Whiskey is one of my favorite things. I’ll go to lengths to describe the way it makes me feel and especially the way it performs in craft cocktails. What? Whiskey cocktails? Don’t look away; it’s perfectly acceptable to mix cocktails with whiskey. By the way, if you’ve enjoyed a whiskey smash or a mint julep, you’ve had a whiskey cocktail. And if you’ve treated your glass of whiskey to a splash of soda or a muddle of fruit, that is a cocktail too.
Yup, your world just got a bit bigger and you haven’t event gotten to the Manhattan’s or the Rob Roy Cocktails yet!
One such creative cocktail from my recently published book, The Craft Cocktail Compendium is named “A Pleasant Little Gentleman.” It takes a bit of rye whiskey, raw honey simple syrup and whiskey barrel aged bitters and twists them up a bit.
A Pleasant Little Gentleman
2 oz. Fernet Branca
1 oz. rye whiskey
1 oz. raw honey simple syrup (1 cup raw honey to 1 cup hot, but not boiling, water)
2-4 shakes Barrel Aged Bitters
Boiling water for hot tea (Lapsang Souchong)
Boil tea. Add the liquors. Sweeten with raw honey to taste. Add the bitters. Serve.
Another little taste of deliciousness is the “Late Summer Fizz.” It includes Pimm’s Cup. Now you know what to do with this cucumber-scented slice of heaven.
Late Summer Fizz
(Pg. 110 of The Craft Cocktail Compendium)
2 oz. rye
½ oz. Pimm’s No.1. Cup
½ oz. apple cider
½ oz. sweet white vermouth (I used Carpano Antica Formula)
¼ oz. allspice dram
Sprinkle of sea salt
Lemon bitters
Splash of club soda
To a Boston Shaker filled ¾ with ice: Add the liquors and the apple cider. Add the dram. Cap and shake hard for 15 seconds. Pour over fresh ice in a rocks glass. Splash club soda. Dot with lemon bitters. Sprinkle sea salt over the top. Serve.
The next one is my take on the classic Old Fashioned. It involves roasted fruit that you split, add light balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar and Demerara sugar, roasted, cooled and muddled. Pretty spectacular.
Grilled Peach and Thai Basil Roast
1 oz. roasted peaches (split, sprinkled with sugar and 1 tsp balsamic and roasted for 1 hour at 350 degrees until soft and charred)
1 oz. roasted oranges (split, sprinkled with sugar and 1 tsp balsamic and roasted for 1 hour at 350 degrees until soft and charred
4 oz. bourbon whiskey
1-2 sprigs Thai basil
Muddle the roasted peaches and oranges with Thai basil very lightly, just to release the aromatics adding a bit of bourbon along the way, muddle some more and add more bourbon (I used Barrell Bourbon Batch 11). Strain the mixture into a rocks glass without ice or if you want, with one large cube of ice and a bit of the muddling mixture. Garnish with a sprig of Thai basil.
How can you go through summer without a take on the Moscow Mule, but with whiskey instead of vodka? This one takes a bit of a different tack. It involves making a very quick Shrub — no, not a shrubbery, but a little concoction that adds a bit of apple cider vinegar to the usual ginger beer. Kind of a ginger snap in your mouth!
Son In The Foreign Legion
¼ oz. apple cider vinegar
3 oz. ginger beer (cane sugar-based)
2 oz. blended Scotch whiskey (Like Johnny Walker Red)
4-6 drops Angostura bitters (or like)
To a cocktail mixing glass: Fill ¾ with ice. Add the whiskey. Add the ginger beer. Add the apple cider vinegar. Stir well to chill but not dilute. Pour into 2 coupe glasses. Dot with bitters and serve.
The last cocktail is also from my book The Craft Cocktail Compendium. It is simply named “Bill Monroe’s Country Cooler,” paying homage to the master mandolin player himself.
Bill Monroe’s Country Cooler
1 oz. peach nectar
1 oz. apricot nectar
½ oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 oz. sweet iced tea (sugar to your own taste of course!)
2-4 oz. white (un-aged) whiskey
2-5 dashes Angostura bitters
Fresh mint (picked in the shadow of the roots of an ancient oak tree, where sweet branch water bubbles forth in a belly laugh)
Add all the liquid ingredients to a cocktail mixing vessel filled ¾ with ice. Stir well to chill. Strain into ball jars. Dot with bitters. Slap the mint against your palm and garnish. Serve and quickly prepare more! They go down quick!
