It was a Friday night...again. “Great,” I thought, dropping the last of my pre-roll into an overcrowded ashtray. I went into the kitchen to—what else—start drinking. But this particular Friday, nothing sounded fun. Re-corking the bottle of wine I had in hand, I remembered a weed drink I had been meaning to try. I picked up the bottle, swirling around the cloudy, blonde liquid that would turn out to be a surprising, game-changing, dare I say life-changing aperitif called Artet. The full Artet review follows:

Artet, a beautifully branded THC liqueur, is one of the most talked about drinks in a fairly crowded and nascent market. Ever since drinkable THC started gaining popularity a few years ago, brands like Artet, Cann, and Lagunitas Hi-Fi Hops have emerged as the innovators at the forefront of this exciting new space.

“The most amazing thing about Artet is its ability to mimic the feeling of drunkenness, without the alcohol.”

The cannabis beverage market was valued at more than $173 million in 2018 and is continuing to grow. According to a report from Fortune Business Insights, the market is projected to reach more than $2 billion by 2026. Their research indicates cannabis-based beverages are seeing an increase in sales, alongside a continued decline in alcohol consumption and smoking.

The idea of replicating the effects of alcohol with zero calories, while adding potential health benefits, makes this a market that appeals to many younger consumers going “California Sober,” with only weed and psychedelic consumption.

As anxiety-inducing texts popped up with offers for a night out to events I did not want to attend, I popped the top off the bottle, and took a whiff. There were strong notes of ginger that enticed me. I was expecting something much more saccharine. I threw some ice cubes in a glass and poured myself a drink with three shots, each with 2.5 mg of THC, and a splash of seltzer.

At the first sip, I was stunned. The flavor, a bed of ginger with notes of juniper, cardamom and citrus, blew me away. Excited, I finished the glass, then another. Now I was at about 15 mg total, a fairly modest dose of THC for a heavy user like me.

Anxiety melted into elation. The imposing prison of my Friday night turned into excitement for what was to come. Alcohol, something I’ve struggled with throughout my young adult life, became a distant thought I didn’t care to revisit. Instead of sequestering myself into a vortex of Dateline reruns and bumps of ketamine—a weird, weekend hole I’d fallen into lately—I agreed to meet friends at an art opening downtown. By the time my Uber arrived, I’d poured the rest of the drink into a water bottle to hide in my purse and was ready to go.

The most amazing thing about Artet is its ability to mimic the feeling of drunkenness, without the alcohol. Each drink can be perfectly dosed, seamlessly bringing you to a social, upbeat state where it’s easy to let go of inhibitions. The art opening was actually fun. I felt social, capable, and comfortable, existing at a perfect buoyancy of positive intoxication.

The party continued to a bar, then to a rave, then to an after-hours warehouse. For the first time in my life, there was no point where I felt the social pressure to get wasted like my friends were.

Lucid, loose, and loving the idea of cutting the night short, I was home by 2 a.m., cuddling with my dog and watching the first season of “Sex and the City.”

Sunrise broke my slumber. I was still on the couch. Outside, hot hues of orange and yellow streaked across the sky, a brilliant show from the sun to welcome the day. Crystal bead curtains on my window projected rainbows around the living room, and for the first time in a long time, I met the morning feeling like a million bucks.