Jill Amen always wanted to be a barista, she told guests mingling over hor d'oeuvres in the backyard of a Northwest Washington home Thursday.

Her dream was coming true as investors, journalists and nonprofit leaders sipped coffee and tea she prepared to order.

The well-dressed attendees hardly touched cream-topped watermelon squares and decadent cupcakes under a white tent near Connecticut Avenue.

They were there for the drinks.

Wait an hour, everyone was told, before having a second.



Amen is the co-founder of House of Jane, which specializes in beverages infused with THC, the compound in marijuana that makes people high.

The nation's capital is the only jurisdiction east of the Mississippi where the event could legally happen. For nearly four months, pot has been legal to possess and share under a local law approved by 70 percent of voters, though business opportunities are severely limited.

Some attendees couldn’t help but feel rebellious at the apparently unprecedented event, even as pot plants grow across the city following two massive seed shares open to the public this spring.



Steven Nelson for USN&WR

A few finished their iced teas and coffees with gusto. Others, including the handful of invited journalists, took smaller sips.

Infrequent pot users were offered a dose well below the standard strength the company sells in California and Nevada to medical marijuana patients.

The drinks were delicious and did not taste at all like marijuana, many agreed.

Ben-David Sheppard, Amen’s business partner, told guests they were making history attending the respectable business-hosted happy hour, where joints, blown glassware and bags of vapor were nowhere to be seen.

One attendee said it felt like the beginning of the Internet boom.

Local activists and California-based Oaksterdam University, which is holding a job training seminar at the Capital Hilton next weekend, helped host the event.

Dr. Aseem Sappal, provost and dean of students at the cannabis-focused school, and others polled say there's not yet a widely used term for pot-laced drinks that distinguishes them from the "edible" label for foods.



Though it's legal to possess and share small amounts of marijuana under local law, sales remain illegal and Congress has banned city lawmakers from setting up a regulated marketplace.

The complexity of local law lent uncertainty to the event. As the RSVP list grew, the location moved to a downtown ballroom. The decision was reversed because a law passed by the D.C. Council in March banned businesses from allowing on-site marijuana use.

The coffee could not traverse the country pre-mixed. Grounds arrived in packets indicating they are marijuana-free, and Amen added THC she said was locally acquired. Out West, some drinks are low in THC and high in cannabidiol, a pot-derived compound that appears to effectively treat epilepsy without producing a high.



House of Jane co-founders Ben-David Sheppard and Jill Amen

Courtesy of Marichelli Hughes

Sheppard says the company uses a powdered form of the drug, allowing for more accurate dosing than infused oil, which he says is more likely to stick to glasses.

The company sells premixed single-serving cups of coffee grounds and tea that fit in many single-serve machines. Individual pods and instant versions are available, too, as are laced creamers and hot chocolate.

House of Jane has big plans for expansion as jurisdictions increasingly allow marijuana enterprise under local law. There are even rough designs for a brick-and-mortar coffee shop.

Though Congress has blocked retails sales of recreational marijuana, the capital city does have a regulated medical marijuana market – as will neighboring Maryland in the near future, offering business people footholds in the region.