Month: August 2017

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Articles Books

Cannabis Cocktails & Drinks: What You Should Know

Drink Your Medicine, But Proceed With Caution

BY COLLEEN GRAHAMCannabis Cocktails, Mocktails, and Tonics

Have you toyed with the thought of adding cannabis to your cocktails? Now that many states in the U.S. have legalized some form of marijuana use, the conversation about mixing alcohol and cannabis is more important than ever.

Before you mix up a cannabis-infused cocktail, there are a few things you should know. This is not a matter that should be taken as casually as the average cocktailor smoking a joint.

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Events

Thank you!

Klaus and I had a wonderful time last night at Stone Ridge Wine & Spirits, Thanks to everyone who came to meet Klaus and taste our cocktails! And a special thanks to everyone who purchased my books! Cheers!  

Categories
Events

Today- Stone Ridge Wine & Spirits!!

Please join my friend Brendan Edwards and myself for a tasting and book signing, TODAY! Saturday August 26, 2017 from 2 – 7 pm  at Stone Ridge Wine & Spirits Inc  3853 Main Street, Stone Ridge, NY 12484

I’ll be conjuring up a lovely cocktail called “You’re Talking About Memories” with Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Saffron and Mezcal ~  Shaken, of course.

Brendan will have Mezcales De Leyenda Organic Mezcals and Tanteo Infused Tequilas – Jalapeño and Chipotle!

Cocktails, neat, education and an all around excellent, Agave filled Saturday afternoon!

For more information, go to:

http://www.mezcalesdeleyenda.com/

https://www.tanteotequila.com/

https://www.facebook.com/events/119849275333021/?ti=cl

 

Categories
Reviews

Cocktailing 101: How To Muddle Fruit Like A Pro

Muddle Fruit

Photo by Flickr user Didriks

Muddling brings out the soft and tender elements of fruit and vegetables by crushing the firmer flesh and revealing the sweet and aromatic inner flavors. Muddling is the hidden secret to blending together flavors without pureeing them, changing their texture. A mint julep is the perfect example of muddling, in this case mint with raw sugar to bring out the flavors instead of pulverizing them.

 I like to use wood for my muddling, but high volume bartenders will use a plastic one or one made of stainless steel. Wood is just too difficult to clean on the fly and it cannot be sterilized in the commercial chemicals without deteriorating. You can muddle roasted fruits with syrups and fragile herbs before adding liquor and soda water.  That’s what makes for a wonderfully ‘muddled’ cocktail — you’d muddle for only a few presses so you don’t turn the herbs to chlorophyll, making them unpalatable and ruining your cocktail.
Categories
Recipes

Millennial Pink Gin

The Newest Craze That’s Not New At All! The current obsession was invented in the 1800’s.

Pink Gin
Photo by Flickr user Stuart Webster
Invented by millennials? Yes and no. The original incarnation of the Pink Gin was developed in the mid-1800’s in England and in the Colonies (Princeton University comes to mind) by collegians (millennials) dissatisfied by the flavor of their home-made ‘distilled’ gin. The classic preparation for a pink gin would have involved a heavier variety of gin. In this case it would have been the higher proof (sometimes called Navy strength, which is usually made to be bottled a bit north of 50% abv., or 100 Proof.) Plymouth Gin was a style made popular in Plymouth, England. The very name, Plymouth- is a protected name by provenance alone. No one else can make Plymouth Gin.
Angostura Bitters- the pink component date back to the 1800’s so it’s completely plausible that these healing bitters were added to the high proof (i.e. Navy Strength) gin was originally used to kill an acute belly-ache or lessen the ravages of seasickness while battling the oceans of the earth. This higher proof gin, also known as a Plymouth Gin or a Tom Cat style (like the brilliantly made Barr Hill from Vermont), would have been aged for a period of time in a barrel that may have held some kind of whiskey. This flavor of the strong grain based spirit would have deeply colored the inside of the cask and added deep sweetness from other ingredients like molasses in certain historic versions to the modern day, potent Navy-style gin.

 This trend of making pink gin cocktails died out for about a hundred years due to changing tastes. The Pink Gin cocktail magically reappeared during the Roaring Twenties. The period known as the Jazz Era was a high living time during Prohibition. The rage during the 1920’s and 1930’s, involved drinking large quantities of ‘bathtub’ or cheaply made gin mixed into fruity concoctions, created or recreated as it was, to kill the foul taste of the intoxicating liquids.
 READ MORE AT: 

https://thefreshtoast.com/culture/millennial-pink-gin-the-newest-craze-thats-not-new-at-all/

Categories
Articles Books Miscellaneous Recipes Reviews

Weed Recipes: Top 10 Best Cannabis Cookbooks

I’m so very honored!

Edibles are a fun, convenient and covert way to consume cannabis, whether for recreation or medical purposes. Edibles are yummy treats infused with marijuana, that deliver the medicinal and psychoactive ingredients to your system without having to smoke anything. They can take the form of anything from brownies to borscht, with the help of infused oils like cannabutter. You can make savory cannabis foods like spaghetti, sweet treats like cookies and candies, or even drinks like cocktails and marijuana tea. If you want to get started making your own edibles at home but do not know how, don’t worry – there is a cannabis cookbook out there for you! In this list we will go over our top 10 favorite edibles cookbooks, featuring recipes for all tastes, budgets, and skill levels. You will find omnivorous and vegan treats, sweet and savory, complex recipes and some that take as little as five minutes to prepare.

If you want a more in-depth look on how to make cannabutter and other cannabis oils, check out our How To Make Pot Brownies post where we cover all of the steps. Make sure to follow all local laws when growing, processing, or eating your cannabis!