Read More here, at the Fresh Toast! https://thefreshtoast.com/culture/the-best-delicious-whiskey-cocktails-you-can-make/
Klaus was awarded a Gold Medal in the first ever High Spirits Awards competition.
High Spirits Awards is a new beverage competition by L.A. Spirits Awards, launched in 2023 and open to all cannabis-derived beverage products legally sold in California and all hemp-derived (CBD/alternative cannabinoid) beverages from anywhere in the U.S.
When I eMet Patty on the interwebs, we were discussing trees, specifically ancient oak trees. We started talking about the plant—not the oak tree—and the way that it heals many ills. As ironic as it may sound, the lives of creative people find themselves in the company of other creatives because of the social lubricant known as cannabis. I was immediately taken by the passion and compassion that Patty has for the plant, and I wanted to get a read on what creative things she and her husband, Mark, are working on. And how I could help them get the word out on their documentary film, Nectarball: The Story of Cannabis.
Ah… Here goes!
Warren Bobrow: Please tell me about yourself. Where are you from? Now? What do you do?
Patty Mooney: Mark Schulze and I are originally from the Midwest but have lived in San Diego since 1970 (Mark) and 1977 (Patty). We met on Valentine’s Day in 1982 and have been sharing adventures together ever since. We own and operate San Diego’s longest-serving video production company, Crystal Pyramid Productions (est. 1981 by Mark). Another company of ours is New & Unique Videos (est. 1985), a producer and distributor of educational special-interest titles. Our latest project is a documentary called “NECTARBALL: The Story of Cannabis.”
Photo credit: Mark Schulze and Patty Mooney
Warren Bobrow: You mentioned filmmaking. Documentary filmmaking. A soft spot for me with a film degree from Emerson. Please tell me about what you have been working on. What is it about documentary film that evokes such emotion?
Patty Mooney: Mark and I produced the first educational videos of their genre back in the 1980s. As video production gear was super expensive, only a few brave souls – like us – invested in themselves and their ideas. we pioneered videos like “Massage for Relaxation” (1985), “The Great Mountain Biking Video” (1987), “The Invisible Ones: Homeless Combat Veterans” (2008), and several others. One of our earliest titles, “California Big Hunks” (1985), mystifyingly enough (to us) has earned cult status via appearances on Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Whose Line is it Anyway? And RedLetterMedia’s “Best of the Worst: Black Spine Edition #3,” which has now been seen by over 3.1 million viewers.
Our titles were successful because they were new and unique (thus, the name “New & Unique Videos”), and people were beginning to establish their personal VHS video libraries. In the late 1990s, as VHS sales began to wane, Mark and I returned to our earlier business model, shooting and producing video for corporate and broadcast clients.
All these decades of producing videos for Fortune 500 companies and shows like Inside Edition, Extra, Oprah, etc., have led us to now; the production of our latest documentary, “NECTARBALL: The Story of Cannabis,” featuring 52 cannabis luminaries (out of 165 interviewees). We traveled around the world to meet and interview them over a seven-year period. We went to North and South America, Europe, and South Africa. We asked all the questions we could think of regarding cannabis as medicine, building materials, food, and more. We received some important answers from people like Tommy Chong, Steve DeAngelo, Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, Nurse Heather Sobel, RN, and so many more. The documentary is structured so that the interviewees tell the story of cannabis from its history, through prohibition, to now and the future, as we focus on the medicinal capabilities, usages, and effects of the plant on the human body. What is it about documentaries that evoke such emotion? People telling the truth from their perspective, reflecting the reality of the moment without embellishment.
Warren Bobrow: What is the topic? How long does it run? What is the premise?
Patty Mooney: The topic is Cannabis. “NECTARBALL: The Story of Cannabis” is 82 minutes long. It’s jam-packed with the wisdom of many. You can imagine that the state of Cannabis legalization varies from country to country and city to city. It has been interesting to check in on places where the plant has been freed and what some of the results are. For instance, in states where cannabis has been legalized for “Adult Use,” both opioid use and alcohol use have gone DOWN. Nobody wants to be comatose from opioids. The option of a gentle plant medicine to maintain and possibly arrest diseases such as arthritis, seizures, and cancer is a welcome idea, especially for seniors like us. It’s just a bit scary for older folks to let go of the stigma that has been pounded into their heads for most, if not all, their lives since the 1930s.
While in South Africa, we visited several social clubs where cannabis is the social lubricant that attracts a “mixed salad” of people with varied skin tones. Cannabis was decriminalized there in 2018 for personal use. You must be a member to enter these social clubs. Some of the most potent weed we have ever imbibed was at The Pottery in Port Elizabeth (now renamed Gqeberha), South Africa.
