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Fathers DecarbDay Gift!

One of Ardent’s latest customers and biggest fans, Warren Bobrow, also known as the “Cocktail Whisperer,” has been experimenting with cannabis tinctures and infusions for decades, and is one of the first to publish an elegant book on the subject detailing his recipes. We asked Warren to tell us about it and share one of his craft cocktail recipes to help cool you off this summer!“Before I discovered the NOVA Decarboxylation device, I was literally throwing money down the drain. Decarbing cannabis is not usually an easy task. There are dozens of methods shown on the web to decarb and none of them are perfect. If you are using your toaster oven or your regular oven to decarb, stop right now, you’re wasting hard-earned money! I wish I knew about the NOVA when I was writing my book; Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails, & Tonics. Perhaps the recipes would have turned out more uniformly?! I believe so, having tested the Ardent several dozen times and in many different applications.To fully convert the Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, heat must be used at a specific measure, for a specific period of time. If you mess up the heating part, this leads to wasted money, time and healing! Decarbing with the NOVA makes life easy. Everything you need to do is plug and play. Open up the top of the handsome device. Add cannabis to the metal container inside, replace the silicone lid, then place the hard-plastic top on and press start. That’s it! No dialing in temperatures and hoping that the thermostat on your toaster or regular oven is correct. This product makes it easy, and perfect.THC-Infused Vietnamese Ice Coffee is one of the easiest craft cocktail recipes that I make, and it has no alcohol in it. That’s not to say you can’t add a portion of rum to the mix; please use less of it because of the cannabis.

 

 

 

*Use code “ACTIVATE” for $30 off a  decarboxylator at www.ardentcannabis.com and make your own cannabis cocktails (or anything else you could possibly imagine!) Choose expedited shipping at checkout and receive it in time for Father’s Day!

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Recipes

Five Cocktails for a party!

I love cocktail parties. Especially ones that give me the opportunity to take my guest’s palates to another level.    This little cocktail party served notice that great mixed drinks don’t have Fireball or Tito’s in them.  Far from.  They take great parts and incredible craft spirits and bring these liquid driven adventures truly to a higher place.

I was given a bottle of Martinique Blue Cane Rhum Agricole recently and I couldn’t think of a nicer way to serve it than with Royal Rose- Simple Syrup of Cardamom and Clove and a bit of seltzer water.

Just over on Mt. Pelee’

Ingredients:

  • 3 oz. Clement Bleue Canne Rhum Agricole (100 Proof)
  • 1 oz. Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Cardamom and Clove
  • 2 oz. Seltzer
  • 2-5 drops Lemon Bitters (of your choice)

Prep:

To a cocktail mixing glass filled ¾ with ice

  • Add the Rhum Agricole
  • Add the Simple Syrup
  • Stir well to combine
  • Pour into a Collins Glass with ice
  • Top with the Seltzer
  • Dribble the bitters over the top and serve

The second cocktail took a simple drink known as the gin and tonic and quite literally, raised the bar with thirty different types of gin.  The crowd favorite?  A little gin in a gorgeous bottle from Scotland named Caorunn.  For some reason (well known to those of us who love artisanal gin) the Caorunn has a richer texture and ‘ginny’ character that worked so well with the multitude of tonic waters that I brought with me.  Amongst the gins were The Botanist, SW4, No.3., Martin Miller’s Pot Still, Hat Trick, FEW, Nolet, Beefeater, and many others.

 Not Just Another Gin and Tonic

Ingredients:

  • 3 oz. Gin of your choice (Caorunn was the crowd favorite)
  • Lemon Zest (no pith!)
  • 5 oz. Cane Sugar Tonic Water- the crowd favorite was Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic (Bed, Bath and Beyond)
  • Aromatic Bitters – like Angostura, often used in a “pink gin”

Prep:

  • Flavor the glass with the lemon zest then the Angostura Bitters
  • Add ice
  • Add the Gin
  • Top with the Tonic
  • Stir and Serve

I’m sure that the third drink is where you want to get going- and that would mean immediately!

