the following benefits.

Greater Mental Alertness

You could experience an even greater level of mental alertness with CBD coffee than with caffeine alone.

This phenomenon is due to how caffeine interacts with adenosine receptors. Adenosine is a neurotransmitter that controls whether we feel tired or not. The bigger the adenosine build-up, the slower our neurons become at sending messages.

Studies show that caffeine attaches to adenosine receptors, thus stopping the neurotransmitter from performing its duty. However, research suggests that CBD is a modulator of adenosine and can improve the efficiency of its receptors.

Fewer Side Effects of Caffeine

Excessive caffeine use often results in the ‘jitters’ and could heighten anxiety. However, there is research that indicates CBD’s efficacy in reducing anxiety. Cannabidiol could achieve its anti-anxiety effects by doing the following:

• Relaxing the muscles
• Boosting GABA activity, thus causing relaxation throughout the nervous system
• Reducing inflammation in the brain
• Regulating hypothalamic function; the hypothalamus is the brain region that controls the stress response

Long-Lasting Benefits

The liver processes almost everything we consume before it is eliminated from the body. The liver uses CYP enzymes to metabolize the compounds in our bloodstream. The liver uses several of the same enzymes to metabolize caffeine and CBD.

As the liver can only do so much work at a time, consuming CBD and caffeine reduces the speed at which the liver can function. Therefore, when you drink CBD coffee, it prevents the liver from metabolizing either one too quickly.

CBD Coffee Side Effects

At present, there are no serious side effects reported from the consumption of CBD coffee. However, there are also no clinical studies into the possible long-term effects of consuming this trendy beverage. What we can tell you is that both substances have potential side effects. For caffeine, these are:

• Insomnia
• Dizziness
• Fever
• Headache
• Diarrhea
• Irritability
• Nervousness
• Vomiting
• Muscle spasms
• Confusion
• Hallucinations
• Chest pains
• Convulsions
• Dehydration

For CBD, possible side effects include:

• Dry mouth
• Low blood pressure
• Drowsiness
• Dizziness
• Diarrhea

As you can see, diarrhea and dizziness stand out as the common symptoms. Certainly, it makes sense to avoid using an excessive amount of either substance.

Also, there is a strong possibility that if you like your CBD coffee hot, you might reduce its efficacy. CBD content reduces when exposed to heat. According to Dr. Bonni Goldstein, CBD can begin to degrade in a solution at just 71 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, adding CBD to hot coffee could degrade the substance and reduce the amount available for absorption.

This certainly gives potential users an incentive to try a brand’s CBD coffee powder rather than simply adding CBD oil to coffee. Let’s analyze what you should look for in a reliable brand.

How to Choose CBD Coffee

If you want to get in on the CBD with coffee craze, you might be tempted to add oil to your morning cup. Certainly, plenty of recipes online encourage readers to create DIY CBD lattes and other exotic drinks.

However, if you place a few drops of CBD oil into your coffee, you’ll find that it floats on top. Unless you use an unflavored tincture, you might also find that your beverage doesn’t taste particularly appealing!

However, you could get around this by creating CBD bulletproof coffee. This involves blending coffee beans with MCT oil and unsalted butter or Grass-Fed Ghee. As CBD is fat-soluble, it will dissolve in the butter and MCT oil in your coffee.

If this seems too much trouble or too many calories, you should search for the best CBD-infused coffee brand. The problem is that the entire industry is loosely regulated. Therefore, you could walk into the trap of buying low-grade CBD or even coffee that contains little of the cannabinoid.

You need to look for brands that provide third-party lab reports outlining what’s inside their products. They must also use organic hemp grown in the United States or EU.

Please ensure the product contains a maximum of 0.3% THC and is free from heavy metals, pesticides, and other chemicals. There are far too many examples of CBD products not containing what is promised on the label.

Alternatively, you could save yourself some time by checking out what we feel are the best CBD coffee brands around.

What is the Best CBD Coffee Brand?

At present, there are still relatively few trustworthy brands available that offer CBD-infused coffee. Here are three of the best, in our opinion.

1 – Green Roads

This Florida-based enterprise is now one of the biggest CBD companies in the United States. It uses Colombian beans to make its CBD coffee, and there are three options:

• French Vanilla
• Hazelnut
• Founders’ Blend

You can purchase 2.5 oz or 12 oz packs. As the brand uses hemp flower in its coffee, there is no way of knowing how much CBD is in a pack from one batch to the next. While you can view the third-party lab report of the product you buy, it is frustrating to know that there’s an element of luck involved regarding how much cannabidiol you get for your money. At $30 for 12 ounces of coffee, some users might feel short-changed.

Nonetheless, Green Roads CBD coffeetastes fantastic and is worth consideration if you love both substances! Read our full Green Roads review here.

2 – Diamond CBD

The Diamond CBD brand sells its Chill CBD Assorted Coffee and Tea on its official website. The main downside is that this product is only available in pod form, so you’ll need a compatible machine. On the plus side, you get 25mg of CBD in each pod.

However, while it likely defeats Green Roads (which tends to offer less than 10mg of CBD per cup) for cannabidiol content, it is no match in the taste department. Check out our complete Diamond CBD review to learn more.

3 – CBD Living

Once again, the CBD coffee available from this brand can’t touch Green Roads in terms of taste. However, it does provide an extremely convenient method of drinking hot or cold coffee. You can choose between the following flavors:

• Matcha
• Golden Milk
• Black Coffee

There is 250mg of nano CBD in each container, which CBD Living says absorbs into the bloodstream at a greater rate than standard cannabidiol. With about 35 servings per container, you get 7mg of CBD per cup, although you can add more or less if you choose. To find out more about the brand, read our full CBD Living review.

Final Thoughts on CBD Coffee

Those who enjoy CBD coffee claim it is a fantastic way to start the morning. There is a suggestion that the combination of cannabidiol and caffeine work together to provide a unique array of benefits. A growing number of people use it to combat anxiety and help them feel good in the morning.

There is a suggestion that the combination of cannabidiol and caffeine work together to provide a unique array of benefits.

However, medical experts point out that there is no clinical trial evidence to suggest that CBD has these purported benefits. Both substances have potential side effects, so if you decide to try CBD coffee, begin with a small amount first to see how your body reacts.