*By Jacqueline Corba*
This summer season, CBD-infused beverages were among the hottest new drinks on the market. The drinks, said Dirty Lemon's CEO Zak Normandin, offer an alternative way for some to just chill ー sans alcohol, and sans the traditional marijuana-induced high.
"A lot of consumers are actually replacing ... an alcoholic beverage \[with this\]. So at the end of the day you've had a long day at work incorporating this product into your daily routine to just relax," Normandin, also a co-founder of the beverage company, told Cheddar's CannaBiz on Tuesday.
Dirty Lemon, which launched in 2015 with a charcoal-infused lemon-flavored beverage called a detox "elixir," introduced its first CBD drink this July. The new product sold out of the first batch, roughly 20,000 bottles, in only two days.
"It's been challenging for us to keep up with demand," Normandin said. "People want to experience it for themselves."
Normandin said the combination of ingredients in a ready-to-drink format is driving the success of his company's beverage products and his new CBD drink, which uses cannabidiol produced by cannabis brand [Beboe](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-hermes-of-marijuana-wants-to-bring-you-cannabis).
Dirty Lemon is just one example of many companies that want to capitalize on the benefits of this marijuana extract, which does not actually contain THC or produce a high.
"It's a very crowded field and there is a lot of competition," Green Market Report CEO and editor-in-chief Debra Borchardt told Cheddar Tuesday.
CBD maker Charlotte's Web went public on the Canadian Securities Exchange [last week](https://www.newcannabisventures.com/charlottes-web-ipo-and-secondary-offering-boosted-to-16-45-million-shares-as-underwriters-exercise-over-allotment-option/). Its products are sold in 2,700 retail locations and the company is looking to triple its annual revenue this year. Borchardt said the company has already been able to capture 14 percent of the market.
And investors are taking note ー the stock surged more than 13 percent Tuesday, its third day of trading on the public market.
This is only the beginning for CBD products on the market, Borchardt said.
"You're going to be seeing people buying CBD water, and they are going to feel good. It's a wellness thing."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/dirty-lemon-adds-cbd-to-its-beverage-menu).
The government can't afford to keep paying some Covid bills, a cheerleader gets an NIL deal for March Madness rescue, and fans will get to watch Beyoncé during the Oscars. Here is all the news you Need2Know for Wednesday, March 23, 2022.
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Reshma Saujani, the founder of the nonprofit Girls Who Code, discusses the workplace inequities further exposed by the pandemic and her latest book, "Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It's Different Than You Think).