It was amazing to visit the Montevideo Cannabis Museum in Uruguay. It was the first country to legalize cannabis, abortion, and gay marriage. Ergo, Uruguay is far more progressive than the USA.
Warren Bobrow: Do you have a mentor? Who? And who taught you the craft of filmmaking? What about cannabis? What does outdoor cannabis represent to you?
Patty Mooney: Mark gained his video production education at UCSD, majoring in Communications and Sociology. Both Tommy Chong and Rich “Cheech” Marin were mentors to him during the 1970s when the comedy duo frequently appeared at The Comedy Club in La Jolla. Mark would hang out with them at the age of 20, bringing them “offerings” of Nectarball (what he named the sativa cultivar he grew back then). One time Mark shared a photo of a tall, girthy bud. Cheech quipped, “The plant that ate Chicago!” The cannabis plants appearing in Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie were modeled after Mark’s Nectarball plants.
When Mark and I first met at La Paloma Theater on Valentine’s Day 1982, I was about to appear as a singer in the chorus in a play entitled “Pandora or If Transformation is Supposed to be So Much Fun, Why Am I Gritting My Teeth?” There was only one performance to benefit The Hunger Project. Mark was setting up a video camera to videotape the show from the balcony. I was curious about his camera and walked over to meet him. I’d only seen one other VHS camera before. But with a mother who filmed every milestone moment of our family of eight on a Hi8 camera my dad had won from his sales prowess as a Chrysler Midwest district sales manager, I already knew I loved the medium. And what an entrée to “the business.” Beginning there and then, Mark began mentoring me in the video realm. And when I look back on that moment, I realize that our desire to perform philanthropic deeds throughout our life together began to bud then.
Several beloved and wise people have mentored us. Gina Powell has been a mother to us for decades. Her husband was Robert Powell (also a mentor), author of inspirational philosophical books including “The Blissful Life.” Recently, Keiko Beatie and John Salley, both of whom appear in the video sharing their wisdom, have been mentoring us.
Filmmaking was in its infancy when we first began producing, shooting, and editing video. There were a few manuals we consumed, including The Television Production Handbook by Herbert Zettl (now in its 12th edition). The first edition was printed in 1976, and that’s the one we used. Many we learned by doing. I am a proud graduate of the “Get Thrown to the Wolves” school of video production. On my very first gig as an audio mixer at the San Diego Comic Con, I bopped Lucy Liu on the top of her head with the boom pole. My life flashed in front of my eyes; my career ended before it began! “Oh, I am so sorry, Ms. Liu!” “Don’t worry about it!” she said. What a sweetie. Outdoor cannabis represents many things. Back in the 1970s, when Mark grew cannabis in various locations, there was always a chance that he could get busted by police, taken away in cuffs, and possibly losing home and livelihood. It was bad. Our Green Closet confinement continued into the 1980s. A thief with designs to steal Mark’s Nectarball Collection of buds he had collected since 1972 held us at gunpoint. (He did not get away with the collection.) I was once arrested by two roving cops on bicycles at the beach while I was sitting on the beach wall having a puff. They rifled through my butt pouch and found – gasp!!! – a bud in a film can. For that horrific crime, I was fined $100 (a lot of money back then.) Now, outdoor cannabis represents the freedom to grow a plant in your own backyard and use it for medicine AND as a social lubricant. Why not both? The scent of lolling, crystal-embedded buds near harvest time is so amazing. It’s all about the terpenes, man!
Photo credit: Mark Schulze and Patty Mooney
Warren Bobrow: What is your passion?
Patty Mooney: It’s nice that we share various passions since they aid in the enjoyment of life. Of course, cannabis is a big one. It’s the cornerstone of good health for us. Next comes mountain biking. We have been mountain biking together since 1986. Less than a year later, we got married with our mountain bikes in the local mountains of San Diego and even began racing for a while. We still ride together. Patty won first place in the Sagebrush Safari 20-mile race this past year in the women’s category at the age of 68. Mark came in second in his category. It’s a sport that takes us out deep into nature, where we can reach places of beauty. As often as possible, we ride to the “Wedding Spot,” lay out a blanket next to a spring-fed stream, share a bottle of wine and have a puff, watch the dragonflies and the butterflies, and enjoy the shade of an ancient old oak and a 120-foot pine tree. Travel adventures are so much fun. We don’t have children or pets, so we can fly away at a moment’s notice.