The Soda and Cocktail Syrup named Fruitations is where this drink really takes off.  I used the brilliant Tangerine syrup and combined it with Mezcal and then finished it off with a Cane Sugar Ginger Beer from Australia named Bundaberg.  Brilliant stuff.  A wedge of fresh lime and lemon bitters sent this drink further than it has ever been prior.  Trust me.

Just up Near Mexico City

Ingredients:

  • 2 oz. Mezcal of your choice
  • Orange Zest
  • 1 oz. Fruitations Soda and Cocktail Syrup (Tangerine)
  • Splash Ginger Beer
  • Aromatic or Lemon Bitters

 

Prep:

  • Moisten the inside of a rocks glass with the orange zest
  • Add ice
  • Let cool
  • In a Boston Shaker add:
  • The Fruitations Syrup
  • The Mezcal
  • Cap and Shake hard to combine
  • Double Strain over the ice filled rocks glass
  • Splash of Ginger Beer
  • Dot with Lemon Bitters
  • Spray the lime wedge over the top
  • Serve with a smile

The next drink was my own take on the classic Old Fashioned, and it departs from the classic in one very determined way.  I chose to roast several different kinds of oranges in a bath of both Balsamic vinegar and Demerara sugar until caramelized and bubby- about 2.5 hours at 350 degrees covered.  The final ½ hour is uncovered to add a bit of darkness to the softly cooked fruits.  I then roasted some Luxardo cherries until warmed through and quite soft- about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Set to cool so you won’t break your expensive crystal with sizzling hot fruit, pricy whiskey and ice!

 

Not your typical Old Fashioned

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons or so of the oven roasted citrus and cherries
  • 2 oz. Barrell Bourbon Whiskey- I used unreleased batch #012
  • bitters of your choice

Prep:

  • Muddle the roasted fruit
  • Add the whiskey
  • Stir gently
  • Dot with bitters
  • Serve

The final drink was the easiest to duplicate because once you are able to buy a good quality Absinthe, you’ll be more than ½ way there.  Any of the fine Absinthes made by Jade would work beautifully, as would the Lucid line.  There is one thing that I must stress.  The lack of color is far preferable to the ones with color added.  It’s just my preference.

 Just a Normal Louche

Ingredients:

  • Jade Absinthe
  • Drizzle of iced water
  • Great Conversation

Prep:

Release the chilled water from your Absinthe fountain slowly and gently into 2 oz. of Absinthe, sip and repeat until sated

Categories
Recipes

Dad Food: A Scotsman’s Flourish

Our Father’s Day week of recipes continues with a little bit of whiskey. Whether dad enjoys it on the rocks or mixed into a drink, make him something extra special with this oatmeal recipe from the Cocktail Whisperer himself, Warren Bobrow.
And if you’re looking for the perfect gift for dad this Father’s Day, why not pick up a copy of Apothecary Cocktails? This drink book features cleverly concocted restorative drinks that dad is sure to love.

A Scotsman’s Flourish
Excerpted from Whiskey Cocktails by Warren Bobrow, The Cocktail Whisperer

Feed a cold and starve a fever, the old saying goes. It’s true: If you’re feeling under the weather, it’s even more important to eat regularly and healthfully. Nutritious meals can play a huge part in boosting the immune system. That’s where this steaming bowl of classic, steel-cut oatmeal comes in. Spiked with a generous serving of whisky-soaked dried fruit, A Scotsman’s Flourish comes at the final stage of this breakfast of champions—you’ll top your bowl with an extra ounce or two of Scotch for good measure. It just goes to show that you can eat your breakfast and drink it too! And there’s no need to waste any Scotch: Pour the whiskey left over from steeping the dried fruit over another cup of dried cherries in a sterilized container. Refrigerate these gorgeous home-cured cherries for garnishing your Manhattans, or serve them over vanilla gelato for dessert.

