Stir Don’t Shake

With 4/20 just around the corner, it seems the perfect opportunity to discuss the merits of stirring cannabis cocktails. I’m usually hard pressed to find bartenders who really know the physical differences between stirring and shaking a cocktail—any cocktail. Now, add to that equation fragile ingredients that you may not want to pulverize and turn into overly green (read: botanical) flavors like cannabis, and those differences become even more important.

One of the most unpleasant of all overly-green flavors is mint. When it is excessively manipulated, the aromatics and essences resemble that of mud. And no one wants to drink mud. You may have witnessed this yourself in batched up Kentucky Derby cocktails, where the mint is added to the ice the day before, frozen, and then topped with bourbon just prior to serving. The end result is a muddy mess that screams for a fresh glass, new mint, and clean ice.

Why Stir Cannabis Cocktails?

The Dramatis Personae Cocktail, via Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails, and Tonics / Fair Winds Press.

Why Cannabis Cocktails Get A Bad Rap When They Are So Wonderful

And a gorgeous recipe for a Louis Armstrong’s Way cannabis fizzy.

By: Warren Bobrow Mar 19, 2018

Why Cannabis Cocktails Get A Bad Wrap — Photo by Dylan Goldby at WelkinLight Photography

I’ve made my living for the better part of seven years in the liquor space. With that said, I’ve noticed some real changes in that traditional world of intoxicants over the past year or so. After being tolerated for a few years, the large liquor companies are having serious misgivings about being too friendly with the cannabis family. Perhaps this is because the ongoing stigma that hovers just over the periphery in every illicit transaction outside of the “three tier system.” You see, the liquor industry has been permitted to print their own tickets since Prohibition, under the watchful gaze of the government. Taxation is a powerful determinate with broad reaching implications.

MAKE ST. PATTYS DAY EXTRA GREEN

For years St. Patrick’s Day has been celebrated by drinking huge quantities of green beer or even shooting whiskey all night. But this year, why don’t we explore some other ways to enjoy the holiday with some green? It is hopefully going to be the year of “legal” weed in Canada, after all. So let’s take a look at some great ways to infuse some cannabis into your St. Patrick’s Day.

Drink

I know a lot of people love the green beer on St. Patty’s but why not drink some green beer with some actual green cannabis infused into it. Warren Bobrow, writer of Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails, & Tonics…, has many recipes in his extensive book for infusing simple syrups and other common cocktail ingredients. For the more newbie bartenders, tinctures are the most turnkey way to add a cannabis kick to any beverage. Glycerin tinctures can easily be added to a beverage, but alcohol tinctures won’t emulsify into a water based drink.

This is our fool-proof plan for helping a cannabis-infused St. Patrick’s Day feel just as fun as a drunken one.

5 Cannabis Cocktails to Try this Valentine’s Day

Cannabis Cocktails - Craft Sense

No plans for Valentine’s Day? Try making cannabis cocktails at home with your loved one. The combination of spirits and cannabis can elevate you both while keeping you relaxed and ready for anything. Here are five cannabis cocktails to try this February 14th.

Hot Toddy Time!

Is it the New Year already? It seems like Thanksgiving of 2017 was just yesterday. But what makes this time of the year most exciting for me is the creativity in the drinks. Sure, I’m tasting all sorts of mixed drinks- but the ones that I really want to taste are precisely the ones that mean memories for me. Those would be the hot ones. The drinks that go down my throat and make each sniff or sip something unique and friendly. We survived the holidays, now we need some comfort at the end of the day- or if you are exceptionally optimistic- first thing in the morning. You see, a hot toddy is not just for the after dinner / before bed experience. Some even are just as refreshing and calming for a breakfast slurp. Not that I’m advocating morning drinking! Far from… But at the end of the day- where night turns to day- I’m looking towards drinks that have a robust nature to them. Tea based is a good place to start and no other tea works for morning than a rambunctious Lapsang Souchong tea from China. This tea is heavily smoked and takes to botanical gin with a ‘how do you do’ that is reminiscent of Singapore before the Opium Wars. It’s served as it should be in a perfectly formed, hand-made, porcelain teacup. A simple sprig of chive rests gently over the steaming liquid- bitter chive against smoky tea. The vivid green color against the brownish steaming tea. Quite elegant and this drink is absolutely perfect as a breakfast sipper during brunch. And served in a teacup, no one knows your business- it’s steaming, right? Of course, I used the Breakfast Gin from FEW Spirits.

December 31, 2017

National Bloody Mary Day

Epic Smoked Bloody Marys For Your New Year’s Brunch

By Nancy Loseke with Glenn Tiede Epic Smoked Bloody Marys For Your New Year’s Brunch

January 1 is officially National Bloody Mary Day. The timing couldn’t be better. Even if you don’t require a “hair of the dog” hangover cure after New Year’s Eve revelries, you now have an unimpeachable excuse to quaff one of America’s most beloved brunch cocktails. Though the origins of this restorative beverage aren’t clear, food historians often credit a professional bartender, Fernand Petiot, with combining equal parts of vodka and tomato juice in the 1920s when he worked at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. He later claimed he spent years tweaking the recipe until it resembled the classic drink we’ve come to know and love. The cocktail was said to be a favorite of Ernest Hemingway who was trying to hide his matitudinal alcohol consumption from his wife.

Read More Here At BarbecueBible

December 25, 2017

Zoe Wilder’s Published Works

It’s an honor to appear in Zoe Wilder‘s list of her published works.

https://zoewilder.com/publishedworks

https://hightimes.com/edibles/spirited-drinks-cocktail-whisperer-warren-bobrow/

December 17, 2017

Spirited Drinks With The Cocktail Whisperer Warren Bobrow

Cocktails and cannabis, together at last.

December 16, 2017

Zoe Wilder

Spirited Drinks With The Cocktail Whisperer Warren Bobrow

Warren “The Cocktail Whisperer” Bobrow has lived many lives. After graduating from Emerson College in ‘85, he worked in television as an editor at PBS in New York City. That position led him to TV and radio engineering in Maine at WNET-TV, but his heart just wasn’t in it. Unemployed and poor in Portland, before it was chic to live there, Bobrow took a job as a dishwasher and salad prep cook in a local restaurant, which ignited a passion for the culinary arts.

160-Proof Spiked Hot Chocolate

Warren Bobrow

Warren Bobrow / Courtesy photo

First published in bostonmagazine.com

In our rundown of the best hot chocolate in Boston, a few notable spiked examples made the cut. But should you seek something a little stronger, you’re going to want to head to our favorite bar-ware store, Boston Shaker.

Warren Bobrow and his trusty sidekick, Klaus the Soused Gnome show us how to conjure a mighty strong batch of hot chocolate made with Austrian-made Stroh 160. That’s right, that’s 160-proof rum. Hey, if anyone knows how ward off a winter chill, it’s the Austrians.

Find the Recipe and more here:

December 5, 2017

5 Classic Cocktails to Celebrate Repeal Day

Repeal Day.

Just the very mention of the word “repeal” suggests setting something behind, to leave it in the past, and what better day to leave something in the past than December 5, or Repeal Day, which celebrates the day Prohibition ended and the modern age of drinking really began.