Magic Cactus Goes a Little Higher: Microdose THC Beverage Brand Launches Limited "Higher Desert Edition" Following Grocery Expansion and New Capital from Listen Ventures

The limited 7mg THC / 7mg CBD single-serve sold out in pre-orders and is available mid-September on the company's site and at Sprouts Farmers Market stores in Texas and Florida, with backing from Listen Ventures.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Magic Cactus, the functional beverage brand built around a microdose of hemp-derived THC, today announced the release of Higher Desert Edition, a limited-edition, higher-potency single-serve of its sparkling cactus water.

The product was initially made available exclusively to Sprouts stores and Magic Cactus subscribers, a community the brand calls The Cactus Club. After the first batch of the limited SKU sold out from pre-orders alone, the company announced a restock shipping mid-September.

The limited launch follows a year of grocery expansion anchored by Sprouts Farmers Market, where Magic Cactus ranked #1 in the retailer's hemp THC beverage set for the first half of the year (SPINS, H1 2026), and a follow-on investment from Listen Ventures, which led the company's Seed round in early 2025.

INTRODUCING: HIGHER DESERT EDITION

Higher Desert Edition arrives in a single flavor, Mojave Berry, with 7mg of hemp-derived THC and 7mg of CBD per 12-ounce can, a 1:1 ratio designed for a fuller, still clear-headed experience built as a slow-sipping, single-serve occasion rather than the sessionable nature of the brand's micro-dosed core products. Like the core lineup, each can is built on a sparkling prickly pear cactus base with real fruit juice and premium functional ingredients like L-theanine and magnesium, and stays at only 20 calories with no added sugar.

• Price: $19.99 per 4-pack
• Where: All Sprouts Farmers Market stores in Texas and Florida, and online at magiccactus.com
• Availability: Limited run. The first batch sold out on pre-order; a restock ships mid-September.

"Our entire value proposition since launch has been what we call approachable feel-ability, built for the mainstream consumer. The cannabis connoisseur already had plenty of options and didn't need another potent product. The gap was a feel-able one, a can you can have two or three of on a Friday night and feel it come on gradually, instead of the zero-to-a-hundred approach that pushed a lot of people away from this industry in the first place," said Jonny Locarni, Founder and CEO of Magic Cactus. "Higher Desert Edition is a different job. Our community kept asking for a single-serve with a bit more to it, one can that does the work of a strong cocktail for our core consumer. It's still less than the standard 10mg serving that outsells everything else in most retail channels, and it's a true one-and-done rather than something you session."

ALL IN ON GROCERY

Magic Cactus launched in roughly 120 Sprouts Farmers Market stores across Texas and Florida in mid-January 2026, followed by The Fresh Market in North Carolina and Florida in February. The focused grocery rollout, now representing about 40 percent of the brand's total door count, reflects a deliberate choice to build the brand in the everyday grocery aisle rather than in smoke shops, convenience, and other channels in which potency is the focus.

The strategy is working. Year to date, wholesale revenue is up more than 200 percent over the same period in 2025, with all four core flavors, Lavender Raspberry, Spiced Peach, Wild Black Cherry and Watermelon Hibiscus, now on shelf alongside Higher Desert Edition at Sprouts.

"Grocery is where Magic Cactus resonates most," Locarni said. "Sprouts shoppers already read labels, they already care about what's in the can, and they're already looking for a better option for a Tuesday night or a backyard hang. We're not asking anyone to walk into a new kind of store. We're just showing up where they already shop."

EXPANDING THE OCCASION

Locarni is quick to clarify what Magic Cactus is not: an anti-alcohol brand.

"We're not trying to replace alcohol or only reach people who've stopped drinking entirely," he said. "We're trying to give people optionality in drinking environments, to broaden what it means to 'have a drink' for the next generation. Sometimes that's a cocktail. Sometimes that's a Magic Cactus. The point is to blur the line between drinking and not drinking so there's a conscious choice available at the same occasions."

That positioning sets the brand apart on two fronts: from the wave of non-alcoholic brands leaning heavily into sober-curious messaging, and from the high-potency THC products that dominate much of the hemp market. Rather than asking consumers to choose sides, or chasing milligram counts, Magic Cactus is betting the bigger opportunity is expanding the occasion itself, making a THC beverage a normal part of a night out rather than a replacement for one.

BUILDING BRAND AT A CATEGORY TURNING POINT

The expansion comes as the hemp beverage category awaits regulatory clarity. Federal legislation passed in November 2025 capped finished hemp products at 0.4mg THC per container, a limit the industry views as impractical. Congress has since delayed the effective date to December 11, 2026, creating space for a more workable framework.

Magic Cactus supports a regulated hemp beverage market with clear dosing standards, age gating and third-party testing, and believes its low-dose, grocery-first approach is exactly the kind of product responsible regulation should protect.

"We built this brand for a world where we're regulated differently than traditional cannabis products, similar to the bifurcation between beer and wine versus liquor and spirits. We've always operated like we'd be regulated the way a beer is," Locarni said. "Whatever the final framework looks like, we want to be the example of what a responsible THC beverage brand looks like on a grocery shelf."

BACKED BY LISTEN VENTURES

Listen Ventures, the Chicago-based consumer venture firm behind brands like Calm, Factor, Angel's Envy, and many more, led Magic Cactus's Seed round in early 2025 and made a follow-on investment in the company in 2026. Magic Cactus has also raised capital from Tonic Ventures and other consumer-focused investors.

"There is a sea of hemp THC beverages in the market but very few brands. Magic Cactus has built a cult following, a brand that people want to be seen drinking. That badge value is what sets it apart. And once you taste it, it's easy to see why people keep coming back," said Jeff Cantalupo, Founder and Managing Partner at Listen Ventures.

LOOKING AHEAD

Over the coming months Magic Cactus is focused on deepening its grocery footprint and launching additional products built for the grocery channel.

FOLLOW ALONG

• Website: magiccactus.com
• Instagram: @drinkmagiccactus
• TikTok: @magiccactusdrinks
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/magic-cactus/

ABOUT MAGIC CACTUS

Founded in 2023 and headquartered in North Scottsdale, Arizona, Magic Cactus is a functional beverage brand that gives adults a clear-headed option for social occasions. The brand's core products contain a base of lightly sparkling prickly pear cactus water, and combine a microdose of hemp-derived cannabinoids with functional ingredients like magnesium and L-theanine. Magic Cactus sells direct-to-consumer at magiccactus.com, and is available at various retailers including Sprouts Farmers Market, The Fresh Market, Total Wine, and more. Magic Cactus donates 10 percent of profits to organizations treating substance abuse, a commitment rooted in founder Jonny Locarni's experience losing his father to alcohol.

CONTACT

Taylor Foxman
The Industry Collective
609-432-2237
[email protected] 

SOURCE Magic Cactus