Boston Beer Co. is launching a line of cannabis-infused beverages, called TeaPot, in Canada.
TeaPot is a line of iced tea with 5mg of THC, the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, per 12-oz. can. The first product is Good Day Iced Tea, lemon-flavored and “infused with Pedro's Sweet Sativa, a unique cultivar which is grown in Strathroy, Ontario,” according to a company release. TeaPot will be available in “select Canadian provinces” starting in July.
The launch comes about a year after Boston Beer, brewer of Samuel Adams and Truly Hard Seltzer, set up an R&D center in Canada for non-alcoholic cannabis products. Canada’s market for cannabis-infused beverages is roughly twice the size of America’s, according to research cited in the release. This is mostly because laws regarding cannabis are more uniform and permissive in Canada than in America, where transportation of THC across state lines is still a federal offense.
Boston Beer CEO Dave Burwick alluded to this situation when he said in the statement, “As we await further progress on U.S. regulations, we'll continue to develop an exciting product pipeline in the federally regulated market of Canada."