High Tea: Cannabis Tea Company Designed with Women in Mind

Meet Amanda Jones and Jennifer Chapin, two self-described middle-aged California women who decided to start a cannabis tea company. But why? Turns out for a very good—and personal—reason.

“Like so many people these days, we had a friend with cancer,” they share. “She was using cannabis for pain, appetite and nausea, but didn’t like to smoke and found herself getting crazy high from edibles. At the same time, we noticed we had dozens of other friends who relied on pharmaceuticals to help with sleep, anxiety, pain and mood, causing deleterious side effects like amnesia, addiction and brain fog.”

In 2014, the pair began experimenting with cannabis edibles and discovered that their friend Jan was right: most were male-focused, way too high in THC, offered little instruction on use, tasted nasty and were often paired with fat—e.g., chocolate bars and brownies. However, when dosed correctly, Amanda and Jennifer found that cannabis did in fact relieve pain, improve mood, induce sleep and increase libido and sexual satisfaction. The stuff worked. Two-and-a-half years later, they now offer an all-organic, low-dose, cannabis-infused herbal tea line for women called Kikoko.

“We chose tea because it’s discrete, healthy and we love the history involving the women’s suffragette movement, which was fomented in tea rooms,” they add. “In honor of our friends and the millions of women of all ages who suffer from any of the above maladies, we raise a cup of Kikoko, designed to improve life just that little bit more.

According to a recent story published by www.greeenstate.com, the new company hosted a tea in Marin for a gathering of local women to celebrate the launch. “Catherine, 48, one partygoer, fits squarely in Kikoko’s target demographic. She has two children and lives in Sausalito, where she works as an executive assistant. Five years ago, she started using edibles for help with persistent insomnia, hoping to wean herself from regular use of Ativan and Ambien. She first heard of Kikoko at a local dog park and decided it was worth a try.

Now, when she walks in the door from work, rather than pouring herself a glass of wine, she brews a cup of Sympa-Tea. ‘My children don’t know what I’m doing. I’m just having a tea,’ said Catherine, a native of France. ‘It’s something you can definitely do every night.’