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Warren Bobrow, Cannabis Writer and Cocktail Whisperer, on the Rise of Canna Beverages

On leaving the liquor business for new adventures with Klaus the gnome

https://musebycl.io/higher-calling/warren-bobrow-cannabis-writer-and-cocktail-whisperer-rise-canna-beverages

Warren Bobrow | Photo illustration by Ashley Epping

Warren Bobrow | Photo illustration by Ashley Epping

Warren Bobrow, known as the Cocktail Whisperer, is an Emerson grad who became a TV engineer in New York City, worked at Danceteria—a famous NYC nightclub—in their video lounge, a dishwasher in York Harbor, Maine, and a certified chef/saucier. After the loss of his fresh pasta business in Hurricane Hugo, he worked in banking for 20 years before reinventing himself—becoming a six-time author, bar back to bartender and master mixologist. He is also a former rum judge for both the Ministry of Rum and the Rum XP.

Warren now works in the cannabis industry full-time as a journalist for Skunk Magazine, Different Leaf Magazine and Cannabis Cactus Magazine. He is the co-founder and master mixologist for Klaus, a Terpene-Forward/THC infused craft cocktail for the California regulated market. No liquor! Warren has enjoyed the bemusing qualities of cannabis since 1972.

We spoke with Warren for our Higher Calling series, where we chat with leaders in the cannabis space.


Warren, tell us …

Where you grew up, and where you live now.

I grew up on my family’s biodynamic/organic horse farm in Morris Township, New Jersey. After college and working as a cook around the country, owning and losing my first business during Hurricane Hugo and an ill-fated trip to Arizona to cook at the Scottsdale Princess Hotel, I found myself back in Morristown in 1992. I embarked on an inappropriate but necessary career in banking. Fortunately, I lost that job after almost two decades of pain. I didn’t belong there even for one day! Morristown is where I live today.

Your current role in the cannabis industry, and where you’re based.

I wear many hats in the cannabis industry. I’m a deep-dive canna-journalist for Skunk Magazine, Cannabis Cactus Magazine and Different Leaf Magazine, drawing deeply from my own experiences of smoking cannabis for the first time at age 12 at a Grateful Dead concert in New Jersey in 1972. I co-founded my second company, Klaus, named for my 1800s German drinking gnome that I’ve traveled much of the world with during my former career working in on/off premise liquor. Klaus is a good little guy, liked by most and he loves cannabis drinks, certainly more than getting drunk. No hangovers now!

A story about the positive impact cannabis has had on your life.

I am the poster child for medical cannabis. The only thing that I inherited from my late father was his glaucoma. Before I discovered medical cannabis, my eye pressure was so high that I literally was eating 50 Advil per month to lessen the headaches that centered behind my eyes. Since I got into the New Jersey Medicinal Marijuana Program, my eye pressure has reduced to below normal, without drugs! Medical cannabis restored my vision! My ophthalmologist uses my success with cannabis in his discussions regarding the viability of medical cannabis in treating glaucoma. Win/win!

A favorite flower, edible, product, or brand.

Favorite flowers are always sun-grown, biodynamic/organic and dry farmed. This is not always available to me on the East Coast with our shorter growing season, but the outdoor grown cannabis that I’ve enjoyed from Oregon, Maine, Northern California and Massachusetts certainly has opened my mind to the concept of terroir. Why should viticulturists have all the fun? Genetics and strains, most exciting!

My favorite indoor grown flowers are probably from Green Bodhi in Oregon. Consistently charming and intellectual, these mindfully grown herbs have opened my mind and allowed me to write what flows. Of course I’d be remiss not to mention Wonderbrett, Swami Select, the former Brotherly Love (dammit, I loved their flower), Sunrise Mountain Farms, Aster Farms and Hopper.

I’m really a hash head, but good luck finding Middle Eastern style temple ball hash in the U.S. The market is expanding in this regard. Unfortunately, the untimely death of Frenchy Cannoli has left a void in this regard, but the quality hash from Sitka has filled the need that I have for craft hash over science lab hash. Writing about cannabis for my pleasure has opened many doors in the genre of cannabis. It’s really exciting!

The biggest challenge cannabis marketers face today.

There are many challenges in marketing for any vice level product. We have the stigmas. I have myself to thank for knowing this one, inside and out. Growing up in New Jersey, surrounded by ultra affluence and heavy drinking, I took a job at a local wine store in my teens, which opened my eyes to the concept of appellation. Of course my upbringing, traveling all over Europe, the Ivory Coast, and Brazil for my cultural education made me into the well-rounded person I am today. Cannabis, although important to me, was still a forbidden topic and still is today, no matter what the law says in New Jersey. Several of my peers in prep school were expelled for smoking weed. Ruined their young lives, no matter how wealthy and influential their parents were at the time in the ’70s.