We have a passion for video production, aka filmmaking. A filmmaker can create a movie that touches, educates, and moves people you may never meet. And that is exactly what we hope to do with our film, “NECTARBALL: The Story of Cannabis.” We want people to understand the kinds of tools for the improvement of their health that are available to them. We want to eradicate the stigma about the plant. We want to help the world be a better place for all of us to live a “high-quality life.”
The film will enjoy its live virtual World Premiere on October 20, 2023, beginning at 6:30 PM (PT), when people can gather, enjoy a beverage, and smoke a bowl in the comfort of their homes. The 82-minute show begins at 7:30 PM, and then we’ll have a Q&A with special guests, including John Salley, Nurse Heather, and Keiko Beatie. Tickets for this exclusive showing are limited to the first 500 people who sign up and are going fast. So, purchase your tickets before it’s too late!
Warren Bobrow has been a dishwasher, the owner of the first company to make fresh pasta in South Carolina , a television engineer and he even worked at Danceteria in NYC, then a trained chef which led to a twenty year career in private banking. A cannabis, wine and travel aficionado, Warren is a former rum judge and craft spirits national brand ambassador. He works full time in the cannabis business as an alchemist/journalist. Cocktailwhisperer.com Drinkklaus.com Instagram: warrenbobrow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Bobrow
Mutual friends, (Down to Fade) introduced me to Big Ed by laying a “mylar” of his magical flowers on me over the fourth of July weekend. I opened the packet up and the terpenes burst into my workroom, filling the air with spices and smiles. This wasn’t your typical NYC/Washington Square Street weed; it was something much more sophisticated and exhilarating. Something that caught me unaware and therefore tasting notes were certainly in order. Some really fine smoke here which immediately took me down a rabbit-hole. Similar to Big Ed, my tolerance levels deserve a tolerance break, maybe someday down the line… But the sample of GottiGirl is definitely calling my name.
Tasting Notes for GottiGirl, by: Warren Bobrow
Appearance: Sitting in front of me, I have a little nug of the GottiGirl. The curing is gorgeous. Moist and compact, colorful, and tinged with fluorescent green splashes and orange threads. Crystalline in nature, the oils from the flower ooze to the surface in tightly wound rivulets of black to bright green. Diamonds of resin capture my imagination and bring me a knowing smile. Sure, I have a really high tolerance, but GottiGirl smashed that one out of the park. This is definitely cannabis for the well “seasoned” smoker. Something that you can smell all over the backyard, even on a windy day. Wow. Impressive.
Nose: Spicy notes of cardamom bitters, brown butter-soaked hoecakes, caramelized quince and snippets of tarragon scattered over the top.
Palate: This is perfectly geared to my wine conscious palate with richly textured smoke that fills my mouth with droplets of Barrell Bourbon, a quality, not quantity-like alacrity.
Finish/Stone: Because of the masterful curing, I’m not compelled to cough, not even a tiny bit, nice work. Part of this is the pipe that I selected for the tasting. A 503 Liberty glass piece that has special meaning for me because the former owner is now gone and it gives off beautiful, healing energy of times past. I think it is important to resonate with glass smoking implements. Especially ones with so much craftsmanship, just like the craft cannabis held within.
GottiGirl works her magic through the implementation of vitality and passion.
Tasting Notes for GaryPayton x FishScale
Nose: David Austin old garden roses, dew-drop,peach scented with beads of sweet cream and Jersey “late-summer” corn pudding. Crushed peppercorn, Incendiary Thai chilies, orange zest and brown butter come into view. Snipped field grass in the back of my throat. Good stuff!
Palate: Texture of freshly turned loam, sod grass, husked corn and droplets of kerosene and hot, synthetic motor oil. (In a good way). Each hit is met, not with resistance- but with calm acceptance of your fate. And that would be the desire to take another, and then another. Similar to the art of drinking a Ti Punch. A vexing amalgamation of Rum, Demerara sugar, and lime. It’s all in there. I taste it still. And I haven’t had a drink in five years.
Finish/Stone: There I go again, down the rabbit hole. With Instagram next to me on my phone, it’s only the pang of hunger that says get back to work and finish these tasting notes. The finish is gassy on the nose, and it jumps like a gazelle across my whatever is left of my mind like your expensive fishpond koi attempting an escape from that errant, hungry racoon. Cannabis like this is the good stuff and great fun for my mind. It stimulates intellectualism and makes me want to reinvent the lightbulb. Ok, maybe not the lightbulb, but it’s been a long time (ok, about a week) since I’ve had so much fun writing!
Thank you, Big Ed, for the inspiration.
