Over the years, we’ve gone from simply smoking cannabis to vaporizing it, dabbing it, eating it, and now drinking it. As the cannabis beverage category continues to grow, many brands have focused on convenience, novelty, and speed to market.
Then there are brands trying to redefine what cannabis beverages can become. There’s no question which category TIKI falls into.
Built around full-spectrum live rosin, strain-specific formulations, and an unwavering commitment to protecting the plant, the founders set out to create something that felt entirely different from the beverages already on dispensary shelves.
Instead of building another cannabis drink, they wanted to create a lifestyle.
A beverage inspired by the ocean. A brand rooted in community. A product designed to bring people together. But the story behind TIKI didn’t begin with a beverage.
It began with adversity, rebuilding, and a realization that cannabis, when preserved in its purest form, has the power to improve people’s lives.
Keep reading to learn more about My Green Network’s partner brand, TIKI, and the launch of its flagship product: High Tide.
The Beginning: From Solventless Hash to the Spirit of Aloha
In 2019, founder Scott Foster was operating a solventless hash extraction facility in Adelanto, California, working directly with live rosin and developing a deep appreciation for cannabis in its purest form.
Producing live rosin focuses on preserving the plant’s natural expression of cannabinoids and terpenes, many of which are often lost through more aggressive extraction methods.
Fresh frozen cannabis captures the plant at peak expression, while solventless extraction preserves that expression throughout the process.
Rather than relying on harsh solvents, trichomes are separated through ice-water extraction before being gently pressed into rosin using low temperatures and careful handling.
The result is cannabis in one of its most authentic forms. That philosophy would eventually become the foundation for everything TIKI would stand for.
A Personal Turning Point
Before TIKI ever existed, Scott Foster’s relationship with cannabis was complicated.
As a former college and semi-professional athlete, he carried many of the same concerns that countless people have about the plant. The stigma surrounding cannabis, combined with questions about health and performance, made him hesitant to become involved in the industry.
That perspective changed forever after his wife, Steph, underwent a routine surgery.
The recovery proved far more difficult than expected. Her pain was significant, and the prescribed medications were creating a new set of problems. She struggled with nausea, had little appetite, and found it difficult to find meaningful relief.
Around that same time, Scott and his business partner, Al, had been learning the art of solventless hash oil extraction from a team out of Washington State. Using those newly acquired skills, Scott had produced one of his first rosin-infused pre-rolls.
With few options remaining, he offered it to Steph. Within minutes, her discomfort began to subside. Her nausea eased. Her appetite returned. Most importantly, she finally looked comfortable.
For Scott, that moment was transformative. Cannabis stopped being an abstract industry opportunity and became something much more personal. It became proof that when the plant is properly cultivated, preserved, and respected, it can genuinely improve people’s lives.
From that point forward, he wasn’t simply interested in cannabis. He became an advocate for it.
The Lab
Over the following months, Scott immersed himself in solventless extraction.
By his sixth month in the lab, he had become highly proficient in solventless hash oil production and was continually developing techniques focused on preserving terpene expression and improving overall product quality.
His work began attracting attention. He successfully negotiated a manufacturing agreement with a prominent Southern California cannabis brand to process their material and produce a variety of solventless products.
Professionally, things were moving in the right direction. Personally, life was changing as well.
Around that same time, Scott welcomed his first daughter into the world. Wanting greater stability for his growing family, he made the difficult decision to step away from an ownership role in the company he helped build and instead remain involved as a consultant.
In hindsight, that decision proved to be a blessing.
Not long afterward, circumstances outside of his control forced his former partners out of the facility altogether. Scott maintained strong relationships with those involved and remains close with the facility’s ownership to this day, but it became clear that a new chapter was beginning.
Coming Home
With a young family to support and the uncertainty of the cannabis industry weighing heavily on him, Scott made the difficult decision to return home to Ohio and join his father’s cleaning business.