Stigmas exist through the grassroots support of liquor companies that are none too happy about the proliferation of “legal” cannabis, taking away their right (since prohibition) to print money and deeply profit from selling watered-down spirits to the masses. Your favorite vodka? 80 proof, 40 percent alcohol. The remainder? Water. Expensive water.

Several years ago, I attended a seminar at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America Convention called “What About Cannabis?” It was standing room only. I had just written my fourth book, Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics. I was working for a Russian liquor company, Marussia Beverages. Mention cannabis to the Russians—or to any professional drinker—and there is a certain curiosity that melts into outright disgust. In 2018, I quit the liquor business completely and haven’t suffered an occupational hazard.

One thing you’re excited about right now in cannabis branding, partnerships or marketing.

Cannabis-fueled beverages. It stands to reason that I would choose a career based on my passion for the plant and my deep understanding of cannabis as more than just a metaphor. That authenticity is what drives me. When you do what you love and obviously are passionate about it, you’re driven. As a trained restaurant and bar professional, I’m in a unique position to do what I love. After all, I’m certainly only one of the few individuals in the world who started as a bar back on my climb towards authenticity.

Having written six books didn’t hurt either. Nor did a rum-fueled experience that took me around the globe seeking authentic craft spirits. Why would I want to do anything else? I have a natural affinity for that tangle of flavors that pour down your gullet and make you happy. That’s called hospitality and it’s something that I do well in life.

A cannabis trade/social justice organization that you support.

Last Prisoner Project. No one should be in prison for cannabis. Period.

A recent project you’re proud of.

It’s an ongoing project. The conception in 2015 that I would write my fourth book—Cannabis Cocktails—then develop the scientific technology to allow for the commercialization of a craft cannabis beverage. Not just another sparkling water with fruit flavors added, but a craft mocktail that is based on real ingredients. My drink has only three ingredients plus the Terpene-Forward THC emulsion. What makes my drink better than my competition is the simple fact that Klaus tastes like and smells like the strain from which it emanates.

Please name a cannabis beverage on the market today that tastes like cannabis. That’s why Klaus is unlike anything that has ever been manufactured prior. This is gastro-molecular canna-mixology that’s light years ahead of the cannabis beverage industry.

Someone else’s project you admired recently.

I love what Luke Anderson has done with the microdosed beverage, CANN. I admire him as a fellow craftsman in beverages, for his education in Boston (me too!) and as a deeply placed visionary in his field. What he has accomplished in a short time is pretty fantastic, especially in a deeply regulated market.

Someone you admire in cannabis who’s doing great things.

I admire the work being done with Intentional Horticulture from my friend and spiritual mentor, John Bayes from Green Bodhi in Oregon. His work in mindful and the deeply spiritual propagation of cannabis has influenced my work at the core level. Smoke some of his cannabis and your mind will be opened. Some of the best writing I’ve done in years was influenced by his carefully tended cultivars.

What you’d be doing if you weren’t in the cannabis industry.

That’s a good question. I’ve failed at least eight times in my life—careers, marriage, bankruptcy, being disowned and ostracized by my own family. They have no idea of my successes or what brought me here to be able to work with the plant. It’s taken me some real time to get here. Much anguish, difficulty and disappointment before finding myself able to follow my dreams and passion. I will say there is no other job or life that I would rather want. It’s taken me 60 years to get here to occupy a small role within the cannabis business. I get to be me. In cannabis! What a dream come true story!

Higher Calling is a weekly series, publishing on Thursdays, where we chat with folks in the cannabis industry about their personal history and taste in cannabis and the future of cannabis marketing. For more about Higher Calling, and our Clio Cannabis program, please get in touch.

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FOOD + FLOWER MAGAZINE

WARREN BOBROW – CHIEF MIXOLOGIST, FOOD + FLOWER MAGAZINE

WARREN BOBROW – CHIEF MIXOLOGIST, FOOD + FLOWER MAGAZINE

Warren Bobrow has been a dishwasher, the owner of the first company to make fresh pasta in South Carolina, a television engineer and has even worked at Danceteria in NYC. Bobrow became a trained chef, leading to a twenty-year career in private banking. Bobrow is cannabis, wine and travel aficionado, Bobrow is a former rum judge and craft spirits national brand ambassador. He works full time in the cannabis business as an alchemist/journalist.

Truly leaving no leaf unturned.

Warren Bobrow, dubbed The Cocktail Whisperer, has 6 published books including Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks and Buzz-Worthy Libations

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Food and Flower magazine

https://www.foodandflowermag.com/?s=warren+bobrow

Cannabis NewsProduct News

THE COCKTAIL WHISPERER LAUNCHES FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND RANGE OF CRAFT CANNABIS-INFUSED RTD MOCKTAILS

From the mind of the Cocktail Whisperer, Warren Bobrow, comes KLAUS™ Cannabis-Infused Beverages, made with the highest quality ingredients and the finest fruit extracts from France.