Bowl of steel-cut oatmeal, served piping hot
¼ cup (38 g) dried cherries
¼ cup (32 g) dried apricots
2 ounces (60 ml) blended Scotch whisky
½ cup (15 ml) spring water
To taste: Raw Honey Simple Syrup

Cook your steel-cut oatmeal for about 45 minutes according to package directions. While it’s cooking, add the dried cherries and dried apricots to a glass bowl. Cover with the blended whisky and the water. Let the fruits reconstitute for as long as it takes to cook your oatmeal. Toward the end of cooking, spoon the whisky-softened fruits into the oatmeal, and stir well. Serve in preheated ceramic bowls. Pour the remaining whisky over the top of the oatmeal. Sweeten to taste with Raw Honey Simple Syrup. Then, dig in and enjoy your healing breakfast! For an added kick, serve with a David Balfour Cocktail: It’ll prove a cool, refreshing contrast to your steaming hot, whisky-laden oatmeal.

Preorder your copy of Whiskey Cocktails TODAY. It makes a great gift for dad.

Whiskey Cocktails Rediscovered Classics and Contemporary Craft Drinks Using the World's Most Popular Spirit

Grab your bow tie and a rocks glass, because we’re talking all about one of the most classic—and classy—spirits. Whether you like bourbon, scotch or rye, whiskey’s diverse and complex taste will be your new go-to drink for parties, gatherings, or evenings in your study with a roaring fire. Whiskey can be an intimidating drink to the uninitiated. Most folks may not be able to drink it straight. We’ve got you covered. The Cocktail Whisperer, Warren Bobrow, author of Apothecary Cocktails (Fair Winds Press), incorporates some of the best whiskeys into hand-crafted cocktails that bring out the subtle notes and flavors of any good bourbon or scotch. Whiskey Cocktails features 75 traditional, newly-created, and original recipes for whiskey-based cocktails. This wonderfully crafted book also features drink recipes from noted whiskey experts and bartenders.

https://www.quartoknows.com/blog/quartocooks/2014/06/11/dad-food-scotsmans-flouris/

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Articles Recipes

Sweet And Savory: 3 Original Craft Cocktails To Make With Bitters

They cure what ails you.

By:
bitters
Photo by Adam Jaime via Unsplash

Craft cocktails have made incredible leaps and bounds over the past dozen or so years. Nothing is more in evidence than the augmentations, such as bitters, shrubs, syrups, tonics, cola, and even flowers — each variety and flavor designed specifically for the craft cocktail bar.

Visit your neighborhood mixology bar; they are popping up all over like microbrew bars did about ten years ago. You can tell a mixology bar by a couple of things. Look over at the bar. Should you see little medicine droppers on tiny bottles lined up in a row, you’re probably in the right place. Look further, do you see liquors on the shelf that you don’t recognize? Getting warmer, you are. What about that over there? It looks like they refrigerate their Vermouth (if they don’t, throw it out!). And the ice, wow, such large cubes and crystal clear.

(OK, please don’t get hung up on clear ice, not everyone gets ice and are ice-nerds, but I digress.)

Read More: https://thefreshtoast.com/culture/sweet-and-savory-3-original-craft-cocktails-to-make-with-bitters/

 

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Events

Kick Off Summer The Right Way!

Join me June 15, 2017 to kick summer off the right way!

http://artintheage.com/events.php

116 NORTH 3RD ST. PHILADELPHIA, PA 19106

 

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Articles Recipes

Slap Happy: 5 Great Ways To Use Fresh Herbs In Your Craft Cocktails

Nearly everyone has been to their local garden store and ogled over the varieties of fresh herbs that you can grow on your windowsill garden. Who knew there were so many different kinds of basil? And how about all that mint? Are there enough days of growing season left for every different kind of mint, pared with all those incredible bourbons on your groaning shelves?  Well, worry not. I’m going to make a few suggestions of which herbs you should be growing in your mixology garden and some simple ways to use them.

