By now, you've likely heard of CBD and the wonderful benefits it can provide (if you haven't, click here).
Over the last year, there have been many CBD drinks being released. With so many drinks out there, how do you know which one is best? Are you getting ripped off? Where is the CBD sourced from? What other ingredients are in the drink?
We are going to answer all of those questions so you know what drink you should be grabbing off the shelf.
We already know that KILL CLIFF CBD is the best tasting and most functional CBD beverage on the market. This blog will further prove us right.
KILL CLIFF
Flavors: Orange Kush, The Purple G.O.A.T., and Mango Tango
Type of drink: Recovery Drink
Price: $69 USD for 12 pack
Amount of CBD per can: 25 mg
Price of CBD per can: $.23 per mg of CBD
Type of CBD: Broad-Spectrum Hemp
Calories: 15 per can
Total sugar: 0g per can
Other: Sweetened with Erythritol and Stevia, Vitamin & Plant Extract Blend, 25mg of green tea caffeine
Comments: KILL CLIFF CBD is the best value CBD beverage on this market. Not only are you getting 25mg of CBD, but you're also getting high-quality ingredients that the other beverages aren't offering.
You would think that with 25mg of CBD and high-quality ingredients, KILL CLIFF would have the highest price of CBD per can. Luckily for you and your wallet, we're one of the most affordable drinks on the market with only $.23 per mg of CBD.
This product is a mash-up of the market-leading Kill Cliff RECOVER formula and broad-spectrum hemp yielding 25mg CBD. Click here to learn more about this awesome drink, or you know....just go ahead and buy some here!
Along with the recovery benefits of CBD oil, KILL CLIFF CBD is loaded with B Vitamins, a specialized blend of plant extracts, and electrolytes to support hydration to help you get back to full speed.
Recess
Flavors: Blackberry Chai, Peach Ginger, and Pomegranate Hibiscus
Type of drink: Sparkling water
Price: $39.99 USD for 8 pack
Amount of CBD per can: 10 mg
Price of CBD per can: $.50 per mg of CBD
Type of CBD: Broad-Spectrum Hemp Oil
Calories: 25
Total sugar: 6g per can (Organic Cane Sugar)
Other: 188mg of potassium, 200mg of American Ginseng, 130mg of L-theanine
Comments: Recess Sparkling CBD water is one of the more popular CBD drinks on the market. Their simple, yet trendy pastel cans might catch your eye, but what should really catch your eye is the price of CBD per can, the sugar amount, and the lack of CBD in general.
With each can of Recess going for roughly $5, you're paying $.50 per mg of CBD. That may not sound like a lot, but comparable to other drinks on the market, it's not cheap. Additionally, with only 10mgs of CBD per can, Recess really isn't packing it in. Again, other drinks on the market are providing more CBD for less.
While they do offer some beneficial ingredients such as potassium, ginseng, and amino acids, they do throw in 6g of cane sugar. While cane sugar is not the worst sugar option, there are still better alternatives.
Stoked
Flavors: Strawberry Blonde, Frose Rose, Birthday Cake Bash, Mango Bango
Type of drink: Carbonated Drink
Price: $39.99 USD for 12 pack
Amount of CBD per can: ? mg
Price of CBD per can: ? cents per mg of CBD
Type of CBD: Broad-Spectrum Hemp
Calories: 0
Total sugar: 0g per can*
Other: 35mg of potassium, Sucralose
Comments: The makers of Bang Energy drinks have released a carbonated CBD drink called Stoked. Just like Bang, Stoked is a somewhat confusing product as they don't give out a lot of information on their drink. Stoked is labeled as a CBD drink, but nowhere on the can does it show you how much CBD is in their drink. After doing more research online, we're unable to determine how much, if any CBD oil is found in Stoked.
Most people would look at the ingredients and think "no calories, fat, or sugar? Sounds great." That does sound great until you take a look down at the ingredients list and see Stoked is sweetened with sucralose.
Sucralose, otherwise known as Splenda, is a popular artificial sweetener found in sugar-free versions of Rockstar and Monster. Despite being around since the 1990s, there has not been a ton of human research done on the effects of sucralose. There have been sucralose studies conducted on rats showing damage to gut bacteria. There have also been studies linking sucralose to a higher risk of cancer with the mice.
Ingredients like Creatine, Amino Acids, and Caffeine are intensely bitter in their natural form. Often energy drinks and pre-workout drinks that contain these ingredients use tons of artificial sweeteners to mask the bitter taste. In this case, Sucralose is the chosen ingredient. While Sucralose is a zero-calorie sweetener, it also creates an unhealthy blood sugar spike.
Vybes
Flavors: Blueberry Mint, Peach Ginger, Strawberry Lavender, Burning Mandarin, Honeycrisp Apple Basil
Type of drink: Green Tea
Price: $96 USD for 12 pack
Amount of CBD per can: 25 mg
Price of CBD per can: $.32 per mg of CBD
Type of CBD: CBD isolate
Calories: 25
Total sugar: 4g per can
Other: 30mg of green tea caffeine
Comments: Compared to the other drinks, the ingredients of their drink are fantastic, as they use Erythritol, Stevia, and Green Tea caffeine. While the ingredients are great, the price is pretty steep. They are still better than Recess with price of CBD per can, but there are other drinks on the market with the same ingredients for less.
Defy
Flavors: Lemonade, Orange Mango, Mixed Berry
Type of drink: Sports Drink
Price: $84 USD for 12 pack
Amount of CBD per can: 20 mg
Price of CBD per can: $.35 per mg of CBD
Type of CBD: Performance-Spectrum Hemp
Calories: 140 per can
Total sugar: 34g per can
Other: 360mg of potassium, 10% coconut water for enhanced hydration
Comments: Defy, created by NFL Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis, is one of the few CBD sports drinks on the market. A great concept, but this is essentially CBD sugar water. Just for reference, Gatorade's 20oz bottle has 125 calories and 36 grams of sugar. A 16oz bottle of Defy is 140 calories and contains 34 grams of sugar.
Unless you're doing a longer, intense workout, you're likely not burning enough calories during your workout to make drinking that Defy worth it. Especially if you are a less-active person looking to lose weight through exercise, stay away from Defy as it will only hinder your weight loss.
Defy also has the second-highest price of CBD per can at $.35 per mg of CBD. They also claim to have "Performance-Spectrum Hemp". We're not quite sure what that means, as CBD is generally classified as broad-spectrum or full-spectrum CBD. Defy does not go into details about what Performance-Spectrum Hemp means on their website.
With 34 grams of sugar, it's likely that you'll enjoy the taste of Defy, but it certainly is the most unhealthy option available of the CBD researched for this blog. The price of CBD per can is also not desirable.
Weller
Flavors: Black Cherry, Watermelon, and Tangerine
Type of drink: Sparkling Water
Price: $60 USD for 12 pack
Amount of CBD per can: 25 mg
Price of CBD per can: $.20 per mg of CBD
Type of CBD: Broad-Spectrum Hemp
Calories: 0 per can
Total sugar: 0g per can
Other: N/A
Comments: Weller has a competitive price of CBD per can compared to other sparkling water products. While their price is low, one thing that's aggravating is that they don't go into detail as to what natural flavors they are using to flavor their drink. Though CBD is an incredibly beneficial ingredient, Weller doesn't offer any other truly beneficial ingredients in their CBD drink, unlike the others on this list.
