The THC Soda Boom Has Arrived, But What Does it Take to Stand Out From the Crowd?

(Photos: Plift)

Long gone are the days of reefer madness — in 2025, THC beverages are available just about everywhere imaginable. And it’s easy to understand why.

Gen Z is reportedly drinking around one-third less beer and wine than previous generations, with alcohol consumption at large declining 10% among the 18 to 34 crowd over the past two decades. Projections show that the trend will likely accelerate in years to come. Of course, industry regulars are already positioning themselves as a savvy alternative. A burgeoning genre of low- and no-alc products has appeared out of seemingly thin air, marketing themselves front and center on occasions like Dry January to successful effect.

Simultaneously (and occasionally in hand with), we’ve witnessed the rise of the THC- and CBD-infused drink. Often marketed with on-the-nose names like Hazy Daydream or Chronic Spritz (both of which are imagined, but not so far off from reality), the concept has evolved into a full-fledged, potentially billion-dollar industry. Variations abound in seltzer, juice, functional, spirit-inspired and tea-based options.

It’s a lot to choose from, and frankly, a whole lot of clutter.

For better insight into this fast-growing category, we sat down with Plift founder Todd Harris. Innovating what he calls a “classic cocktail-inspired THC-infused soda brand,” Harris finds himself at the intersection of myriad trends competing for attention in an already crowded market. It’s a lofty goal for Plift to stand out from the crowd, and Harris is backing it up with lofty ambitions.

“We want to make sure that everyone in this country is no more than a quarter mile from a Plift,” Harris told us. “We want people in the cities and the neighborhoods most impacted by the failed War on Drugs to have an alternative to alcohol. You can go to any neighborhood in any city and see beer, see booze. I want people who look like me to be able to walk into those stores and say, ‘You know what, I’m not drinking today. I’m drinking Plift.'” 

The Hemp Option

The path to legalization for brands like Plift looks a little different than what you might expect. Medical marijuana licenses, adult-use cannabis regulations and state-by-state decriminalization are all irrelevant.

The story begins in 2018, when the federal Farm Bill removed hemp, defined as cannabis with less than 0.3% THC by dry weight, from the national list of Schedule 1 substances. Consumers who didn’t hear about the legislation were sure to witness its seismic effect on shelves within a matter of months. From hemp beverages to gummies to flower, green goods were suddenly available in equal quantity as soda or potato chips. More often than not, these are the products advertised as delta-8 or delta-9 THC in big, bold letters on the label. Whether they relax or inebriate is a matter of messaging; however you want to angle it, hemp and cannabis target your brain with an identical chemical compound.

In enters Todd Harris. He and co-founder Glenn McElfresh initially imagined Plift within the licensed cannabis market, capitalizing on state-level commercial use laws that have taken off over the past few years. Talking with potential investors, they quickly encounter a Catch-22.

“We would go to try to raise money from some of the biggest venture funds and multi-state operators with funds around social equity,” Harris said. “And they basically said, come back to us when you have sales. But you can’t have sales when that group owns the cultivation, they own the manufacturing and they own the retail. They’re not letting you in.”

And thus, the Plift recipe was born.

The brand currently offers beverages in two dosage varieties, one containing 4 milligrams of hemp-derived THC and the other 10 milligrams. Its flavors — Juicy Grapefruit, Crisp Ginger and Tart Lime — are not-so-subtle riffs on the Paloma, Moscow Mule and Margarita, respectively. Harris says that the decision came down to polling. Unlike many competitors, which pitch themselves as catch-all seltzers or functional beverages, Plift imagines itself as an alcohol alternative.

Suffice it to say that this is a category that has become equally oversaturated over the past couple of years, albeit in a very different way. Alcohol industry giants like LVMH, Pernod Ricard and Diageo have lumbered onto the market with big-budget, zero-proof twists on tequila, whiskey, gin and just about everything else under the sun. It’s a sensible strategy shift as younger consumers are drinking less than previously seen in decades.

But, more often than not, there’s a disconnect. Products that market themselves as faux-tequila or faux-rum are still having a hard time approximating the “real” thing, amounting to a 750-milliliter conundrum that lies just as much in the liquid as it does on the label.

Before we got to Plift or the history of hemp legalization, Harris introduced himself first as an alcoholic in recovery. For him, products like Plift are not merely a booze alternative or a THC delivery vessel, but a synthesis of all the above and then some. It all lies in the eye of the beholder. As he was quick to point out, Plift is one letter short of “Uplift” because that’s all it’s missing — you.

“When we think about you, we think about collective ‘yous,'” Harris said. “You the canna-curious, you the cannabis enthusiast, you the person that’s just tinkering around with sober curiosity. Or you, the Todd Harris of the world, who knows that you need to change things in your life and unwind in a different way.” 

These days, Plift finds itself at nearly 2,500 retail points across the country. That’s made up of a motley assortment of liquor stores, traditional groceries, convenience stores, bars, restaurants, non-alc bottle shops and smoke shops. All of that in addition to online ordering, which is permissible across state lines for hemp-derived products.

Unlike the venture fund-dominated cannabis industry, Harris says that most brands on his side of the market are still mom-and-pop affairs. Many collaborate under the auspices of organizations like the Hemp Beverage Alliance and the Coalition for Adult Beverage Alternatives, which push for state-level guidelines like those pioneered by Minnesota in 2022.

“Today, it’s small independent brands like myself that dominate the shelf space. If you got into a Total Wine or a Spec’s in Texas, you’re going to see the majority of those brands are independent, small business owners. That’ll likely be the way of the world for the next 18, 24, 36 months.”

Harris estimates that there are around 1,000 brands of his ilk currently available to consumers. Once private equity gets involved, we imagine that number could easily double if not triple.

But the Plift founder doesn’t seem too worried about competition from across the aisle. His brand recently won Startup CPG’s 2024 Shelfie Award for best CBD/THC drink in the country, and both Crisp Ginger and Tart Lime won the Silver Medal at the High Spirits Awards. Expansion is moving fast, and Harris is confident in the liquid he can provide to back it up.

“Consumers are getting smart. They’re over the novelty of THC in a can; they’re no longer willing to overpay for mediocre liquid. A lot of brands out there were early entrants and their product’s not pulling through,” Harris said. “You’re going to see attrition as well as addition until the category really settles in. For us, our goal is always to be consistent with our product. Direct messaging, go to market, and be a top 10 in the industry.”

If you’d like to learn more about Harris’ brand, check out the Plift website here.