Read More at: https://thefreshtoast.com/cannabis/slap-happy-5-great-ways-to-use-fresh-herbs-in-your-craft-cocktails/amp

Photo by cookbookman17

 

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Books Reviews

Book Review By Will Kersten

Book Review: Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics By Will Kersten

In Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks & Buzz-Worthy Libations, author, Warren Bobrow presents a “crash course in apothecary medicine,” teaching the reader how to create medicinal and recreational cannabis-infused drinks (some alcoholic and some not) from scratch, with over 75 of the most intriguing drink recipes I’ve ever seen. As a former bartender and lover of classics like Trader Vics 1947 Bartender’s Guide, Jack’s Manual, and even The Joy of Cooking, my bar was set pretty high for this book.  Read More at: https://trichomedaily.com/book-review-cannabis-cocktails-mocktails-tonics/

 

 

 

 

 

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Recipes

Funky Bee’s Knees

Photo by fancycrave1 via Pixabay

I thought this was going to be a low key sort of afternoon, then other things happened, one of which brought me to this place of calm, and “highly” introspective buzziness. The change of the seasons offers a change in the flavors that I seek at the cocktail bar and eventually into my glass. I’ve been way down the road of helpful bartenders (generally they are not mixologists, that’s something different) attempting to make, ether successfully or not (well-meaning) suggestions as to seasonality. These might be delightful drinks, such as a Mint Julep in the ice and cold of January, or a lip smacking and body buzzing Sazerac in the blazing sun of the summer. You can have these drinks — and right you should! — but for utter seasonality in these early spring weeks, I seek the depth and sophistication that honest and raw ingredients can bring to the cocktail glass. 

See more at: https://thefreshtoast.com/cannabis/get-buzzed-with-this-funky-bees-knees-thc-infused-honey-cocktail/#sthash.VPmSbZyI.dpuf

 

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Articles Recipes

Rum Is Seriously Hot For The Springtime

Or… consider Rum when drinking late Spring cocktails…  But first what is Rum?

I think a better example is what Rum is and is not.

Warren Bobrow
Warren Bobrow

• Rum is not made of grain. It is derived from sugarcane.  Most Rum on the market is distilled from Molasses. Molasses is the stuff that is left after making sugar. It’s not pretty- you probably have a bottle of Blackstrap Molasses in your pantry. Same thing.

• Rum can be made with freshly crushed sugar cane juice- That style tends to be what we call Agricole or Agricultural. If the juice is not tanked within a day or so, it goes bad.

• Most Rum is aged in used American Bourbon oak barrels. Just like your Tequila and your Scotch and sometimes your beer. If you like Rum, you will probably be a whiskey drinker too.

 • Most Rum contains Caramel Coloring.  This is the market forces at work.  The consumer assumes that a dark rum means an old rum.  Untrue.  Like Whiskey, and their Scottish cousin Whisky, these liquids grow lighter in color with age.  Not darker in color like the bottles on the shelf would suggest with vastly inflated prices- because the rum just LOOKS old.  Bad form in my opinion.

• Most Rum contains the chemical known as glycerin for the creamy and richly textured “mouth-feel”… When distilleries and rectifiers (those who buy their distillate and say they make their own stuff-when they don’t, but there are no rules- so…) often add adjuncts and flavorings to the rum.  (Bad news in my opinion)

Please, read further at https://totalfood.com/rum-seriously-hot-springtime/

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Articles Recipes Reviews

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

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

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.

Read More at; https://thefreshtoast.com/drink/why-cannabis-cocktails-get-a-bad-rap-when-they-are-so-wonderful/

Louis Armstrong’s Way Fizzy

(makes 2 drinks and a bit more)

4 oz. Clement Rhum Agricole “Canne Bleue”
½ oz. Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
1 oz. Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
1 oz. Fruitations Soda and Cocktail Syrup- Tangerine
½ lime cut into chunks
4 oz. Ginger Beer Soda (sugar cane based, never corn syrup based)
Angostura
To a Boston Shaker: Fill ¾ with ice. Add the Rhum Agricole and the Fresh juices. Add the Fruitations Syrup. Cap and shake hard until frosty. Muddle the lime in a rocks glass or two. Add a couple cubes of ice. Pour over the contents of the Boston Shaker. Finish with about 2 oz. of the Ginger Beer Soda over the top of each glass. Stir. Dot with Angostura. Serve.