I received the honor of writing a Cannabis-Centric Valentine’s Day gift guide from my kind editors at Forbes- after my pitch, of course! The overall topic was certainly not your usual fare. The best diamond, best bottle of Single Malt Scotch, best Swiss-chocolates, nor the best online rose retailer interested me. I wanted something that most people have never thought about. And even fewer have tried. The Cannagar!
Drying Room ALEXANDER RAUBER, CALYX PEAK COMPANIES.
Recently I had the honor of interviewing Josh D., of the righteously world-famous Josh D. Farms for Forbes Vices. I didn’t realize at the time that Calyx Peak was the parent company of Josh D. Farms, but that’s already confusing me, so I’ll try to keep this deep-dive as crisp as possible!
Master mixologist Warren Bobrow, also known as the Cocktail Whisperer, has gained a cult following for his deceptively simple, elegant drink creations. Now, with his fourth book, he’s showing us how to get high while we drink, literally. But Warren’s take is more elevated than that. Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails, and Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks and Buzz-Worthy Libations breaks infusing your homemade drink with cannabis into an easy-to-follow science and includes 75 fresh recipes. You’ll also find non-alcoholic alternatives and a breakdown of drink-friendly strains and their flavor profiles, from piney, mimosa-friendly OG Kush to super-savory Trainwreck to surprisingly absinthe-ready Sour Diesel. Here, the expert and writer talks about the most special spirits, the best bars in the country and why cannabis and cocktails are a brilliant match.
Covering the ultra-high end world of the cannabis biz is an exciting thing for a journalist. There are so many different facets of the business to focus on. The humble cannabis plant itself is so diverse, offering multiple uses from one seed. To be entrusted with the ability to taste and offer cohesive notes on the quality of the product is a great honor. Drilling down a bit deeper, and writing product notes, especially the ones on ultra-high-end cannabis inventions are a most subjective thing, especially to a taste maker. However, one of the downfalls of my craft as a taste maker, is that difficulty that I keep coming across in the broader marketplace. Many of the products that I’ve been given to sample are made with all great ingredients, they have to be tested multiple times for purity. I’ve found in the world of cannabis, pleasure in reviewing the 510 cart. These are pretty expensive products, and through my somewhat educated palate I aspire to give tasting notes that offer a deeper perception of their individual aromatics, effects and terroir. Recently, many of my samples have been skewed towards sweet, sweeter and sweetest, in the form of their aromatics and their overall flavor. The really sticky sweet ones do not appeal to me. It’s as if the entire cannabis community decided that all vape carts were to be sugary sweet. Pretty disappointing to someone who doesn’t make sweet drinks. That is until I tasted the oils produced by the vertically integrated company, located in San Jose California, named Caliva. “The Most Trusted Brand in Cannabis.” The two marvelously juicy cannabis oils that I was fortunate enough to taste from Caliva are the Cali OG, bursting with the earthy delights of the plant and the other beautifully designed 510 cartridge simply named Pillow Talk. Quite the provocative name for a simply designed, and marvelously topped with cool and sanitary stainless steel against my lips.
Session Goods seeks to expand your intellect, one gentle pull off their elegant glass bong at a time. But what does this mean to the consumer? Not since college, back in the early 1980’s, have I even thought about owning a bong, with most of them just too fragile and complicated for my tastes. In recent years I’ve really have shied away from this oft powerful method of imbibing cannabis. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the way they look, but more as a metaphor for their craft, instead of just getting buzzed. I just haven’t enjoyed the experience that they offer from all those twists and turns of the expensive, hand-blown glass. Every time I walk into a high-end “Head Shop” I’m always intrigued by the multitudes of intricate glass bongs, but I really have no use for one. Why? They all seem so cumbersome to use, and most are quite difficult to keep clean. I had a bong in prep school as I remember, and I think I even had a couple of them in college in the 80’s. They were nothing more than straight tube bongs, made of plastic (as I remember), with metal down pipes and harsh metal bowls. They were not well made, nor nice to look at. They leaked and made a mess in my Jeep. They would get incredibly hot, and even dirtier than the worst childhood dream realized of drinking the (unsavory) bong-water by mistake. Let’s just say that they were not the most elegant things, not something that I’m proud of in my fading memories of those years. Then, this Xmas season, I was suddenly overwhelmed by all sorts of electronic implements to smoke cannabis from. Most of these really expensive devices took concentrates, product that I cannot find in my state. They were wildly powerful, and one or two made me feel really physically ill afterwards. Not a good start when someone is supposed to review a machine that costs several hundreds of dollars, and that’s before the raw ingredients are added to the bill. So I’m careful about what hardware I agree to review, and even more careful when it comes to complex glass that requires intricate cleaning. Some glass bongs are just meant to be cleaned by professionals. I don’t have time to over intellectualize the process of cleaning my cannabis glassware, and you shouldn’t either!
