Selling Hemp THC Drinks in Tennessee? What Bars and Restaurants Must Do Before July 1

Hemp-derived THC seltzers and sodas have landed on drink menus all over Tennessee. They have been an easy add for bars, restaurants, taprooms, and hotels: a popular option for guests who are not drinking alcohol, sold under a hemp license that was simple to get. On July 1, 2026, the rules for selling them change, and the license many operators have relied on stops working.

If your venue pours or sells hemp THC beverages, this is the window to get your house in order. Below is what is changing, what you can and cannot serve, and a short checklist to run before June 30.

A new regulator takes over July 1

For years, hemp-derived cannabinoid products (the state calls them HDCPs) were licensed by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. That authority has moved to the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the same agency that licenses on-premise liquor service. The framework comes from 2025 Public Chapter 526, which built Tennessee’s HDCP law into Title 57, Chapter 7, and was amended in 2026 by Public Chapter 698. The rules have run under emergency provisions since December 2025, and a six-month extension set July 1, 2026 as the date the permanent rules take full effect.

The practical takeaway: starting July 1, selling a hemp THC drink in Tennessee is something the TABC licenses and enforces.

There is an upside worth naming here. Moving hemp under the TABC pulls it into the same licensed system you already use for beer, wine, and liquor: a real license, a state-approved wholesaler, and a product trail you can stand behind. For operators who held off on hemp drinks because the category felt like a gray area, that is the part that changes. The drinks you keep, or decide to add, now sit on the same footing as everything else you pour.

Your old hemp license expires June 30

Department of Agriculture HDCP licenses issued before the end of 2025 stay valid only through June 30, 2026. The Department of Agriculture is no longer issuing or renewing them. To keep selling hemp beverages on or after July 1, you need a license from the TABC.

This is a separate license from your beer permit or liquor-by-the-drink license. Holding one does not cover the other. A bar that serves both a cocktail and a hemp seltzer needs its alcohol privileges and a TABC hemp license, side by side.

Bars and restaurants count as “retailers”

Under the new rules, selling a hemp THC drink to a guest is a retail sale of an HDCP, which means your venue needs a TABC HDCP retail license. The license is tied to the location and the role: one retail license per location where you sell. Applications go through the TABC’s online system, Mockingbird. The retail license carries a $500 application fee and a $1,000 annual fee, renewed each year. That is a government licensing cost, separate from anything on the legal side.

What you can and cannot serve

The product rules are where a lot of inventory will not make the cut, and the change that pulls the most off shelves is THCa. Tennessee now measures total THC, a figure that folds in THCa along with delta-9. High-THCa products, including the THCa flower a lot of shops have sold as legal hemp, run past the 0.3 percent total-THC limit, which means they can no longer be sold. THCp and synthetic cannabinoids are banned outright, at any level. If any of that is on your menu or your back bar, it has to come off before July 1.

From there, the limits that shape what you can serve:

• Everything you sell has to test at or under 0.3 percent total THC as a finished product.
• A single serving cannot exceed 15 milligrams, and a package cannot exceed 20 servings or 300 milligrams in the aggregate.
• You may only buy from a TABC-licensed wholesaler. Sourcing hemp product from an unlicensed seller is its own violation.
• Every brand has to be registered with the Tennessee Department of Revenue before it can be distributed. Registration runs by category, and beverages are their own category.

Each product should carry a scannable QR code that links to a valid certificate of analysis (COA), along with a warning label. If a drink’s QR code does not pull up a current COA, treat that as a red flag. Noncompliant hemp product can be seized as contraband, handled the same way the state handles beer sold outside the rules.

Serving hemp drinks on premises

A few rules speak directly to how a bar or restaurant gets a hemp drink in front of a guest.

• You cannot mix hemp into alcohol. A hemp-derived cannabinoid used as an ingredient in beer or any alcoholic beverage is prohibited outright, so a spiked THC cocktail is off the table. Hemp drinks and alcohol stay separate.
• You can serve by the glass. Hemp beverages can be poured in single servings, including from a 15.5-gallon or 7.75-gallon keg that a wholesaler supplies for that purpose.
• Container sizes are capped. A packaged hemp beverage cannot hold more than two servings or exceed 750 milliliters, and no serving can top 15 milligrams.

One break for beverages: the 12-ounce rule

Most HDCPs have to be kept behind a barrier at the point of sale, in a spot that requires a staff member to hand the product over. There are two exceptions, and one of them is built for drinks. The barrier rule does not apply if your venue limits entry to guests 21 and older, or if the product is a hemp beverage in a container of at least 12 fluid ounces. A 12-ounce-or-larger canned or bottled hemp drink does not have to sit locked behind the counter the way a gummy does.

That helps a full-service restaurant that admits minors and still wants hemp drinks available. It does not remove the other point-of-sale duties below.

At the point of sale

Whatever you serve, the counter rules apply on every transaction:

• Card every buyer. Sales are 21 and older, and proof of age means a valid government photo ID.
• Post the warning signage. A sign noting the products may be intoxicating and cause impairment has to be posted where the products are displayed.
• No self-checkout and no vending machines. Every sale is face to face with a staff member.
• No shipping or delivery. Direct-to-consumer shipping and delivery of hemp products is prohibited, and sales happen in person at the licensed location.

Tennessee has signaled it intends to enforce this from the start rather than ease into it, with the TABC and local law enforcement sharing authority and already visiting retailers ahead of the deadline. The TABC can levy civil penalties of $1,000 for a first violation, $2,500 for a second, and $5,000 for a third within two years, and can revoke a license on a fourth. Shipping or delivering hemp products to consumers carries its own steeper penalties, up to $10,000. Selling without the required license or breaking the retail rules can also be charged as a Class A misdemeanor.

Your before-June-30 checklist

A practical pass for any venue that sells hemp THC drinks:

1. Audit the cooler. Pull anything that cannot show a valid COA through a working QR code, anything containing THCp or synthetic cannabinoids, and anything over 0.3 percent total THC.
2. Check your sources. Confirm your suppliers are TABC-licensed wholesalers and that the brands you carry are registered with the Department of Revenue.
3. Apply through Mockingbird. If you plan to keep selling past July 1, get your TABC HDCP retail license application in.
4. Brief your staff. Carding, the warning sign, and where products can be displayed should be second nature before the first of the month.
5. Decide if it is worth it. For some venues, the cleaner answer is to pause hemp beverages until the dust settles. That is a business call worth making on purpose rather than by accident.

Where BevLaw Group fits

Getting the license filed is the visible part. The work that actually keeps your doors open sits around it: reading the supplier and distribution agreements before you sign, checking that the COAs and brand registrations behind your menu hold up, keeping your drink descriptions and marketing out of trouble, setting staff policies for carding and signage, and having someone in your corner if the TABC follows up with questions. As the ongoing hospitality attorney for bars, restaurants, and venues across Tennessee, BevLaw Group handles that work on a flat monthly fee, so the legal side is something you can plan around instead of react to.

If hemp beverages are on your menu and July 1 is looming, a short conversation now beats a fix later.

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Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

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