At the corner of alcohol (or lack thereof) and cannabis stands Nick Tehrani, the founder and CEO of a company that is producing something in Louisville that is defying convention.
The company is called Lode, and its products are non-alcoholic beers and tonics/cocktails infused with pure hemp oil.
“Let’s put it all together and make something freaky,” said Tehrani of his initial thoughts. “And then I kept pitching it to people.”
Lode’s line of products addresses multiple issues, Tehrani said, with the first being that non-alcoholic beer has been lacking the flavor components of traditional beer.
“Brewers don’t want to make it because they don’t understand why they would spend time making a product that doesn’t provide a functional benefit back to the user — and it can create an enormous amount of risk for their facility because non-alcoholic beer is very hard to produce,” said Tehrani, a Louisville native who has two degrees (bachelor’s in marketing and an MBA) from the University of Louisville.
Lode is made in a facility using a patent-pending process in the Butchertown neighborhood at 1001 E. Washington St. (above Naive Kitchen + Bar). It is made separately from a brewery, thereby reducing the risk of contamination.
Consumers can start to feel a buzz within around 15 minutes, with the effects starting to leave their system about 90 minutes later, which addresses the second issue.
“They want the functional buzz that the alcohol provides, but they don’t want the negative benefits like hangovers or overconsumption,” Tehrani said.
Tehrani founded Lode in Nov. 2023. A year before that he worked on research and development for the product. He first came upon the idea for the company while working on his MBA where he developed the company with help of the UofL’s Innovation MBA Program through a class called “Opportunity Discovery.”
“I was doing taste tests in the hallway and trying to figure out what flavors people would drink,” Tehrani said. “I'd have students come by, and I’d be like, ‘Hey, do you want to try this THC beverage and they’d be like, ‘Before class?’ … and then the right ones would come by and be like, ‘Yeah, man, for sure.’”
Out of that research Tehrani developed what would be Lode’s first flavor, mango lemon shandy, or Mango Mandy as it is now known.
He also works at Akasha Brewing Company in NuLu as a bartender. It was there he would conduct what he calls “customer discovery,” where he would take notes on people’s reactions to beers when developing flavors.
The product line currently features two non-alcoholic beers (Mango Mandy and a classic ale) and three tonics (a hibiscus-based option, a lemon option and a bourbon cola). Lode working on “cocktail shots'' as well as a bourbon-related product.
The company’s name is derived from the term “lodestar,” which is another name for north star, used by sailors to help navigate their way many, many years ago.
“Lode for me means … the guiding light through this industry confusion for me,” Tehrani said. “For the customer … it’s the place you want to go to get what you need.”
Lode is currently sold at Akasha, Naive Kitchen + Bar, Nostalgic Cocktail House + Restaurant in the Highlands. It is also available on the company's website. Tehrani added that he hopes to be able to have it available in more locations in the near future, including smoke shops and liquor stores.
Prices can range from $8 to $10 a can, to up to $150.99 for a 24–pack (available only online).
The company, which has a headcount of four employees, is currently in the midst of raising a pre-seed of $210,000. It is also hoping to launch a Wefunder campaign in September.
Recently, Lode won $2000 as part of the most recent Cardinal Challenge at the UofL. In addition, the company placed first on the “developed track” of the recent Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs (GSE) pitch competition, earning an additional $15,000.
