The CQ “Blackberry lemon lime spritzer” was one of the tastier cannabis beverages I’ve tried so far, and it didn’t disappoint.

I purchased this in my local dispensary for $7. The top of the can is funny because this is supposed to be resealable, so that a consumer doesn’t feel undue pressure to finish the whole thing. I think these tops are also supposed to be more child-safe. The top of this can is one of the stupid things about cannabis regulation.

You can notice the bubbles as I pour this. All the beverages I’ve gotten for this round of testing are carbonated. Sometimes the packaging suggests that I should shake before opening. Do you usually want to shake a seltzer or soda right before you open it?

This was a pretty tasty drink, with full and juicy flavor. The list of ingredients includes juice concentrates and I believe it. “Blackberry lemon lime spritzer” gave me the berry tickle in my nose and had a nice balance of citrus and sweet (My personal preference would have been a little less sweet).

I tested this CQ with the LightLab 3 HS from Orange Photonics, Inc.. Beverages are challenging for cannabinoid testing because they contain just a few milligrams of active ingredients in hundreds of grams of water and stuff. That’s parts per million concentration of cannabinoids. For that measurement, the beverage is injected directly into the LightLab without any diluting solvent.

You’ll see me pulling up some of the sample into a syringe. I’m pulling air bubbles through the liquid in the syringe, then turning it upside down to push the air back out so I can do it again. This, and warming the syringe with my hand, helps to remove the dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2).

Despite my effort to decarbonate the samples in the syringe, my measurements of all beverages were more scattered, and a little lower, the day of opening them. After they stood in a glass for a day they were completely flat, and gave consistent results that were a little higher than on the day of opening.

I found a consistent content of 4.3 mg THC per can when I measured the flat seltzer. It tasted better fresh and cold than it did flat and at room-temperature, but it was still drinkable.

We should be careful about judging a company too strongly over a single test result. These products are as challenging to formulate as they are to measure. THC (or any cannabinoid) is really insoluble in water, and you need emulsifiers to mix them. The choice of emulsifier is a big difference between brands of infused products.

Even if this beverage was correctly tested at 5.43 mg back in January, getting down to a concentration of 4.3 mg in May can be understood. The emulsion of THC in the beverage is usually not stable over long periods of time, and a milligram of THC stuck to the sides of the can is invisible to my eye. As we go forward, we’ll see that accurate formulation at the point of consumption is a huge challenge in the beverage segment.