Warren: Please tell me about your relationship with the plant? When did you discover it? Who were you with? What strain?
Big Ed: I first tried cannabis in 1991 I was 11years old at the time. Cannabis being smoke around me was normal. My older cousin who was 21 at the time let me hit his joint. Back then most of the cannabis around was Mexican brick weed.
Warren: When you smoke, what is your favorite strain? Why?
Big Ed: Right now, my favorite strain is GottiGirl. I like it because I hunted through about 60 seeds to find it, and from the first time I smoked it until now it still tastes the same and have the same effects. My tolerance levels are sky high, so I usually know by the second pull if it’s a keeper. It’s a cross of BlueGotti (by Backpack Boys) x SHORTiER by FrostyMcNosty & Miracop. I believe SHORTiER is a LemonTree and Gelato cross he said. It also tested at 29% THC and 5% terpenes. Any tips I can give is if you have the space, and you want to find the best of the best you’ll have to run the whole pack of seeds. Also, patience I have discarded more plants than I have kept looking for a unicorn.
Warren: What makes your product different, therefore better? Do you admire the work of others? Who?
Big Ed: I believe my love for the plant makes my product better. A lot of people get into cannabis for money. I actually love this plant and want to share my love of it with the world. The best way to do that is produce high quality flower. I also realized that fresh cannabis is the best cannabis. I had a grower tell me cannabis is not like wine it doesn’t get better with age, and then he gave me some flower that he just finished curing and that was my first time smoking fresh cannabis. It was a game changer I was like damn so this what I’ve been missing. So, my goal is to give people the freshest cannabis possible. I admire Frosty McNosty he’s a real down to earth guy, and he really looked out for me when he asked me to test some seeds for him. That how I found GottiGirl. I also want to give credit to Dave the head grower at LOWD in Portland Oregon. He was the one who told me about Cannabis not being like wine and most people smoke old cannabis. He also really lit the spark for me to grow. He told me to go for it if it was something I was serious about.
Warren: What are your six and twelve-month goals?
Big Ed: My 6-month goal is to finish up this pheno hunt I’m doing it’s another 60 seed hunt I’m doing for MiraCrop. I also have some crosses I made I’m growing out now. Hopefully I can find something nice for the 2024. Over the next 12 months I hope to expand my grow and network more with like-minded individuals who care about quality and care giving, over quantity and profit.
Warren: What is your passion?
Big Ed: Growing and sharing cannabis is my passion. The look on a person face when you give them some top-quality cannabis and their reaction is priceless. This plant been a part of my life for over 30 years. Cannabis was used to bring people together, and to this day it still does. I have met people I would probably have never talked to over a joint or bong rip. When I think of cannabis, I think of the hippies in the 60’s & 70’s and how they were preaching peace, love, & happiness. That’s what I want to bring back to the cannabis industry. I just recently left the teaching field after 15 years to concentrate on building my brand and growing cannabis. It was a tough decision, but I felt if I didn’t try, I would regret it. I also know when I lock in on something I’m focused and with my 30 years of smoking, selling, & just being around cannabis I could do it. I read my first High Times magazine when I was 12 my uncle had a subscription. I was enamored by the photos and the articles about cannabis. When I was in college that was when my taste buds and standards changed for the cannabis, I smoked. It was a lot more indoor flower available and Purple Haze, Sour Diesel, and Blueberry was heavy on the east coast early 2000’s it was costly but worth it. I started growing during the pandemic. I was working from home, and felt I had the time to do it. My state also was about to come online with decriminalizing marijuana. It was like the stars were getting aligned for me to grow. Once I started, I was hooked (on growing). I started off with one tent and now 8 tents later I still want more!!!
Photo with 503 Liberty Pipe: Warren Bobrow All other photos: Courtesy Big Ed
Just in time for high summer — and even higher temperatures — our Elite Beverage Tasting Squad, a cadre of cannabis consuming co-workers and friends, is at it again after forming last year to taste-test some pot-packed, palate-pleasing potables worthy of picking up and icing down.
This time, of the 18 drink options representing a dozen brands, the off-putting weediness of last year’s drinkable contenders was largely absent. And in the rare instances where it was noticeable this year, the taste of cannabis seemed to lean into — instead of detract from — the overall flavor profile of the beverage.
Another noticeable difference is this: the infused beverage market appears to be moving away from putting all its eggs in one fruity seltzer basket. There are still plenty of those out there. (For example, Wynk’s juicy mango and black cherry fizz seltzers were in the mix this season. They were announced as gold and bronze medal winners, respectively, in the water/sparking water/seltzer category at the inaugural L.A.-based High Spirits Awards.)
