While federal lawmakers are busy advancing a nationwide ban on most hemp-derived THC products, New Orleans just did something very New Orleans. It opened a THC cocktail bar on Frenchmen Street.
Tucked above Bamboula’s in the Faubourg Marigny Music District, Mélange by Cali Sober at Bamboula’s is billing itself as the city’s first non-alcoholic, functional and THC beverage bar. It sits right over one of the hottest live music rooms in town, with its own balcony looking out over the Frenchmen Street chaos, and serves zero-proof cocktails made with adaptogens and functional botanicals alongside THC drink options.
The concept comes from local entrepreneur and sober-curiosity advocate Monica Olano, known to many as Cali Sober Mom and founder of Cali Sober Market, a zero-proof and functional beverage shop. After watching the non-alcoholic and hemp drink scene explode in New Orleans, she saw a gap on Frenchmen, a strip famous for brass bands, cramped stages and very strong drinks.
“Mélange is about giving people options that feel good, taste incredible, and match the full experience of a night out in New Orleans,” Olano says in the bar’s launch announcement. “People are ready for zero-proof to be its own category. They want intentional drinks and a place where choosing not to drink alcohol feels completely natural. The response from opening weekend showed us just how much this was needed.”
Inside, Mélange leans into classic cocktail ritual without the alcohol. Drinks are built with layered ingredients, functional botanicals and adaptogens, so guests still get the glassware, the garnish, the ceremony. For visitors who want a different kind of buzz, there are THC beverage options that plug into the same menu, turning the bar into a small, very specific test case for the future of hemp drinks.
That timing is what …
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Author: High Times / High Times
