If you’re looking for a third place outside of work and home to relax without being surrounded by alcohol, this new psychoactive plant company may have a solution for you opening up next week.
Run by Joe West and Geoff Smith, Taano Elevated Beverages will be bringing the psychoactive properties of certain plants in a mocktail near you starting August 15. The “sober bar” will be open daily from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. at 1109 E. Sixth St., Austin, TX 78702.
“I wanted to create some sort of positive social space, and over time, I realized how non-conducive alcohol was for that,” West told MySA. “We’re not starting in a 24-hour space, but I like the idea eventually, of a 24-hour space that feels like home for people, where you can safely feel good without alcohol. The more I started going down the rabbit hole, the more that I realized just how beautiful the plants were and how much opportunity there was to provide people with safe drinking alternatives.”
But let’s back up a bit. Just what are psychoactive plants? Think nicotine and caffeine. Those are psychoactive plants some of us use every day. The plants West and Smith are using have similar effects to alcohol without the hangover the next day.
Here’s a brief rundown of the plants the pair will be adding to their house-created mocktails:
Blue lotus – This plant has been used as an aphrodisiac and has euphoric qualities. It can also make you sleepy.
Wild lettuce and sap – These have been historically used as an opium alternative, but they do not have opiates in them. Wild lettuce grows all over Texas.
Amanita muscaria – This is the classic red and white “Mario mushroom.” It has been used as a pain reliever and an anti-anxiety treatment.
Kanna – Kanna is known as “nature’s MDMA.” It is a succulent used for thousands of years by people in South Africa. The plant has a similar “up” effect to ecstasy and resolves into a chill, calming effect. This is not the same thing as cannabis, or marijuana, which is a widespread plant used by millions to produce a psychoactive high. In fact, the bar will not be serving any drinks made with THC or CBD.
Kava – This plant is a central nervous system depressant that produces similar effects to alcohol, including relaxation, sleepiness and slurred speech.
West said the bar will be selling drinks made with non-alcoholic spirits, fruit juice, soda, other mixers, and the guest’s choice of plant tincture. Of course, you can always order a drink without any tincture added. Some of the bar’s featured players will be the Kava-ritas, a top shelf level margarita with agave nectar, lime juice, Lyre’s orange sec and kava root, the Egyptian Mule, a moscow mule with blue lotus, and Molly Martinis, espresso martinis made with kanna. The mocktails will cost $10 a pop, and you can pay an extra $4 for a double shot of tincture.
“Younger people are becoming more and more disenchanted with alcohol, and it’s just a shift in demographic practices and preferences,” Smith told MySA. “Part of what we’re trying to do is, give the sort of younger generation, non drinkers, or people who drink less, an opportunity to go out and drink and still feel good and have fun.”
Find it: 1109 E. Sixth St., Austin, TX 78702
Read the original article here.
