Willie Nelson’s Willie’s Remedy+

Featured in Craft Business Daily

Company Becomes Fastest Growing
THC Beverage Brand in US
And No. 1 THC Beverage Brand Online 
Within First Eight Months in The Market 

Willie’s Remedy+’s Flagship 750ml Bottles,
Mini-Sized Shot Bottles,
And Seltzers Now Available
At DrinkWillies.com
And at Select Retail Stores

AUSTIN, Texas — Willie’s Remedy+, the cannabis brand inspired by Willie Nelson’s legendary spirit and way of life, was recently featured in Craft Business Daily.

In only eight months since its launch, Willie’s Remedy+ has taken over the THC drinks category with unprecedented growth selling more than 250,000 bottles and becoming the No. 1 THC beverage online and quickly replicating that success in retail.The brand is poised for a national retail launch in early 2026 leveraging the JuneShine Brand’s national wholesaler distribution network. Willie’s Remedy+ has had a successful retail test launch in a limited footprint with Total Wine, establishing itself as a top THC Infused Spirit brand in Total Wine, and is gearing up for a national rollout with a full 10 product portfolio across 750ml THC Infused Spirits, 12oz THC Infused Seltzers, and 2oz THC infused shots.

Willie’s Remedy+ has been crafted to help people live life like Willie Nelson — joyfully, naturally, and without compromise. Rooted in Nelson’s values and decades-long advocacy for cannabis, Willie’s Remedy+ brings together high-quality ingredients, thoughtful formulations, and the outlaw spirit of America’s most iconic legend. In addition to being the official Cannabis drink sponsor of the 2025 Outlaw Music Festival Tour, Willie’s Remedy+ released a limited-edition Outlaw Bottle with a one-of-a-kind Outlaw label and packed in a bundle of one or two bottles and alongside custom shot glasses and matching Outlaw bandana. Willie’s Remedy+ also continues Nelson’s longtime support for farmers by proudly sourcing the finest natural ingredients grown in the USA by American farmers and giving back a percentage of all sales directly to those farmers through Nelson’s own Farm Aid Foundation.

Nelson proclaims, “I used to smoke weed but now I drink weed everyday. This shit’s good!”

November 5, 2025

JUNESHINE ON EARLY LEARNINGS

WITH WILLIE’S, THC BEV OUTLOOK AND MORE

Back in 2021, when JuneShine cofounders Greg Serrao and Forrest Dein first told us they wanted to build a “fourth-wave” beverage platform, not just hard kombucha — this might have been the kind of breakout they had in mind.

Eight months into their THC beverage experiment with Willie’s Remedy+, the brand has already become the top-selling THC beverage online (per external data shared with the company), sold more than 250,000 bottles, and is pacing toward $60 million in first-year sales.

And now, after proving it out online, Willie’s Remedy+ is rolling to retail, as shared yesterday in CBD.

The brand has already tested into Total Wine, where it’s quickly become “a top THC Infused Spirit brand,” and a national rollout is slated for early 2026 across Total Wine, Lowe’s, Binny’s and TXB, with more chain authorizations expected as JuneShine taps its beer distributor relationships to expand the line.

“We’re the no. 1 THC beverage online, now our goal is to replicate that success in retail,” Greg told us this week. The plan: leverage JuneShine’s seven-year distribution and sales foundation, lean hard into trade and field marketing, and bring Willie’s ethos to shelf. “I think what surprised us most is how big the Willie Nelson name really is,” Greg said. “It transcends generations.”

Indeed, the duo credits a “passionate Willie fanbase” along with JuneShine’s ops experience for the early surge.

LEARNINGS FROM THE LAUNCH SO FAR. But the founders say brand affinity alone doesn’t explain the numbers. “Most of our customers are drinking it three to four times a week,” Forrest shared. “That’s really high for any adult beverage.” Subscription and repeat rates are strong, and the format seems to matter: while six seltzers (in 5mg and 10mg) are rolling out now, the flagship so far has been the 750ml “spirit-style” bottle, essentially a THC base spirit designed to pour shots or craft cocktails from, with 17 1.5-oz. servings. Then too, 2-oz. “mini” bottles (5mg and 10mg) are hitting now, designed for convenience and pocket occasions.