KLAUS™ – a delicious new cannabis-infused beverage made with the best ingredients for a healthier and euphoric buzz, has set its sights on the growing ‘ California-sober’ market and is ready to take the cannabis beverage culture to a whole new level.

Co-founded by “The Cocktail Whisperer,” Warren Bobrow, the first-of-its-kind premium product in the cannabis space, is here to quench your thirst and transform the way you think about and drink cannabis-infused beverages. Bobrow, a cannabis alchemist and cocktail aficionado, industry journalist and author of six books in the craft cocktail space, including his most recent Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics. It’s no wonder he and KLAUS’ team of industry leaders and creatives have created the most unique cannabis-infused craft mocktail in the ready-to-drink space to date.

Named after Bobrow’s 1800s German drinking gnome that he’s traveled much of the world with during his former career working in on/off premise liquor, KLAUS in’t like any other cannabis-infused beverage. First up is the KLAUS Mezzrole™, named after Louis Armstrong’s friend and fellow hep-cat, Mezz Mezzrow. A Mezzrole was slang for a finely crafted cannabis cigarette during the jazz era.

Robust and tangy with bursts of piquant Picketts™ ginger root syrup, gently giving way to palate soothing rice vinegar notes and the finest French lime puree, the refreshing beverage features a terpene-forward 10 mg THC infusion per can, only 16 calories, and less than 1g of sugar per serving.

At first sips, KLAUS fills the nose and mouth with the bold aromatics from the terpene-forward cannabis infusion. Dollops of zesty and zippy, caramelized, spicy ginger cane syrup come into view. Each sniff is framed by the exotic French Lime puree. Rice vinegar carries each sip into a multi-minute finish, ebullient with bursts of heady sea salt splashing over crushed minerals. The high comes on in minutes, leading into a talkative nature, relaxation, and confidence ensues.
KLAUS has partnered with Sands Lane Ventures and creative agency MAMUS, with a mutual mission to create the highest quality and best tasting cannabis-infused mocktails. KLAUS aims to make it simple for newcomers to the cannabis space to have an enjoyable and delicious experience. KLAUS’ flavors bring a gentle rise in euphoria followed by a subtle smile, candid appreciation, and bemusement.

KLAUS is available at leading dispensaries in California including, The Vault in Palm Springs and SOLFUL in Sebastopol at the end of February. KLAUS is currently available as single-serve and soon to be in convenient 4-packs. To learn more, head to www.drinkklaus.com

About Klaus

KLAUS™ is a cannabis-infused beverage co-founded by “The Cocktail Whisperer” Warren Bobrow. KLAUS™ is named after Warren’s soused gnome “Klaus” who was born in 1851 in Germany. The KLAUS™ team brings together powerhouses in the field of cocktails, cannabis, branding and marketing. KLAUS™ mission is to create the most delicious, highest quality and best tasting cannabis-infused mocktails in the world and to make it simple for newcomers to the cannabis space to have an enjoyable and delicious experience.

About Sands Lane Ventures

Sands Lane Ventures is a purpose-driven venture studio building brands and enabling the better future we envision today. We believe that purpose-driven storytelling has the power to not only educate, inspire action and ignite change, but to also drive significant value. Sands Lane Ventures is part of the Sands Lane ecosystem, delivering strategic advisory services and value-added brand operations, supply chain management and investment support. We are focused on incubating and accelerating early stage consumer brands, taking a hands-on approach to activating opportunities through a unique and comprehensive lens, de-risking their business models and adding long term value through our ecosystem. Visit sandslane.com/ventures for more details.

About creative agency MAMUS

MAMUS is a creative agency with a Madison Ave. pedigree and deep brand experience including Mercedes-Benz, jetBlue Airways, BMW, Whole Foods and many more. MAMUS specializes in brand development for lifestyle, deep technology, cannabis, and luxury. Visit mamuscreative.com for more information.

For general inquiries: info@drinkklaus.com

For retail inquiries: retail@drinklaus.com

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5 Questions Articles Interviews Skunk Magazine

FIVE GRATIFYING QUESTIONS WITH MARIANNE CURSETJEE, MBA, CEO AND COFOUNDER OF ALIBI CANNABIS

BYWARREN BOBROW 04/20/2022

Here was my pitch. I included it here because the framework for this intriguing piece is in the pitch, a beautifully written one, I must add. Thank you, my friend, for sending this my way, appreciated deeply.

Hi Warren – Alibi Cannabis is about to announce its first line of premium pre-rolls curated for Oregon’s discerning cannabis consumer.

Made with 100% handcrafted flower, Alibi’s new Mariposa pre-rolls celebrate empowered, fierce females with the sexy NFT, Mariposa Takes Flight, on the packaging. (She is on their homepage!)

Alibi Cannabis is a woman-owned craft cannabis farm founded in 2017 by Marianne Cursetjee.

With an MBA and a high-powered tech career, Marianne did not expect to become a cannabis entrepreneur. Then she got cancer. Her career changed when a cannabis product eliminated the need for over ten drugs to combat side effects from chemo prescriptions. Marianne bought property in Oregon, started a cannabis farm, and became a cannabis expert. Alibi has earned recognition for growing some of the best flower in Oregon.

