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THC Lean, or cannabis syrup as it is also known is a cannabinoid-infused liquid made with soluble THC to create a product which consumers can drink rather than smoke or vape and achieve the high associated with cannabis.
There are multiple methods of Lean production, with different variations on ingredients, with the general end product being a sweet cannabis-flavoured syrup which packs quite a punch.
Whilst this article will not go into the methods of making cannabis lean THC syrup, I will be discussing my experiences and thoughts on lean as a product, and you’ll find a video at the bottom of this page featuring two forms of lean I tried out recently from UK edibles producers High End Weed.
I first tried another UK edibles producer OnePlug’s cannabis lean back in 2016, filming a video “drinking 500mg THC syup” for our YouTube channel (unfortunately the video is no longer live).
In this video I consumed 2/3rds of the bottle in the space of about 10 minutes with two full soft drinks (probably more than 70g of sugar not including the syrup itself). After initially feeling a bit sick, I did experience a lovely and somewhat strong high.
You can read more about THC Lean in our previous post on the subject from 2016 here
This taught me a lesson – don’t overdo it with the sugary drinks. Lean is super sweet, and although it varies in taste can taste quite good so you can use less of a mixer – and I’d also advise mixing with something less sweet (Cawstons could be a good option). Don’t mix it with coke or Pepsi, in my opinion that tastes horrible. Something fruity is best – Sprite or 7up works well!
I’ve seen lots of different cannabis lean THC syrups on the market, but didn’t get another one until last year when I tried the Lean by Bear Extracts during our visit to the Lake District. This was nice, sickly and sweet and I had a couple of shots worth which I found a good amount in addition to smoking and dabbing for a wavy evening.
More recently I tried my favourite THC syrup to date, and that is what you can see in the video at the bottom of this page. Made by High End Weed, this lean comes in two flavours – strawberry and passion fruit. It is advertised as Vegan Lean, although someone did point out on YouTube that most lean is probably vegan.
The strawberry flavour tastes just like a melted red ice pole. That delicious strawberry sweet flavour is perfectly palatable on its own without a mixer, and I found I consumed more of this straight than I mixed with a soft drink.
Initially thinking of doing the 1000mg challenge (I generally do challenges, but hey, it wasn’t going to hurt me!) I decided to enjoy this lean in smaller quantities purely because it was so good and I didn’t want to rush my time with it. So I had one bottle over 4 or 5 days, or about 150-200mg per day in addition to my regular dabs and smoke.
And what a fun week that was! I love the wavy effect from cannabis syrup, particularly when combined with other consumption methods – I find it can help you feel more of the high that you might otherwise be so used to it just feels normal.
I got another bottle of the strawberry vegan lean by High End Edibles a month-or-so later, and this was when I also tried the passion fruit flavour, which I found to be sweet but slightly more subtle and with a medicinal sort of taste.
This got me thinking – This stuff would be perfect in the medicine cupboard – can’t sleep? 2 TSP of this would do the trick!
Like the strawberry flavour, passion fruit does taste nice straight, but I’d say this one lends itself better to mixing with sprite where the taste is much more subtle (in sprite the strawberry flavour makes everything sweeter and more strawberry).
I filmed with the bottles of Lean photographed in this article, and it was a fun experience, particularly as I drank a good amount to really feel the effects.
I’m not surprised they are getting more and more popular. There’s certainly a place in the market for cannabinoid-infused beverages, and Lean cannabis syrup is a solid product that fills this gap. In the US where medical and recreational cannabis sales are now in over half of all States the beverage market will apparently be valued at 1.4 BILLION DOLLARS by 2024.
In my opinion, Cannabis Lean is best enjoyed as a cannabinoid top-up, or as an alternative to smoking or vaping, but I can also see a lot of medical potential for this sort of product.
You can watch my experience with two forms of cannabis lean here on the ISMOKE channel.
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