In a space where many brands lead with THC and hope flavor catches up, the founders say formulation was their starting point. “We tested different blends of nootropics, CBD, CBG, L-theanine. If you remove any one, it’s not as balanced,” Forrest said. That focus on delivery, not just branding, is why the team says it’s seeing habitual use versus novelty trial.

There’s also timing. “People are drinking less,” Greg said, bluntly. “And when you combine that with hemp being federally legal, it’s changed where you can sell, with Target, Circle K and more chains looking at it, and even VFWs starting to carry THC.” The product is legal, the category is forming, and a household name like Willie Nelson sitting right in the middle of that has opened doors.

“LET’S LEAD IN THIS TOO.” Perhaps the most noteworthy insight from the duo is how quickly beer distributors are moving on it. “The percentage of our distributors that aren’t in this space or getting into it is really low,” Greg said. A-B houses, Molson Coors, Constellation houses, many are already carrying THC drinks in some capacity. “I think a lot of alcohol companies realize there’s no amount of alcohol-sponsored studies louder than Joe Rogan telling people not to drink,” Greg joked. This is the consumer showing you where they’re going, he submits.

“I think things are cyclical. I think people will start drinking again. I’m proud that we’re in the alcohol industry. I think it’s a great industry, but I do think the industry is having a tough go right now. And I think that suddenly there’s this product that’s federally legal and more and more states are making it explicitly legal. Why not say, ‘Hey, let’s be the leader in this too. Let’s take this product on.’ And I think that it’s a super unique opportunity where the THC beverages, the best solution to THC beverages is a three-tier system… So it’s like, what an amazing moment where as people are drinking less, this thing is now legal – why not capitalize on that?”

SHORT-TERM OUTLOOK ON THE CATEGORY. And to be sure, they expect many players to try and capitalize, but the next two years, they argue, will be expensive and operationally demanding, especially for smaller players stepping out of comfortable regional lanes. “Some companies are going to get priced out,” Greg said. “You need to support distributors, you need field reps, you need retail marketing. It’s going to compress margins and wash out brands that can’t invest.”

Retailers, meanwhile, are still figuring out sets for the emerging space. We mentioned how THC beverages at our local Total Wine are sitting on every corner of the store, and Forrest isn’t surprised. He believes “2026 is going to be the year retailers test sets and brands,” and “by spring ’27, you’ll start to see real structure and some clear leaders.” Until then, growth appears to be outpacing any attempt to tidy shelves.

There are also guardrails the company wants, namely regulation that prioritizes safety without shutting down hemp entirely. “Some people in Congress don’t understand the scope,” Greg said, pointing to a handful of voices pushing to curtail hemp broadly instead of targeting synthetic gummies and kid-appealing candy. “Everyone thinks that’s stupid. We all want that to be pulled off the market,” Greg said.

But “banning hemp [entirely] won’t solve problems. Smart regulation will,” Forrest added.

LOOKING AHEAD. The team expects momentum to carry straight through the end of the year. In fact, Willie’s is planning for the holidays to be one of its biggest stretches yet as it leans into gifting occasions. Every bottle will ship in a holiday gift bag along with a holiday card from Willie. “We want it to be your go-to present this holiday season,” Forrest said, a lane that most beer/FMB suppliers never really get to participate in.

They’re also tying the holiday push to purpose. As part of Willie Nelson’s Farm Aid mission, the brand will launch a Give Back to the Land That Feeds Us program, beginning with a $40,000 donation and dollar-for-dollar match campaign kicking off on Giving Tuesday (December 2), supporting small American farmers. “We’re supporting small American farmers and that’s really important to Willie and important to us, so we’re really excited about that and hoping to do more with them next year too,” Forrest said.

Looking further ahead… the brand that launched in March is now on pace to nearly double JuneShine’s total business this year and fuel what the founders say will be the biggest growth year in company history. “It’s our best year ever, and we still feel like we’re just figuring it out,” Greg said. But the ambition is long-term. As Forrest put it: “Willie’s been building his brand for 92 years. We want to build the number one THC beverage brand over the next five to ten.

“There’s going to be a rollercoaster of state regulations and federal regulations and our product formats might need to change, but our ‘North Star’ is quality, premium THC beverages, and we expect there to be road bumps along the way, but we definitely have that long-term vision here.”

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