Can I interest you in speaking with Marianne about Alibi, the new pre-rolls, and her journey?

*YES*

Photo courtesy of Marianne Cursetjee

Warren Bobrow: Please tell me about your inspiration for the brand? Where did the name come from? Is this your first cannabis venture?

Marianne Cursetjee, MBA, CEO and Cofounder of Alibi Cannabis: At Alibi, we imagine a beautiful place where you can be the best version of you. The joy that comes from cannabis enhances our relationships, our bodies, and our spirits. The word “Alibi” is simple, but the idea can be whatever you dream. We hope people take a moment, enjoy the smoke, and look for the beauty around them.

We bought the land for our cannabis farm when I was just finishing up treatment for breast cancer. I had a vision of building a fabulous weed farm. Now, here we are seven years later, thriving in a tough market and looking forward to continued growth. The business has grown from an idea to a commercial-scale craft farm with a compelling story and beautiful imagery.

WB: Who is your mentor? When did you discover cannabis? How old were you? What are your six and twelve-month goals?

MC: I was raised in a very conservative Christian environment, so cannabis was not part of the culture. I was 45 years old when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Going through chemotherapy and radiation, managing side effects is a whole cascade of pharmaceuticals. A friend gave me some cannabis and said that it might help with nausea and pain. It was amazing! I was able to eliminate a whole host of pharmaceuticals and replace them with just cannabis. My dad is currently battling brain cancer, and I’m giving him cannabis to help with that. He tells me his head is all whirly, and some nice 1:1 chocolates make him feel better. Love that the industry is now better able to support those in medical need and also those who just love how cannabis makes them feel.

Our goals for the business are continued growth, more unique cultivars, and delivering amazing quality cannabis products. Having grown in Oregon since 2017, we’ve learned that Oregonians are weed connoisseurs constantly looking for new and unique products and flavors.

Our signature branding, “Mariposa Takes Flight,” is based

Photo courtesy of Marianne Cursetjee

on an NFT we purchased. Figuring out how to utilize blockchain, NFT’s and the metaverse in cannabis is an exciting new frontier.

We just launched Mariposa pre-rolls to celebrate empowered, edgy females with the sexy NFT on the packaging. Made with 100% handcrafted indoor flower, the pre-rolls have received rave reviews. We are in discussions to launch this brand into other states and plan to introduce a line of gummies soon in Oregon. I’m pleased that we have found some fabulous companies to collaborate with. Also, this year, we are launching a merch shop featuring Mariposa. Look for amazing merchandise over the coming few months at Alibi.shop

WB: What kind of obstacles do you face? How do you anticipate removing these obstacles?

MC: We face the challenges common to all cannabis companies, such as restrictions on marketing and advertising, limited tax deductions, and the high cost of regulatory compliance. The challenges specific to us are a flourishing unregulated market and an oversupply of product in the regulated market. It has been said that if you can survive Oregon, you can survive anywhere!

We are known for our top-shelf handcrafted flower. We will continue with new genetics and improved quality while also looking at more products and new states. There are so many opportunities available across the US; finding the right partners is key to long-term success.

WB: What is your favorite food to savor when you have smoked Alibi minis? Do you have a favorite restaurant? What is the name? Where? Indoor or outdoor-grown cannabis? Why?

MC: Portland is such a food haven! So many good things to eat! If I’m trolling for munchies at home, I love Bordeaux Cherry Balsamic vinegar on vanilla ice cream. Sweet and sour, oh my! Seriously, it’s totally the bomb! Our Lava Cake cultivar is really a heavy munchie strain, so stock up before you toke. For restaurants, I love Thai and Indian, but my favorite restaurant in Portland is a Lebanese restaurant called Nicholas. Their baba ghanoush, cauliflower, caramelized onions, yum! Spicy food really goes well with our GMO Glue cultivar — it’s a totally old-school hitter with garlic notes.

For cannabis, I like the consistency and freshness of indoor flower. I’m a little bit spoiled since we grow such amazing weed at our farm. I like knowing that what I’m smoking is fresh and clean. When you buy your bud at dispensaries, look at the harvest date. I’m surprised how much old stuff is on the shelf. Look for something harvested within the last 2 or 3 months. Older than that, and it just isn’t quite as nice. Get to know the farms and their growing practices and ethics.

Photos courtesy of Marianne Cursetjee

WB: What is your passion?

MC: So many things! I love training Krav Maga. I started training when I was going through chemotherapy. It’s great physical exercise, and the “never give up” mentality is huge. Feeling and being strong physically is wonderful. Of course, Covid took a toll on my training, but I’m back in the gym now and kicking ass! I also love scuba diving. Diving is an activity my daughter and I do together. We just got back from diving in Mexico. The world under the sea is so amazing! We have seen strange creatures in the water, but my favorite is the mantis shrimp. It’s a bizarre creature with some freaky traits. You can read more about this underwater nightmare at https://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp.

