Tennessee Man Creates First Marijuana Infused Moonshine
A Tennessee man, who claims to be the illegitimate son of moonshine legend Popcorn Sutton, has supposedly taken his fathers recipe to new âhighs.â Â Tim Coffey, 42, of ChattanoogaÂ says he has the original moonshine recipe that Sutton created passed down to him by his mother, Tina Davis. Davis, who lives in Brentwood, claims it was given to her when she had a summer affair with Marvin Sutton in East Tennessee in the 1972. Â Her claim is that she was then on vacation with her family in Gatlinburg when she met Sutton.âWe smoked a doobie that one of Popcornâs friends had given him and he gave me a sip of some of his shine,â Davis claims she never pursued Sutton for paternity because she didnât want to hurt his familyâs way of life.Last year Coffey got in a legal dispute with J&M Concepts LLC, the company partnered with Hank Williams Jr., over the legal rights to claim his moonshine was Suttonâs recipe. Â Coffey decided to get around this by making it a tribute brand and infusing it with marijuana.âI wanted this blend to bring back fond memories for my mama,â Coffey said. Â Coffey has had trouble bringing the product to market, as it is still not legal to possess or distribute marijuana in the state of Tennessee. Â He says efforts to bring the moonshine to more âweed friendlyâ states has also been met with great opposition. Â âIn Colorado, they have their booze laws all messed up. Â They wonât let me add pot to the shine because they say it violates their state laws.âCurrently Coffey is looking for legal representation and investors and is considering a Kickstarter project to bring his product to market. Â âI have been âgivingâ some away at various rock concerts I have been going to. Â I recently went to see a concert by the band Phish and âdonatedâ nearly 1000 free samples to folks waiting in the parking lot before the show. Â They loved it!â Coffee said. Â The moonshine has yet to find a name, but Coffey seems to be leaning towards calling it âTinaâs Tincture,â after his mother and the technical name when the THC and cannabinoids have been leached out into alcohol.Tennessee officials have warned Coffey that they are trackingÂ him, and that his illegal âtaste-testsâ will be something they look for. Tim claims he is doing nothing wrong. Â âThis is pain-killer for regular folks that donât want to get all messed up on pills. Â You can drink some of my shine and you might get to feelinâ real good, but you are definitely going to be too chill to rob a pharmacy for pills, ya know?âAttempts to reach J&M Concepts for comment were not returned. Â Suttonâs brand of âwhite whiskey,â marketed by J&M Concepts, recently landed them in court defending themselves against Jack Daniels for the similarities in the two companies labeling and bottling. Â âI wouldnât do something stupid like that with mine,â Tim Coffey stated. âMy brand is in a small jar soÂ you could hide it easily, and the liquid itself is green. Iâm also considering putting a big potÂ leaf on the front label. No reason to be subtle, as far as Iâm concerned.â