2. Klaus Mezzrole
“I’ve spent the better part of 30 years working towards this goal,” master mixologist Warren “the Cocktail Whisperer” Bobrow wrote in an email to The Times. He was referring to a curious, complex, cannabis-infused (and non-alcoholic) combination of ginger, lime and rice vinegar that launched last year. Bobrow added that the mix of flavors was “originally influenced by the classic Ti Punch from St. Barts. The addition of the ginger was to settle the gut when sailing a yacht in choppy seas.” I found Bobrow’s origin story amusing because the first thing I thought of when I first tasted this intriguing elixir was the thirst-quenching switchel (a.k.a. haymaker’s punch) that Vermont farmers used to swig out of gallon jugs in the heat of the summer hay fields. (Yes, I’m a former Vermonter kickin’ it in SoCal.)
Whatever the historical roots (some think the New England beverage actually may have originated in the Caribbean), one thing is clear: Bobrow’s three-decade quest has paid off handsomely. From the backpacking gnome on the swirly colored can (that’d be Klaus) to the artisanal ingredients inside (including Pickett’s ginger beer syrup and lime purée sourced from France), everything about this beverage was a hit with the backyard bunch.
“Yummy, tastes like ginger beer, love the burn,” wrote one of the testers. “It’s the only one that doesn’t taste like it needs something.” “Yummy ginger shot,” jotted another. “Reminds me of a good Moscow mule,” mused a third. “Woo-hoo! Spicy, silly, crazy,” noted a fourth. “Smells like Pine-Sol — but I’m allowed to drink it!”
“Cool can branding — my boy Klaus!” said one squadster, giving a shout-out to the tiny gnomic namesake before turning to its contents. “Extremely pointy, very unique taste … very specifically evoking the taste of melted Luigi’s Italian ice. I love the ginger taste. Burns/tingles my mouth.” Someone else simply scribbled a cartoon heart.
Although you should take our word for it, you don’t have to; two weeks after it landed in our Top 2 came word that Bobrow’s brew had scored a gold medal at the above-mentioned High Spirits Awards in the non-alcoholic, ready-to-drink cocktail category — along with our top pick below.
$48 per four-pack, 5 milligram THC and 16 calories per 8-ounce can. Additional information and ordering details (currently available via delivery-only in the L.A. area) at drinkklaus.com.
Click here for the entire article. https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2023-08-03/best-weed-drinks-for-summer
I love to see great marketing in action. But the product at hand cannot be just a pretty picture and nothing behind it. The inside is just as important as the outside! The fine extractions utilized by cannabis superstar; Rocky Huang are just that. Gourmet extractions and augmented pre-rolls, all fabricated with passion.
It’s important, actually vital, for any “gourmet” cannabis company to set itself apart from its peers in the industry of the plant. I love creativity, and I’ve been known to enjoy a vape cart from time to time. They certainly make the art and science of cannabis easier to enjoy because they don’t shout- I’m smoking a joint. This is especially important around people who eschew the scent of cannabis in a public place. The creative side of the equation is the artistic slant of the product. I dig it. Maybe someday I can taste their infused flower? They have to be good to stand out in the marketplace.
Let me be the first to tell you that Timeless is classic old-school piquancy enrobed in a richly modern ethos.
Photo Credit: Timeless
Warren Bobrow: Please tell me about yourself. Where are you from? When did you discover cannabis? Why cannabis?
Rocky Huang: I was born in San Francisco and grew up in Arizona and was introduced to cannabis in 1994 through smoking recreationally with friends. From there, I consumed frequently throughout high school and college. When I went to college at the University of Arizona, I met friends with family in Humboldt, CA, and Portland, OR. I was fortunate to be introduced to the deep legacy of cannabis culture. With the relationships I cultivated, I was taught how to extract cannabis oil and fill vape cartridges in 2011.
Photo Credit: Timeless
WB: Please tell me about your business. What’s the inspiration behind your company name?
RH: The Timeless brand was started in 2011 initially as a streetwear clothing company. While clothing & accessories were the primary focus, we learned that the most important part of the business was the culture surrounding the industry. Cannabis was an intricate part of the culture, so naturally, it became part of the brand, so when Arizona legalized in 2012, we transitioned the core business to cannabis. When we first transitioned, we believed that consumers would eventually want to be associated with a brand that they could resonate with. In the beginning, the industry had challenges just keeping products on the shelf, so we had to strategically balance brand-building and consistently supply our dispensary partners. Today, Timeless provides leading cannabis packaged goods to licensed dispensaries in AZ, CA, OH, MO, and OK. We stay focused on providing quality products and cultivating strong relationships with our partners and customers, so we believe we are positioned well in a constantly evolving industry.