1. ‘Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks and Buzz-Worthy Libations’ by Warren Bobrow

'Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks and Buzz-Worthy Libations' by Warren Bobrow, best weed cookbook, marijuana cooking

One of the newest ways people are enjoying cannabis is by combining it with cocktails and mocktails. This is especially popular at dinner parties in the any states where cannabis has recently become legal for recreation. But, with a strong taste and a particular method of infusion necessary, beginners may not know how best to make cannabis cocktails. This book has a collection of 75 cannabis drink recipes by “The Cocktail Whisperer” Warren Bobrow. It also includes a full history of cannabis as a social and medicinal drug. You will find recipes not only for cocktails but for shrubs, bitters, butters, oils and even coffee, tea and milk-based drinks for the morning hours. This is a really fun book for anyone who loves drinks and cannabis.

Price: Kindle $2.99 Hardcover $17.57

Buy Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics here

READ MORE AT: http://heavy.com/garden/2016/06/weed-recipes-top-10-best-cannabis-cookbooks/

 

Categories
Books Events Reviews

2017 Books And Bitters Recap!

https://talesofthecocktail.com/news/2017-books-and-bitters-recap
Octavia guy and a closeup of the Octavia Books nameplate

For the first time, the annual partnership between Tales and Octavia Books was hosted in the Royal Sonesta Hotel.

2017 marks another successful year at the Books and Bitters Market, the annual event sponsored by Octavia Books. For eight years now, Tales of the Cocktail® has partnered with the local bookstore to showcase an impressive global selection of both cocktail books and bitters for Tales attendees to peruse through during the week of the cocktail festival.

This year, bitters were incredibly well-represented at the Bitters Market, which featured over 24 brands and sold over 600 bottles of bitters. The top five selling bitters at this year’s market were Peychaud’s, Mr. Bitters’ Variety Pack, Peychaud’s Barrel Aged, The Bittered Sling Gift Box, and Wild Hibiscus’s B’Lure Butterfly Pea Flower Extract.

The bookstore portion of the market offered close to 200 titles, representing some of the industry’s most well-respected authors and covering a wide variety of interests. The bookstore sold copies of nearly every title on offer this year, a sign of the continuing success of the partnership between Tales and Octavia Books. Not only were guests able to browse through the selection of books on offer, they also had the opportunity to meet the authors and get their book copies signed at the week-long “Shots of Inspiration” popup. Bitter makers were also present to discuss and offer tastings of their products.

“We were happy to to present nearly 200 cocktail titles – many fabulous new ones alongside some old favorites. And, they nearly all sold. The strong and continuing interest in the books – so many authors attending and the readers who purchased them in numbers – demonstrates a true commitment by mixologists and other Tales participants to understanding the art they practice.” – Tom Lowenburg of Octavia Books

The Top 10 Best-Sellers at the Books Market:

  1. Mezcal: The History, Craft, and Cocktails of the World’s Ultimate Artisanal Spirit – Emma Janzen
  2. Distilled Knowledge: The Science Behind Drinking’s Greatest Myths, Legends, and Unanswered Questions – Brian Hoefling
  3. Regarding Cocktails – Sasha Petraske
  4. Mr. Boston 75th Anniversary Official Bartenders Guide
  5. Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to “Professor” Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar Featuring the Original Formulae – David Wondrich
  6. Bitterman’s Field Guide to Bitters – Mark Bitterman
  7. Baijiu: The Essential Guide to Chinese Spirits – Derek Sandhaus
  8. Zen & Tonic – Jules Aron
  9. The Craft Cocktail Compendium: Contemporary Interpretations and Inspired Twists on Time-Honored Classics – Warren Bobrow
  10. Smuggler’s Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki – Martin & Rebecca Cate
Categories
Recipes

STROH SNOWPUNCH

HOT DRINKS WITH STROH

http://www.stroh.at/en/recipes/hot-drinks/stroh-snowpunch/

STROH SNOWPUNCH

A DELICIOUS ALTERNATIVE DRINK TO THE CLASSICAL PUNCH WITH STROH

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cl STROH Rum
  • 250 ml milk
  • 2 table spoons brown sugar
  • 100 ml whipped cream
  • ground cinnamon

PREPARATION

  • Heat the milk in a pot.
  • Add the sugar and melt it.
  • Beat the milk with a whisk.
  • Fill in a cup and add STROH rum.
  • Garnish with whipped cream and ground cinnamon.
Categories
Events

Tasting and Book Signing in Stone Ridge NY!

Please join my friend Brendan Edwards and myself for a tasting and book signing, Saturday August 26, 2017 from 2 – 7 pm  at Stone Ridge Wine & Spirits Inc  3853 Main Street, Stone Ridge, NY 12484

I’ll be conjuring up a lovely cocktail called “You’re Talking About Memories” with Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Saffron and Mezcal ~  Shaken, of course.

Brendan will have Mezcales De Leyenda Organic Mezcals and Tanteo Infused Tequilas – Jalapeño and Chipotle!

Cocktails, neat, education and an all around excellent, Agave filled Saturday afternoon!

For more information, go to:

http://www.mezcalesdeleyenda.com/

https://www.tanteotequila.com/

https://www.facebook.com/events/119849275333021/?ti=cl

 

Categories
Articles Books Recipes

Sip The Magazine!

PARTY TIME! It’s the theme of our HOT new issue full of FROSTY drinks. How about Warren Bobrow’s SUNSET OVER THE GANGES or one of 200 others from his new book The Craft Cocktail Compendium, featured in our new issue:

http://www.sipthemagazine.com/