What brings me real joy is knowing that my efforts at work and in the community are improving lives. Alibi is founded on the philosophy of doing the right thing. We treat our customers, vendors, and employees right.

The last couple of years have been really rough, and it’s important to find the little things that can change the day from gloomy to bright. This is the essence of Alibi’s Mariposa line — find the beauty, take a moment, appreciate life. What’s your Alibi?

WB: I love your flowers, as they are smiles in every pull. The GMO Glue is true to the name with aromatics of freshly raked loam, orange oil, dried morel mushrooms, and shavings of bitter chocolate. The high comes into view, right in front of my forehead, offering pain relief and optimism; a talkative conversation ensues into deeply relaxing metaphors for sleep and renewal. Lucky is the person who will enjoy such evocative experiences. Oregon offers that in their wines and their cannabis. The taste of the place, the terroir- it sets Oregon into a realm of conscious cannabis.

https://www.skunkmagazine.com/five-gratifying-questions-with-marianne-cursetjee-mba-ceo-and-cofounder-of-alibi-cannabis/?v=f24485ae434a
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Renewal Summit 2022

https://www.thethreetomatoes.com/

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Klaus Klaus Apothicaire

The Design Milk Twenty for 420 Roundup

Klaus Mezzrole
Many cannabis-infused beverages taste like they were concocted by someone who has never tasted a proper cocktail in their life. Thankfully Klaus tapped the skills of acclaimed mixologist Warren Bobrow, aka the Cocktail Whisperer, to infuse a piquant punch of ginger with zesty lime with rice vinegar, resulting in an adult-quality drink with 10mg THC and < 1mg CBD THC per can.

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The Key to Combining Cannabis and Mixology? Remove the Booze.

Led by longtime drinks professionals, brands like MXXN and Klaus think THC can thrive in cocktail culture, sans the alcohol

The Kentucky Kickback is built from a THC-infused, no-booze spirit called MXXN. It's just one of the THC drinks coming from the mixology world.

The Kentucky Kickback is built from a THC-infused, no-booze, bourbon-like spirit called MXXN.MXXN

  • https://www.insidehook.com/article/booze/mixology-cannabis-thc-spirits-klaus-mxxn

BY KIRK MILLER

The worlds of THC and alcohol haven’t really crossed over, and to be honest, that’s probably for the best. Not all potentially buzzy experiences need to or should be intertwined.

But if you take away booze from that crossover while keeping the idea of mixology in place, suddenly the small but growing industry of bartender-friendly, cannabinoid-infused “spirits” and mixers makes more sense.

We’ve covered this meeting-of-minds before, although not specifically related to THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis. First there’s Flyers, a line of alcohol-free sparkling cannabis cocktails with full-spectrum CBD distillates that are crafted, in part, by award-winning mixologist Ivy Mix. Then there’s The Pathfinder Hemp & Root, a non-alcoholic “spirit” fermented and distilled from hemp; two of the three founders have extensive liquor brand experience, and the mixer works nicely in both boozy and non-boozy drinks. 

When I spoke with the founders of those drinks brands, they all suggested that THC-infused variations were on the way.

The first three bottles from MXXN, a THC-infused no-booze spirit
The first three bottles from MXXN.MXXN

One that’s already here? MXXN (pronounced “moon”). The BIPOC-founded brand claims to be the spirit industry’s first 1:1 non-alcoholic and THC-infused replacement for gin, tequila and bourbon. The company is led by Darnell Smith, a booze industry vet with over 15 years of experience at Diageo, Pernod Ricard and Bacardi. 

“I was working in the spirits industry in product innovation and found myself drinking more than I cared to due to the nature of the profession,” Smith tells InsideHook. “I was looking for a way to cut back on alcohol but still take part in the social aspects associated with drinking and cocktail culture. And I had been a consumer of cannabis for chronic pain after 15 years as a football player and would make my own tinctures at home, so I started bringing the tinctures out to social events, ordering a tonic and lime and putting a few drops in. My wife encouraged me to find a way to bring the tincture and tonic idea to the public in some capacity.

MXXN’s website offers variations on well-known cocktails, although the proportions are interesting, given the idea that you’re getting about 6 mg of THC per 1.5 oz pour — an Old Fashioned riff, for example, suggests a very small .75 oz measurement of MXXN’s Kentucky Oak, as opposed to a standard 2 oz pour if you were using a regular bourbon.

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We were recently able to try MXXN Jalisco Agave (the drink is available in California and direct-to-consumer in a few markets). It’s a cloudy, straw-colored liquid with grassy and floral notes. On the palate, it’s soft but also spicy and with a pronounced salinity — it’s not offensive on its own, but it feels much better suited for a cocktail. I turned my initial small pour into a very nice Paloma alternative, which lacked the usual alcohol “kick” but maintained the essence of agave and heightened the grapefruit notes (while also a touch of spice). 