There’s no surer way to make the holidays more festive than with a little cannabis, and now that it’s legal in states throughout the country, there’s no better time than now to gift the ultimate cannabis swag. From vaporizers and vitamins to pipes and soaks, this past year saw a ton of terrific creation and innovation in the world of cannabis, so we highlighted some of our favorites below to help you turn your holidays into a holidaze and give everyone in the family a little something extra to smile about.
The more I spend time around the top of the house of the cannabis industry, I’ve even found certain niche environments that are exploding in popularity. And it’s not because the market is being flooded with these specialty products, far from! Nor is this incredible device being saturated with popularity in the media driven culture. No one really knows about them, (cannagars). This is probably because they are not inexpensive. This world of the best and the far better than just the best is exemplified by secretive, inner city culture and the explosion of wealth within the rap music industry. There is no lack of money for the very best loud that money can buy. And that’s really the rub, in a land of the good good, there are not enough hand-crafted cannagars to go around. So pay attention! Read More Here At Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenbobrow/2018/12/24/luxe-cannagars-demand-excellence/#4acfbe5e7fec
In this brand new interview series, I’ll be interviewing the most influential journalists covering the cannabis industry. The intent is for these interviews is to be fun, enlightening, entertaining and of course informative.
We’re kicking off this new series of interviews with Warren Bobrow Author/Chef/Barman/Cannabis Alchemist. Bobrow has published five books on mixology and written articles for Forbes, Saveur magazine, Voda magazine, Whole Foods-Dark Rye, Distiller, Beverage Media, DrinkupNY and many other periodicals. Warran has also contributed to SoFAB Magazine at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum and has written restaurant reviews for New Jersey Monthly. It’s safe to say that Warren has a natural talent for words that simply flows through, as you will find out from his answers below.
From the very moment that the outer packaging, deeply reminiscent of luxury Chinese incense with lustrous gold leaf on the outside of the box. This brings your attention to the strikingly handsome red lettering, and then the box opens to reveal the polished glass inner tube. From here an almost mystical experience fills the room and your head. The box, upon examination in cannabis, nerd-speak reads several very important statements about the contents and the provenance of the flowers held within. The first and foremost is the name of this ultra-luxury cannagar. That is, quite simply, Made in Xiaolin. Turning the smooth paper packaging, in the shape of an octagon, and twisting it in a circle, reveals more pertinent information. Rolled Proper comes into view. This statement provides the quality framework for what rests within. The lettering states the name again, Made in Xiaolin. Pure luxury. Drilling down deeper, more information reveals itself with every twist of the wrist. Ring Gauge, in this case, the cannagar resting in my hand is a 40. Then, in block letters it reads information on the lit time, and in this case it is at least 1.5-2.0 hours! The flower is equally as important with the strain listed, making up this cannagar as Electric Lemon G II flower and Electric Lemon G, Live Resin in the carefully chosen mix.
There’s no surer way to make the holidays more festive than with a little cannabis, and now that it’s legal in states throughout the country, there’s no better time than now to gift the ultimate cannabis swag.
From vaporizers and vitamins to pipes and soaks, this past year saw a ton of terrific creation and innovation in the world of cannabis, so we highlighted some of our favorites below to help you turn your holidays into a holidaze and give everyone in the family a little something extra to smile about.