WB: What kind of products do you produce? What sets you apart from your peers?
RH: Timeless is now the parent company of multiple high-quality cannabis brands offering options for every type of consumer, including Timeless Vapes (distillate), NOIR (live resin), Joilo pre-rolls in CA, and Tumble THCA diamond infused-pre rolls in AZ. Soon we’ll be launching live rosin vapes in AZ as well. We believe the combination of quality products, multiple product offerings, consistent community engagement specific to each market, and superior customer service from our dispensary partners sets us apart from our peers. Community is a key pillar of our company, and we recognize that marketing resonates differently in each region, so we cater our offerings accordingly, whether it be products or activations. Right now, we’re gearing up for our Timeless Summer Road Trip, where we’ll be hitting each market with special product drops and fun things to do, like our partnerships with the Venice Basketball League in LA and Terp Float in Oklahoma.
Photo Credit: Timeless
WB: What are your six and twelve-month goals?
RH: We plan on opening in 2 more territories in the next six months and an additional 2-3 within 12 months. In that timespan, we’ll also release more collaborations from our Artist Legacy Program, developed to support creatives and provide them with a canvas through cannabis. Recently we’ve partnered with artists including Skinner, Tatiana Suarez, John Malta, and APEXER on limited-edition vape flip cases and battery combos from the Timeless Vapes brand.
WB: What is your passion? What is your favorite place in the world to visit?
RH: I personally enjoy spending time with my family, playing basketball, and golfing with peers and friends. My favorite place to visit is Florence, Italy.
Second in a series of tasting notes and effects for Bombatta Premium Cannabis Flowers… I’ll keep reviewing them as I receive them. Each one has amazing sense of place and time in the cannabis universe. The mesmerizing physical effects of each strain have blown me away.
This was named Nerve Gas, and it’s deliciously named. I’m very aware of my third eye with each toke.
Sitting in front of me is a glass container with a curious lid. Popping open the substantial magnetic top, I discovered a clever little perk. A built-in grinder. Not a cheap item- this one possesses large, extremely tactile prongs that will gently break up the perfectly cured, pungent nugs contained just within.
Cannabis of this quality offers more than just beauty and convenience; it encapsulates the emotion of cannabis as more than a passing metaphor. Cannabis can be a multitude of things to many people. I find it deeply personal. It unlocks my creative side, which is buffered by my even more creative side. Two creative sides? Well, it’s true. Is there no other one that speaks to being “Adult” …. Cannabis again? Six books, mocktail and cocktail bar programs in California means logical agility. All from cannabis? Yes.
Say it isn’t so for those who still believe that cannabis makes you an underachiever.
It’s true. This is zealously cerebral cannabis, and it works to make me more aware of the air surrounding me. This is such a vehicle for intellectualism, at least in my brain.
Perhaps I should discuss the flower at hand. Bombatta is the brand name, and it is just marvelous stuff. A nice sample of the Nerve Gas strain is punctuating my late morning.
Piquant in the nose, melting into freshly snipped French tarragon, scraped nutmeg, zesty Greek oregano, and finishing with dollops of both European petrol and crushed minerals down my throat- this cannabis is deeply bemusing, Even cracking open the jar for a quick sniff is a marvelous thing.
Photo Credit: Warren Bobrow
What morsels await my lips and lungs? Read on.
Nerve Gas- The Marijuana Retail Report offers some clues to the lineage of this bemusing strain. They say that it is Girl Scout Cookies and Chemdawg with Lemon Cherry Gelato. Usually, the effect of these strains represents sleepy time for me- but in a good way. Each represents a tangible metaphor, a feeling. When combined, they become “Nerve Gas,” which is weaving a fuzzy path through my brain right now.
What a gorgeous-looking flower as well.
Tinged with green and orange hairs, a good flash photo reveals deeper coloration of dark. What kind of dark? I’d have to crack open another nug, and I’m pretty stoned right now without the need to smoke any more—at least not this very minute— that might change in the coming moments.
Oh, cancel that. I just took a deep lung hit- no coughing ensued. This is cannabis of operatic quality. It sings to me of patience and intensity. Thank you to whoever crafted this luscious beast of a flower. If my twenty-one-year-old self could smoke cannabis of this quality- what I smoked back then was pretty good, don’t get me wrong- but this is other-level stuff entirely.