I’m not alone in my thoughts on how the product mixes. “When we started MXXN, we were trying to emulate the tastes of spirits in standalone form,” explains Smith, who also notes that bartenders were consistently giving feedback during the product’s formulation. “But we found it to be extremely difficult to find a substitute for the specific flavor and profile ethanol provides in that form, so we pivoted a bit to create a product that emulates the base flavor profiles of these spirits when mixed in a cocktail with other ingredients.

The recipe wasn’t an easy process. In the brand’s early stages, the technology wasn’t there to get the THC evenly distributed throughout the base formula (“Which for dosing reasons was an obvious problem,” Smith notes). They eventually utilized nanoemulsion technology from Vertosa to solve that problem, but the company also had to finalize the flavor profile and make the product shelf-stable, which proved more difficult to do without alcohol while still utilizing natural ingredients. 

In the end, Smith thinks products like MXXN will appeal to the health-conscious (and non-boozy drinkers), but also believes they offer real potential to unite the worlds of drinks and cannabis.

“We’re not here to completely replace your booze or how you consume it,” he says. “We’re here to provide a new experience and evolve cocktail culture.”

The first release from Klaus, a THC-infused canned cocktail with no booze
The first release from Klaus, a THC-infused canned cocktail with no booze.Klaus

Klaus takes a different approach. And that involves a gnome.

Just launched, Klaus is a ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail in a can, albeit with a “10 mg terpene-forward cannabis emulsion per drink” as opposed to a boozy ABV. These were crafted by popular mixologist Warren Bobrow, who credits…well, I’ll have him explain.

“The inspiration for my product, funnily enough, was my drinking gnome named Klaus,” says Bobrow. “Klaus traveled the world with me in my prior career in liquor sales. He also came with me to competitions where I served as a rum judge for both the Ministry of Rum and the Florida-based Rum XP.” (That association explains the launch of Klaus with Mezzrole, a take on the classic Ti’ Punch.)

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As Bobrow remembers, he was signing copies of his drinks guide Bitters and Shrub Syrup Cocktails at the Pharmacy Museum when noticed an exhibit named “Cannabis in the Early Apothecary,” which led to an idea for his next book, Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics. And the success of that book led to the idea of creating a canned, THC-infused cocktail.

(Yes, but the actual gnome influence? “To me, Klaus is much more than just a German drinking gnome. He represents goodness, kindness and the amalgamation of my life experiences. Sure, he loves to drink, but he’s recently switched over to my refreshing infused mocktails.”)

For Bobrow, it was not an issue emphasizing the cannabis aspects of his drink. “The ‘craft’ in craft cocktails isn’t always about the liquor. It’s the balance of the ingredients,” he says. “My Mezzrole cocktail — named for Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet’s friend and cannabis dealer, Mezz Mezzrow — has no alcohol, but it’s terpene-forward. It smells like a perfectly cured cannabis bud and provides consumers with a lovely, relaxing, talkative yet grounded feeling.” (It’s apparently also great for sleep. We’ll have samples soon to review.)

Unlike some of his peers, Bobrow feels THC is a versatile and somewhat enviable ingredient to work into mixed drinks.

“It can be flavored with terpenes as an adjunct to the other fine ingredients in a craft cocktail, or it can be flavorless and woven into a seltzer,” he says. “To me, the process is not challenging because cannabis possesses terroir. The plant embodies the taste of the place it was grown, like wine, except there are perhaps even more terpenes in cannabis than wine.”

As for serving suggestions, Klaus’s drinks — which will soon include a riff on the Tiki classic Zombie — only have 16 calories and 0.6 grams of sugar per can; each of those 8 oz cans features 10 mg THC, which Bobrow estimates is perfect for two drinks and a nice mental middle ground. “We’re somewhere between a microdose and the opposite end where the effects are a little too strong.”

Even if their approaches (and taste profiles) differ, Bobrow and Smith share a similar audience expectation: health-conscious, social, open to a “buzz” but wanting to feel better in the next morning.

“Many folks in my former world of liquor struggle with alcohol, and several have already reached out to tell me how much this beverage means to them,” says Bobrow. “Alcohol and cannabis provide different experiences. I feel out of control when drinking liquor, and I think a lot of people can relate. But I’m not here to preach. I’m here to make the world’s best craft cannabis libations and raise the bar.”

