LAFAYETTE, NY — Three initials — CBD — represent one of the hottest trends in consumer retailing these days.
Now LaFayette’s Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards is launching its first CBD product — a cold-brew coffee that will be sold at Wegmans food stores and at the Beak & Skiff farm store in LaFayette.
Beak & Skiff CBD Cold Brew Coffee should hit the shelves within the next two weeks. It’s sold in 12-ounce and 48-ounce plastic bottles.
CBD, short for cannabidiol, is an oily compound made from cannabis plants. Its proponents say it has therapeutic properties, such as pain, inflammation and stress relief. It does not get you “high.” It’s sold in edible products, ointments, vaping additives and more.
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It can be made from both species of cannabis — the variety known for its psychoactive powers (marijuana) or hemp, also known as industrial hemp, which contains only traces of the high-inducing compound THC.
Beak & Skiff currently sources its CBD oil from a state licensed grower of industrial hemp in Cortland County, and hopes in the near future to grow its own in the fields near its sprawling apple orchards, company president Eddie Brennan said. Growing industrial hemp has been legal since last year, when federal law took it off the regulated drug list.
The success of Beak & Skiff’s overall CBD plan is still to be determined. Beak & Skiff recently planted some test plots of hemp and hopes to determine how well they can grow it by the harvest this September, said orchard manager Pete Fleckenstein.
And the legality of using CBD in food and beverages is still clouded in some uncertainty.
“Our goal is vertical integration, where we do everything from growing (hemp) and extraction (distilling the CBD oil from the plant), to production and bottling, which we’re doing now,” Brennan said. “While CBD is certainly hot right now, it’s still early and we have to see how all this works out.”
APPLES TO CBD
Beak & Skiff is no stranger to diversifying its products. The family-owned orchards were founded in 1911, and mostly sold apples on the stand and to retailers for decades. It moved into fresh (sweet) cider in the 1970s.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Beak & Skiff launched its alcoholic beverage line (now called 1911 Established), starting with hard cider and apple wine. It now produces beverages from vodka and bourbon to canned cocktails.
The new CBD Cold Brew Coffee does not contain alcohol (and is branded Beak & Skiff, not 1911). It does, of course, contain caffeine as well as about 20 grams of CBD per 12-ounce serving.
“That combination could give you a kind of slow rush,” Brennan said.
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Beak & Skiff starts with coffee from the local Paul de Lima roasters in Cicero. That is cold brewed in the same facility Beak & Skiff uses for its fresh cider. It’s kept refrigerated during the entire process.
Just before the coffee is pasteurized, it is infused the CBD oil.
The CBD comes from hemp grown at Head and Heal, a farm-based organic producer in Cortland. The CBD oil is also extracted there (something that Beak & Skiff hopes to do itself in the future). The extraction process involves infusing the hemp with ethanol to pull the oil out, then filtering. The extraction also removes much of the tiny amount of THC found in the hemp.
The team at Beak & Skiff also worked with Cornell University specialists in deciding how to make use of the CBD.
The decided to use what is known as “full spectrum” CBD, rather than “isolate.” Isolate is a more pure form, but does not contain some of the other compounds found in CBD. Among those are terpenes, which offer distinctive hemp aromas and flavors.
The Beak & Skiff CBD Cold Brew Coffee has the words “Full Spectrum Energy” on the label.
The next step was to determine how much CBD to use, Brennan said.
“We didn’t want this to taste like bong water,” he said. “So we played around with different amounts. We still want some of the character of hemp.”
In the end, they settle on 20 grams per serving, because “that gave us a subtle aroma and flavor, not overpowering.”
The coffee itself helps mask the CBD flavor, though the final product does have a sort of subtle earthiness.
The coffee is kept at refrigerator temperature through the process and delivery to stores, and should be kept chilled, Brennan said. He also recommends gently shaking it to make sure the oil is fully blended with the coffee.
The suggested price for Beak & Skiff CBD Cold Brew Coffee is $4.99 for a 12-ounce bottle or $8.99 for a 48-ounce bottle.
The decision to enter the CBD market with coffee seemed like a natural fit, Brennan said. Beak & Skiff is already making a non-CBD Cold Brew Coffee in more limited distribution than the CBD version.
“If you’re looking for a way to make a regular habit of getting your CBD, what better way than along with your coffee?” he said. “We recommend drinking it however or whenever you drink you coffee.”
LEGAL UNCERTAINTY
The landscape for all things hemp and marijuana has been rapidly changing in the past few years. And it remains confusing.
One big change came in late 2018, when Congress passed a farm bill that for the first time since 1937 legalized the growing of industrial hemp, which contains less than 0.3 percent THC (not marijuana). The law allows the manufacturing and sale of products containing hemp or its derivatives, like terpenes or CBD.
But the U.S. Federal Drug Administration has been less clear about the use of those substances in food and beverages, according to reports at Business Insider and other media outlets. Initial statements indicated the agency was not certain of the legality. In April, the FDA issued a statement saying it would “explore potential pathways for dietary supplements and/or conventional foods containing CBD to be lawfully marketed.”
Some local jurisdictions, notably New York City, have attempted to ban edible or drinkable “consumable” products containing CBD. New York City’s ban went into effect Monday.
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Meanwhile, the New York state Legislature last month approved a bill that would allow the state to regulate and license the the production and manufacture of hemp products like CBD oil. It would, for example, require producers to accurately list the amount of CBD in a product. The bill has not yet been signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and even then it will take time to set up the rules and licensing procedures.
Adding to the confusion for the public was the recent debate in New York over whether to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. That failed, and instead lawmakers passed a law (not yet signed by the governor) that would “decriminalize” some marijuana possession offenses and clear the records of those convicted of low level marijuana crimes.
Neither of those bills addressed issues of cannabis derivatives in commercial products.
Beak & Skiff is currently among 278 industrial hemp growers who are part of a New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets research program. The company also has a state license to begin extracting CBD from the hemp if its test plots succeed.
“There are still some questions,” Eddie Brennan said. “But we’re ready to roll with this. It’s an exciting new market.”
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Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at [email protected], or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
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