Keef Brands is the Boulder cannabis soda company Erik Knutson started in 2010 with his brother Kelly Knutson and Andrew Veron. It makes Classic Soda, Xtreme, Energy, Slims, Life H2O, Mocktails and Bottle Cap gummies through licensed partners in each market, and it runs a separate hemp-derived line for retail and shipping.
It still owns the category. BDSA ranked Keef the No. 1 cannabis beverage brand by sales for March 2025 through February 2026, at $32.7 million across 13 states.
A recession, a root beer and Grandma Dee
Keef started with lost work. In 2009, with the Great Recession wiping out construction jobs and bank lending, Erik Knutson, Kelly Knutson and Andrew Veron turned to cannabis in Boulder, Food Dive reported in 2019. In 2010 Erik mixed an early batch of what he called Keef Cola and tested it on his grandmother, Dee.
The first sodas came in clear glass bottles sweetened with cane sugar, agave and monk fruit, with no high-fructose corn syrup. Keef Cola became Keef Brands as the lineup grew past cola. The company says Erik and other founding members still lead it, and it calls itself the first cannabis beverage company in the United States.
Bubba Kush Root Beer and the 2015 Cannabis Cup
The root beer made the name. Bubba Kush Root Beer, entered as Keef Cola Signature, took first place for Best Edible at the High Times U.S. Cannabis Cup in Denver on April 20, 2015. Keef sold its millionth product in the U.S. in 2018, according to Food Dive.
Bubba Kush never left the top of the list. Blake Patterson, Keef's chief revenue officer, named Bubba Kush Root Beer the top-selling SKU in November 2025. In August 2026, the Xtreme version of Bubba Kush Root Beer ranked first among Keef's products by sales, with the Classic can at No. 3.
Brand House Colorado and the partner model
Keef doesn't fill cans in Boulder and ship them everywhere. The company says licensed, pre-vetted manufacturing partners make its cannabis products in each state under local rules. At home, Denver Packaging Co., renamed Brand House Colorado in 2014, is its in-house production facility, and it co-packs for Airo Brands.
MJBizDaily reported in December 2024 that Clovr Cannabis serves as Keef's licensed partner in Missouri. The same report said Keef supplies dispensaries in new markets with refrigeration units that cost $500 to $2,000 each. The drinks use microemulsion, a process that mixes oil-based cannabinoids into water. Unopened cans are shelf stable for six months.
Eight sodas and everything after
The lineup stays close to the soda aisle. The 2026 catalog:
- Classic Soda in 12-ounce cans: Bubba Kush Root Beer, Original Cola, Mr. Puffer, Orange Kush, Pineapple X-Press, Blue Razz, Purple Passion and C.R.E.A.M.
- Xtreme versions of the sodas, Energy and Mocktails, including a Cherry Cola
- Energy: High Octane and FLO Energy
- Slims by Keef, 1:1 CBD and THC sparkling water in Mango, Blood Orange and Blackberry Coconut
- Life H2O: Blueberry Lemon with CBN, Cranberry Lime with THCv and Strawberry Kiwi with CBG
- Mocktails: Fruit Punch, Pineapple and Lemonade
- Bottle Cap Gummies in Blue Razz, Bubba Kush Root Beer, Orange Kush, Original Cola and Purple Passion
Keef has tried beer, too. In 2019 it worked with former Blue Moon brewmaster Keith Villa and Ceria Brewing Company on Grainwave, a nonalcoholic THC-infused beer.
Hemp sodas at Total Wine
Early 2023 took Keef past the dispensary, into the hemp-derived Delta-9 THC market. Its hemp site, keefbrandshemp.com, sells Classic Soda and Life H2O and ships direct to consumers outside a list of excluded states. Retail partners include Total Wine & More, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Winn-Dixie, Spec's, Cub and Lowe's Foods.
By November 2025, Market Watch counted Keef's hemp sodas in liquor and convenience stores in 12 markets, out of 24 total markets for the company. "We're experiencing some of the strongest growth we've seen in our 15-year history," Patterson told the magazine. The regulated cannabis line stays dispensary-only, with no direct shipping.
Keef on dispensary shelves in 2026
Headset tracked Keef in 1,678 licensed dispensaries in August 2026, 323 of them in Colorado. It ranked Keef No. 1 in beverages in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland and Missouri, and No. 2 in Michigan, Nevada and Oregon. Beverages made up 99% of sales that month, at an average price of $9.33.
The lead is narrowing. BDSA's data showed monthly sales slipping from $2.81 million in March 2025 to $2.32 million in February 2026, with Uncle Arnie's second at $30.2 million. BDSA's year-to-date Arizona data, published in August 2026, ranked Keef No. 8 among the state's edibles brands.
Keef's 2026 map lists Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon, plus Puerto Rico and Canada. Erik Knutson is CEO.
For adults 21 and over.