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Come meet me and Klaus at Club Cumming

505 East 6th Street, NYC 4 – 8 PM 4/20/22
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FIVE QUESTIONS WITH SUSIE PLASCENCIA FROM HUMO: MEXICAN-AMERICAN OWNED: GOURMET LATINO CANNABIS

BYWARREN BOBROW03/03/2022

Five Questions with Susie Plascencia from Humo: Mexican-American Owned: Gourmet Latino Cannabis         

I’m always intrigued by authentic cannabis brands grown in conjunction with nature. Sometimes they are more than just indoor grown under lights. I crave sun-grown flowers that are bursting with passion. This description holds true for the richly esoteric strains grown in the proprietary “Smart” Greenhouse holistically powered by Posibl in Monterey County, California, the parent company of Humo. It stands to reason that Humo would possess state-of-the-art growing methods from their rich history in Latino culture. It is my pleasure to share with you the words and emotions from the source herself, brand partner Susie Plascencia. That is, quite succinctly…Humo. HUMO is by la raza, pa’ la raza. A Spanish term for smoke, humo is the unmistakable result of cannabis when ignited. HUMO is on a mission to eliminate the stigma surrounding cannabis in the Latino community by celebrating its rich cultural history with the plant and normalizing its daily use. As a Mexican-American-owned company, HUMO aims to provide meaningful representation in an industry that has caused disproportionate harm to Latino communities for decades. 

1. Please tell me about yourself, what do you do for work? Where are you from? Live now? What did you want to be when you grew up?  

I was born and raised in Los Angeles and still live in the city. My family immigrated to the US from Jalisco, Mexico. I’m an entrepreneur and marketing expert. I’m a Brand Partner for Humo, California’s Mexican American-owned cannabis brand centered on the culture of the Latino community. Not seeing Latinas represented in professional positions of power affected my desire to seek entrepreneurship as a career path. However, I’ve always had a natural talent for communication and a calling for leadership, so studying marketing and earning a master’s degree in journalism helped me hone my skills as a creative storyteller. Becoming an entrepreneur and brand developer are roles I’ve grown into throughout my career. Still, I often feel I am what I’ve always been – a communicator and a leader.

Photo Credit Enkrypt Los Angeles

2. What are you working on right now? Do you have a six and twelve-month goal? What makes your company different from its peers?

Right now, I’m focusing on the growth of Humo, and its expansion throughout California. Within six months, we’d like to welcome new strains to our menu and our 12-month goal is for Humo to be available at dispensaries from San Diego to San Francisco. Our mission-focused ethos is what sets Humo apart from our peers in the cannabis industry. As a Mexican American and woman-led brand, we aim to eliminate the stigma around cannabis use in the Latino community by celebrating our rich cultural history with the plant, normalizing its daily use, and offering premium and affordable flower that’s sustainably grown in a Smart Greenhouse powered by our parent company POSIBL.

3. What obstacles currently stand in your way, and how do you anticipate removing them? Do you have a mentor or teacher who is valuable in your path? 

As a brand, the challenges we currently face are actually also our strengths. The average cannabis consumer knows about indoor and outdoor cultivation but still isn’t familiar with a greenhouse approach.

This challenge becomes a strength because it presents us with an opportunity to not only share information about the brand with our community but also educate them on the great benefits of sustainably grown flower. Personally, the most important and valuable teachers in my path have been struggle and hardship. Having to work extremely hard to get to where I am in my career has filled me with a level of gratitude and appreciation that fuels me to continue achieving and help pave the way for others. 

Photo Credit Enkrypt Los Angeles

4. Indoor or outdoor-grown cannabis? Favorite strain right now? 

Neither indoor nor outdoor — Humo’s craft cannabis is sustainably grown in a Smart Greenhouse powered by our parent company, POSIBL. Their proprietary greenhouse technology features best-in-class climate control that requires less water per pound of flower and is three times more efficient than indoor grows. My favorite strain right now is the Cajeta. It’s an indica-leaning hybrid that’s a cross between OGKB and Mendo Montage. This flower’s creamy vanilla and caramel flavor profile inspired its name, which is one of Mexico’s most beloved goat’s milk caramel confections. 

5. What is your passion? 

I want to help create dream jobs in cannabis. I’m passionate about creating career opportunities in the cannabis industry for women of color and communities impacted by the War on Drugs. 

Check them out at: https://www.gethumo.com

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5 Questions Skunk Magazine

FIVE PERCEPTIBLE QUESTIONS WITH JOYCE CENALI, COO: SONOMA HILLS FARM

It’s been a few months since I have used vape cartridges. That’s not to say that I don’t like them, just that there are very few legal places to purchase them in New Jersey. Sure, you can get the medical ones through the NJMMP, but they don’t offer the satisfaction like the ones I’ve discovered from SELECT. The SELECT line of carts is of exceptional quality. I know that there are dozens of different companies vying for the right to say that they are the best in their field, and SELECT is not any different in this regard. However, I’ve found that the new SELECT line is carefully crafted from flower from the celebrated Sonoma Hills Farm. They exemplify the essence of the plant. They improve upon the art of the vape cartridge and raise the bar through the deep quality of the perfectly cured Sonoma Hills Farm flower. I’m not a scientist, nor an influencer in social media, but one thing I do know is the art of the outdoor-grown cannabis flower, especially the ones that are of this deep quality. In smoking craft cannabis, I feel that the overall experience is much more intrinsic. But that is just my opinion.

