2018 Best Cocktails in America: Blueberry Yum Yum

These 10 cocktails, representing leading bar trends, were selected by editors of Restaurant Hospitality to spotlight innovation. Read on and get inspired. See all the winners >>

Where to find it: Sea Sea Riders, Dundin, Fla.

Price: $15

Creator: Emine Tzekas

Ingredients: Nolets Gin, blueberry shrub, Friexnet Negro Brut, lemon juice, sugar, butterfly pea flower tea, cannabidiol, otherwise known as CBD oil

Trend: CBD oil as a hot ingredient

“It’s legal,” said Emine Tzekas, bar manager of Sea Sea Riders in Dunedin, Fla.

She’s talking about CBD oil, designated as a supplement and increasingly appearing in cocktails and other beverages across the country, even in states that have not yet legalized cannabis for recreational use.

It’s an ingredient that lacks the tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, that makes people “high,” often associated with marijuana, she said. The restaurant has been hosting CBD dinners, featuring various dishes enhanced with CBD oil, and it was only natural to include cocktails on the menu.

The Blueberry Yum Yum, for example, is made with Nolets Gin, a blueberry shrub, Friexent Negro Brut, lemon juice, sugar and a CBD-oil tincture. Tzekas said she adds only about 25 milligrams, which has a relaxing effect but adds no real flavor.

“It’s really a twist on a French 75,” she said of the cocktail. “It’s a beautiful purplish blue color.”

Guests at the restaurant are invited to add CBD tinctures to any of the cocktails, but the Blueberry Yum Yum will stay on the menu. “We plan to keep it for a while, until we do another CBD cocktail for winter,” she said.