What seemed like a practical decision at the time quickly became one of the most challenging periods of his life. The dream he had spent years building suddenly felt distant. The momentum was gone. The future felt uncertain.
But as is often the case, adversity created an opportunity.
One evening, after a long day of work, Scott found himself reflecting on a conversation with his brother Ryan. Ryan had encouraged him to revisit Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. At first, Scott dismissed the suggestion. He had already read the book years earlier and wasn’t convinced there was anything new to learn.
But something about the conversation stayed with him.
While working one day, he found himself thinking about his brother’s advice and realized that sometimes the people closest to us see things we cannot see ourselves. He downloaded the audiobook and began listening to it repeatedly. As he listened, he felt something begin to shift.
The principles in the book resonated deeply, but Scott believes there was something more happening during that season of his life. As a Christian, he believes God often works through circumstances, conversations, and moments of reflection to reveal purpose.
Looking back, Scott doesn’t believe the idea for TIKI was simply a business idea. He believes it was divine guidance. A calling. A reminder that his setbacks were not the end of his story but preparation for what was coming next.
One principle from the book stood out above all others: success often comes from finding something that combines passion, purpose, and a unique skill set.
Suddenly, everything connected.
His experience with solventless extraction. His passion for cannabis. His belief that the plant could genuinely help people. His desire to build something meaningful. The next morning, he woke up with the vision for TIKI. To Scott, that moment wasn’t an accident. He believes God gave him the idea.
Not simply for a beverage company, but for a platform that could advocate for the plant, create exceptional products, bring great people together, and positively impact lives. Years later, despite the countless challenges that come with building a company from the ground up, that belief remains unchanged.
The team often talks about hard work, discipline, and execution, but Scott believes there is another force guiding the journey.
Faith.
While the company welcomes people from all backgrounds and beliefs, Scott openly shares that he believes TIKI is divinely guided and that every major breakthrough, partnership, and opportunity along the way has come through God’s provision.
The rest would take years of relentless work, setbacks, partnerships, and perseverance. But the vision had arrived. And TIKI was born.
Protecting the Plant
Over the next three years, Scott assembled the team he had always envisioned. A group united by a single mission: Protect the Plant.
To the TIKI team, protecting the plant means more than producing cannabis products.
It means advocating for the industry in a positive way. It means supporting fellow operators who are working to move the category forward. It means honoring the cultivators, extractors, and pioneers who sacrificed so much to build the legal cannabis industry.
And perhaps most importantly, it means never compromising on quality.
In an industry increasingly driven by price compression and volume-based thinking, many brands have entered a race to the bottom.
TIKI believes the future lies in the opposite direction. Consumers want products they can trust. Products made with integrity. Products built around quality rather than shortcuts.
That belief continues to drive every decision the company makes today. Because in the end, the goal isn’t simply to build another cannabis beverage. The goal is to build the best one in the world.
Why Most Cannabis Beverages Miss the Mark
Originally, the vision wasn’t to build a beverage portfolio. It was to create a single world-class cannabis drink. But as development progressed, something became increasingly clear. The issue wasn’t simply that there weren’t enough good cannabis beverages.
The issue was that many beverages had become disconnected from the plant itself.
Many THC drinks rely heavily on distillate, stripping away the terpene profiles, minor cannabinoids, and natural characteristics that make every cultivar unique.
The result is often a product that delivers THC, but not necessarily the experience that made the strain special in the first place.
So instead of asking how to create another cannabis beverage, the TIKI team asked a different question: How do we create a beverage that actually reflects the plant it came from?
That philosophy became the foundation of TIKI and ultimately led to the creation of High Tide, a cannabis beverage built around preserving the full-spectrum character, flavor, and experience that make cannabis extraordinary.
Ready to bring your vision, or cannabis SKU, to life with your personal mission? Partner with My Green Network, like TIKI, and start exploring our edible and solventless expertise now.