SELECT has achieved quite intriguing, and it rivals the personal emotion of smoking a freshly rolled joint of perfectly cured flower. In this case, the flower is from Sonoma Hills Farm. Select has harnessed a methodology that corresponds with a product called Live Resin. Live Resin is a form of cannabis concentrate. This invention exemplifies the purest form of the plant. I’m not a big fan of dabbing to be perfectly succinct, but the live resin I am interested in is not torched in a dab rig.

Photos courtesy of SELECT.

I’m considering the form of a little glass cartridge that screws onto an elegant, rechargeable battery about the size of a slender, European-style ballpoint pen. The little glass container contains a very special oil, the abovementioned Enhanced Live Resin. Enhanced means to me the term Professional Strength, judging by their testing results. The very best, raising the bar from the enthusiast to the cannabis nerd, like myself.

When you grow accustomed to the plethora of products on the market, it’s refreshing to know that only a few choices of this quality are to be enjoyed in the overall marketplace. The SELECT line caught my attention… What they have accomplished is impressive, to say the very least.

Warren Bobrow=WB: Please tell me about yourself. What brought you to the cannabis biz?

Joyce Cenali: I’ve consumed cannabis for over half of my life, to balance anxiety and stress, and to socialize. I love that she always draws in such a wide spectrum of folks, and she’s led me to many crucial relationships with friends, colleagues, and mentors. She encourages a think out of the box and an open-minded mentality. I started a home grow in 2004 for personal use, and it was the illness and subsequent passing of my dad that launched me fully into the industry. Observing his and the treatment path of so many in our troubled health care industry, the pull into cannabis was natural, instinctual. Societal and capitalistic constructs systematically deny us diversity in our consumption and wellness choices. Our team and I, and every operator that we’re privileged to work with, are slowly chipping away the long held and unjust stigma.

WB: Please tell me about the new Select collaboration. What makes the products different from their competition?

Joyce Cenali: Select has a deep bench of experienced staff, best-of-class extraction equipment, and long-honed processes and systems. They are extremely bullish in their research and development, and they focus only on the highest quality of their products. They have a sincere interest in showcasing not only potency but also terpene flavor and balance. In the case of our collaboration, they were able to capture a full-bodied presentation of the inputs, and you’re truly getting an expression that is close to the plant.

WB: Which strain is your favorite? Why?

Joyce Cenali: Durban Biscotti! I previously grew Durban Poison for many years, and she was always one of the most potent and aromatic ladies in the garden. She’s got a dense structure and tends to do well in diverse weather environments, so we wanted to give her a try in our current climate, which tends to get a fair share of moisture. We were able to find a great cut of her crossed with Biscotti, sourced from Purple City. She was super aromatic and gorgeous, yielded well, and her profile is one of the richest in terpenes coming in at a whopping 4.6% terpene content. She’s energizing and soothing, and she has come out in true form in extract and flower, giving her a wide application at market.

WB: What are your six and twelve-month goals?

Photos courtesy of SELECT.

Joyce Cenali: In the near term, my goal is to work with advocacy groups like Origins Council, Sun+Earth, Cannabis Media Council, and others to smooth the muck of the regulatory and taxation channels in order to ensure that we have a robust business representation of both small and large businesses operating in California and nationally, so as to present wide-ranging choices to the consumer base, including direct sales from farms like ours. We have a legacy to protect in California, and without it, the cannabis industry will miss out on the best terroir expression of the plant and tremendous experiences and community growth. Imagine the wine industry without wine country. It’s a non-starter.

WB: What is your passion?

Joyce Cenali: My drive to get involved with cannabis, a plant I have enjoyed for many years, is two-fold. I am passionate about bringing the voices of women and the LGBTQ community to the forefront of this industry. I am equally dedicated to ensuring that cannabis, hemp, and its many derivatives are made as widely accessible as possible.

Joyce’s bio:

Joyce Cenali is COO of Sonoma Hills Farm, a premium craft cannabis farm and organic culinary garden nestled on 60-acres in Sonoma Valley. In addition to Sun+Earth certification, the farm’s cannabis was one of the first to be recognized as “organic comparable,” as designated by CCOF’s OCal program, which certifies consistency with the uniform standards of the National Organic Program. She also leads operations at Big Rock Partners, a strategic advisory firm serving investors and companies at the intersection of food, hospitality, and cannabis.

Joyce has worked day in and day out to assist other entrepreneurs, many of which are minorities, in cannabis. A long-time craft cannabis cultivator, she co-founded an Emerald Cup-winning operation and began angel investing in various women-founded early-stage cannabis start-ups, including Sava and LADY BUDS, an indie film that features women in cannabis. She’s also an advisory board member with various cannabis advocacy groups and Co-Founder of Cannabis Media Council, with a mission to advance a modern regulatory model that unites capitalism with inclusion. In 2020, she was recognized by San Francisco Business Times as a Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business.

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