What could I have achieved with cannabis of this depth? Who knows. It’s really knowledgeable stuff. Thank you for growing it for my perusal. I’m very impressed.
Iwant to talk to you about Oakland, the failed War on Drugs, and Black Girl Magic OG. Let’s step back in time, way back when I first tasted this unique strain developed exclusively for the 1st Lady of the West Coast.
In the beginning, I knew if I was going to write about the real OG, names were less important than the final product, and what a final product this is.
Dipping into the mylar bag, I’m greeted by a gassy, petrol-laced aroma that brings me in deeper into the terpenes. I inhale, and layers of aromatics reveal themselves amongst the perfectly cured nuggets.
The buds themselves are tightly compact and clearly show care in the trimming. No tumble to trim, cement mixers here. This is a time-consuming effort, and it is very evident in the care and quality. But what I do want to stress before I go into the tasting notes is the quality of the curing.
Curing:
So many boutique cannabis companies with the plethora of crafty scents and eye-boggling colors, but what Black Girl Magic OG offers is something deeper. It can only come from patience and time, humidity, and magic. Is this the magic in Black Girl OG? Perhaps this gourmet, craft cannabis is only part of the equation.
The Failed War on Drugs:
I grew up on a farm in New Jersey. How could I possibly understand what it means to be from Oakland, where the war on drugs and the deep stigmas are still in evidence today? I cannot, even though the stigmas against the plant certainly are similar. I empathize with the struggle of the plant having been placed into protective custody for cannabis, and I believe that it was unfairly exposed to a deeply corrupt drug court system based on fear and guilt, rather than championing the cannabis plant as healing and vital.
This experience changed me massively and led to my writing the book named Cannabis Cocktails in 2015. But getting back to Oakland, what a place. Something I’d never be able to comprehend because I grew up so sheltered from that life. Oh, don’t get me wrong for a second. I’ve been recently and seen it for myself. And although I know nothing at all about the struggle, It’s ironic and profound that the thing that connects us (the 1st Lady and me) is the plant herself. This experience is personified in each puff of Black Girl Magic OG.
Oakland:
Back in past-2010… I was a rum judge in Oakland for the Ministry of Rum. That Amtrak and freight train that runs down the middle of the street was particularly intriguing for me. But I didn’t wander around much or stray off the beaten path. People said it was probably not a good idea. I seek out authenticity and real food, real people. Never fast food. I want to eat at the source. I want to be back to experience the local food with a great guide and even better cannabis than I can ever imagine- or remember, like Black Girl Magic OG.
Photo: Warren Bobrow
Tasting Notes:
Nose:
Pools of dark bitter chocolate pastilles give way to European Diesel (petrol) and snipped dry-farmed herbs. This strain (Black Girl Magic OG) is curious and inquisitive about who smokes her and captures her magic. Cannabis of this level is distinctive, and it clearly smells like nothing else available. Quality speaks without saying a word.
Mouthfeel:
Enriching and mouth-filling, each drag on a bowl- I used my tried and true- Stonedware “purse-pipe” to achieve oneness with the universe. The experience of holding each hit in the mouth before inhaling deeper is a technique I learned in Belgium back in the 1970s. They usually rolled hashish in with strong Turkish tobacco with less quality cannabis- or no cannabis at all. But the technique of holding and tasting the fine herbs goes back millennia. Cannabis is the same way. I love to experience each hit as more than just a metaphor for getting high. What I want to experience is a Kodak snapshot of each inhalation—that specificity of the experience. Black Girl Magic OG offers this level of craft and passion in each hit. It’s truly uncanny!
Appearance:
Purple and toasty green with crystals and droplets of what is sticky to the touch. Each bud glistens like honey, and I half expected bees to come swarming by for a look-see. This is juicy cannabis that fires up cleanly without any coughing at all. Class Act!
Stone:
If you can imagine a cold and raw day- it’s been raining for weeks, and the wet seems to crawl right into you. But suddenly, out of the background, a wool blanket is draped around your head and shoulders. Wool is naturally water-repellent, and it keeps you super warm, even when wet. This warming feeling, like a temple ball hash high, really centered me into the cadence of the 1st Lady of the West Coast.
I’m truly fortunate to be able to sample cannabis of this quality because Black Girl Magic is completely unknown to the world outside of California. Perhaps if you are anywhere else in the country or the world and you’re reading this blog- you’ll be inspired to taste what magic does to the plant. Especially from the 1st Lady of the West Coast.
