PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY THE GREEN DOOR
What would a “night out” with friends look like if it didn’t include alcohol? In the eyes of Christian Perry-Watt, cocktails wouldn’t include liquor, replaced instead by cannabis-infused spirits and adaptogenics. The resulting “buzz” of drinking wouldn’t entail lost inhibitions or impaired coordination—rather, feelings of euphoria and enhanced sensory experiences. The morning after wouldn’t include a killer hangover and hours spent recovering from a throbbing headache.
This is the “new kind of night out” envisioned by Perry-Watt, founder and owner of the region’s first cannabis dry bar, The Green Door—one that reflects the euphoria of a night out with friends, without the negative effects of alcohol.
Opening in the former Revival Vintage Bottle Shop space at 5 E. Eighth Street in Covington, The Green Door won’t serve a drop of alcohol. While the drink menu will feature classic favorites as well as premium crafted beverages, customers will decide which cannabis-infused spirit they’d like to use in place of liquor.
“Each drink will be crafted for the individual person and what their preferred spirit is,” Perry-Watt says. “You’ll pick your mocktail, and then you’ll pick whether you want to add a THC spirit to it, whether you want to add an adaptogen spirit to it, whether you would want to add something like Kava to it.”
Cannabis-infused spirits and beverages, particularly those containing THC, have quickly risen in popularity as a social tonic and alternative to alcohol in recent years. Appealing to users who are looking to abstain from alcohol use, seek the health benefits of cannabis, or simply enjoy the recreational effects of THC-infused beverages, the cannabis drink market was worth more than $3 billion in 2024, and is expected to rise to more than $117 billion by 2032.
Cannabis that contains low levels of THC—the primary psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant that produces the “high”—is known as hemp. While recreational marijuana isn’t legal in Kentucky, hemp and hemp-derived products are, meaning that retailers such as liquor stores, breweries, and bars are able to sell THC-infused beverages and other products to adults age 21 and older.
In the Cincinnati region, breweries such as Urban Artifact have sold THC-infused seltzers for years, as have others nationwide. However, alcohol-free bars dedicated singularly to cannabis-infused beverages (known as cannabis dry bars) are rare across the country, and have been nonexistent in Greater Cincinnati until now.
Having visited similar spots in other cities, such as Lexington’s CannaBuzz Bar & Dispensary, Perry-Watt has known for years that she wanted to open such a space in Northern Kentucky. It isn’t her first venture into working with cannabis products—she’s worked for six years as owner of Kentucky Botanical Co., an education-focused dispensary selling hemp, CBD, and other wellness products at its locations in Bellevue and Florence.
“When we first opened [Kentucky Botanical Co.], there was so much stigma surrounding even just the hemp plant itself, even if we were just talking about a CBD product,” she says. “Gradually, more and more clients opened up to it. The community opened up to the idea more.”
The dream started to take shape for Perry-Watt in December 2022.
“I ran in Revival to get a Christmas present,” she recalls. “I had already been thinking about opening a cannabis dry bar, and when I walked in there, that was absolutely the place. I looked at other areas, but nothing felt right. I think that Covington is a great place to put something like this.”
When Revival relocated to a larger space on Madison Avenue late last year, Perry-Watt was ready to claim the Eighth Street spot as her own.
The Green Door maintains much of the original charm of the former bottle shop—Perry-Watt has retained many of its features, yet transformed it with her own art deco-inspired aesthetic. The original emerald green tiled wall is complemented by graphic wallpaper and dark hardwood floors. The warm, dim lighting of the Edison bulbs over the bar and the miniature chandeliers hanging through the space illuminate gold details throughout the bar. Cozy seating in soft oranges color-coordinates with the large, nouveau-inspired art that plasters the walls.
While the majority of seating will be inside, The Green Door will offer access to an outdoor patio in warmer weather. With ample space, Perry-Watt hopes to host live music, open-mic nights, and comedy acts in the future.
As for the drinks themselves, Perry-Watt spent upward of six weeks working with local mixologists to curate the menu. “It was really fun to say, ‘Okay, we have this tequila dupe, we have a Mezcal option. How can we make the best margarita that we can think of using these alternatives?” she says.
While her goal was to create beverages that both look good and taste great, she had to remain mindful of state regulations throughout the process. A recent bill making its way through the Kentucky legislature would ban the sale of beverages with more than five milligrams of THC per 12 fluid ounces.
“With the [THC] spirits that we’re working with, it works out to be the amount of [an alcoholic] spirit that the recipe would call for,” she says. “A 1.5 ounce pour is going to fall under state guidelines.”
The Green Door’s alternative inclusions feature different levels of THC, and vary in taste and flavor. It features alternatives such as Looner Spirits’s unflavored cannabis-infused mixer and London High, a replacement for gin made with lemon, blackberry, and juniper, among others. Both feature two milligrams of THC per fluid ounce.
“The botanicals that come through in [London High] are the star of the show,” says Perry-Watt. “Even if you’re unfamiliar with cannabis, are not necessarily fond of the flavor, the way our spirits are crafted, the botanicals that are in them are what’s really going to shine.”
The process of crafting the drinks themselves included reimagining classics, such as Bloody Marys, Old Fashioneds, Manhattans, and more, as well as one-of-a-kind beverages.
PHOTOGRAPH PROVIDED BY THE GREEN DOOR
“The Bees Knees,” described as a “bright, golden, and effortlessly charming” citrus-honey mocktail, is made with wildflower honey, lemon juice, simple syrup, sparkling water, and the customer’s spirit of choice. Perry-Watt recommends trying her favorite, the pineapple jalapeno margarita, or for beginners, the strawberry basil mocktail—a fresh and earthy, yet sweet, floral, and fruity drink.
In addition to its mocktails, The Green Door will offer a variety of ingredient-conscious snacks to sate the inevitable munchies, including chips, popcorn, cheeseballs, cookies, and chocolate candies, among other things.
Further, the wellness education that’s propelled Perry-Watt through her work at Kentucky Botanical Co. is something she hopes to push at The Green Door as well.
“Whether you are 21 or 81, you can walk in and feel absolutely at home, comfortable in making your choices. We want to bring the educational aspect that we have in our stores so that we can educate visitors about what they’re trying. They can give us their story. What are you dealing with? What would you like?” she says. “Whether it’s just a fun night out or something anxiety or pain-related, we can help craft their drinks to be as wellness-focused as we can, while also being incredibly entertaining, euphoric, and replacing that alcohol piece of entertainment and nights out that is just so prevalent.”
The grand opening will take place April 18-20 and will feature live music from local musicians, tarot readings, reiki massages, and more. The Green Door’s hours are noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday, and noon to midnight on Friday and Saturday.
The Green Door, Five E. Eighth St., Covington, (859) 739-1117
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