Last Updated on 10th August 2020

Is London the new CBD Hub of Europe?

Food trends are a vital part of society. They allow people to try out new and interesting flavours, they allow chefs to experiment with new and unusual ingredients, and they give social media marketers something to lure customers to their business.

Most of these trends are based around objectively repellant food. Fermented cabbage, seaweed, and detergent pods. This time, however, the crux of the trend is a new additive, so it shouldn’t affect the taste of your food too much.

The additive in question is Cannabidiol, or CBD for short. CBD is the hot new active ingredient from the plant that brought you THC, cannabis! CBD has found its way into almost everything from jelly sweets to CBD infused drinks. Most recently, it’s been reported that goodie bags given out at this years Oscars will include CBD treats.

If this has you curious, then that’s totally understandable. If you want to try out CBD in London, here’s a run down of the very best places you can find it.

Farmacy

Farmacy is a portmanteau of ‘Farm’ and ‘Pharmacy’, because their slogan is ‘Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food’ (they don’t serve paracetamol sandwiches, so I assume that this is a metaphor). They have built their menu around food that is fresh and healthy. They love to use natural ingredients so a plant extract like CBD is a fantastic addition to their menu.

Their flagship CBD-infused offering is their OMG syringe shot. Which is literally a syringe filled with flaxseed oil, grapefruit juice, and CBD. Whatever you do, don’t take this intravenously, because you will die. Instead squirt it into your mouth, like you’re a baby lamb suffering from wetmouth.

Is this good for you? Well, cannabis oil is a veritable super-food packed with omega 3 and other good fats. On top of this, the CBD it contains is said to have beneficial properties too!

Farm Girl

Farms are a popular motif among urban boutiques looking to invoke the image of pastoral goodness. Probably because they’ve never been to the slurry-coated nightmare that is a real farm. Farm Girl is a cafe chain with delightful decor and a range of CBD goodies on offer.

The most notable of which is The Happy Hot Chocolate which is a blend of CBD, matcha, coco, peppermint, and hazelnut milk. This isn’t very authentic to the whole farm motif (from my experience boiled ham and brown sauce would be more fitting), but it’s certainly delicious.

Glow Bar

What do you associate with the word ‘Glow’? Radiation? Me too, but it can also be a reference to the warm, figurative glow you feel when you’re relaxed. Glow Bar is a combination cafe and sauna, allowing you to enjoy steamed milk before you get steamed yourself. At the cafe you can find the CBD ‘Moon Milk’ and a vegan croissant. Vegan friendly and full of CBD? Nice.

Yogland

Yog-Sothoth is a cosmic horror from H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos, it is locked outside of reality by a primordial force and to behold it is to know insanity.

I’ve just been notified that ‘Yogland’ is short for ‘yogurt land’ so ignore that last part. Based in West London, this mini-chain offers frozen yoghurt packed with up to 40% CBD oil! That’s a lot.

The Feel Good Cafe

The Feel Good Cafe does exactly what its name says it does: Serve coffee. This is a particularly unique entry because they make their own CBD oil that you can pick up and take home (in exchange for money, obviously). Nearly everything on the menu here has a measure of CBD in it, this includes the coffee or the vegan pancakes!

Plant Hub

Vegans are absolutely spoiled for choice when it comes to finding CBD foods in London. In Plant Hub (yes, it does sound like the URL in your incognito tab) you can expect to find nothing but organic, gluten-free goodness. The menu is packed with innovative CBD-infused food, ranging from energy bars to banana bread, there’s something for everyone! Unless you want meat, they don’t sell any.

Behind This Wall

This cocktail bar offers a cavalcade of fantastic CBD cocktails. They make their own CBD syrups in house and use them in fantastic cocktails including the Fo’ Sizzle Dizzle Swizzle, which is a sweet blend of sake honey and ginger, and the Chloe Martini for people who like drinks with a normal name.