I have a cherished memory from a trip my daughter and I took to Maui to visit places we know when we lived there in another century. One afternoon we spent in old Lahaina town, a year before it burned to the ground in a wildfire.

We decided to have a leisurely lunch in an open-air restaurant that overlooked the calm, azure ocean.
While I do not recall what we ate (but if I had to guess, I bet it was some sort of seafood), I remember well the delicious tropical drinks made by a proud bartender. 

I had a Painkiller and it consisted of rum, pineapple and orange juice and cream of coconut. Absolutely delicious! It tasted like Maui in a glass.

So when I was looking for a beverage to bring to a gathering of cousins who have spent the last several decades living in Phoenix, where weed has been legal since 2020, I decided to pick up a four pack of THC drink inspired by the classic Painkiller cocktail. 

Called The Tonic Painkiller from Dangerous Man Brewing of Maple Lake, Minn., it is a nonalcoholic, still drink made with pineapple, orange, coconut and nutmeg, just like the cocktail but without the rum. It includes 10 mg of THC and 5 mg of CBD.

It pours a pale, cloudy orange, and releases a citrusy aroma laced with spice (the nutmeg). While it does not give off the luxurious richness of a Painkiller cocktail, it has a pleasant flavor with a hint of weed on the finish.

It must have worked because I felt unusually relaxed for a family gathering.