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Cannabis Cactus Magazine Recipes

Infused Cocktail: Cucumber Melon Mint Cooler

Cucumber-Melon-Mint-Cooler

I’m a massive fan of cocktails and mocktails that use puddles of summery melon (grilled first-trust me on this), along with coins of cucumber and tangles of well-washed, fresh mint.

Sometimes I make this take on a punch with a medicated rich simple syrup and other times I

use infused Rhum Agricole from Martinique or a combination of the two. In this case, I’m sticking to the mocktail version. It’s true that the Rhum Agricole method is quite salubrious, but you can add the Agricole Rhum on your own time. It’s breakfast-time here in New Jersey (where I’m writing this), ten degrees out and I’m not yet ready to drink before the sun is warm over my toes. It’s not like I’m chillaxing by the town pool, that is frozen solid right now! Brrr. Perhaps this drink will enlighten you into believing that it’s in the mid-eighties outside and you just might need an inspirational dollop of amusement in your day. Please remember the reason why you enjoy a cannabis infused beverage in the first place. They are non-confrontational. Smoking a fatty in the street will get all kinds of attention. Some positive, but most negative. When you smoke cannabis, everyone knows your business. Stigmas aside, I prefer to let people draw their conclusions about me through the things I say, not the weed I smoke. Although in some circles it couldn’t hurt!

But I digress. This is not about smoking cannabis in the street, but it is about enjoying one of the finest craft cocktails you’ve ever sipped, packed full of your favorite healing herbs. You know what kind of herb I’m discussing, right? The main ingredient in the mocktail happens to taste pretty darned good at this time of the year, as some of the best melon I’ve ever tasted comes to NJ in the winter months. Melon or if you can get it, the more exotic, musk-melon, offers a deeper and more exotic sensory experience. Then when you draw your chef’s knife and make two inch slices in the melon, sprinkle a little sea salt over the top of each slice. You will have prepared a grill, either outside with fire, or inside using a cast iron grill pan. Whatever way you choose, the fun thing is watching the sweet fruit caramelize against the flame. But don’t cook the fruit too much, I’m only looking for a golden brown hue- not burnt. And remember, when you take hot food off the fire it will continue to cook, so please keep that in mind. Set aside the crescents of melon and let them cool. European cucumbers are those long, slender vegetables that often come packaged in a sealed plastic covering. This is to protect the tender skin of the cucumber from bruising. It also allows you to use the fragrant skin and the oils in your mocktail without peeling the cucumber first. A win/win. Cut several cucumbers into coins, about an inch around and set aside with a clean and damp cloth on the top of them.

In a punch bowl, muddle the grilled melon along with the coins of European cucumber. Add the medicated honey syrup into the mix and top with a 750ml bottle of cool sparkling water, stir to combine and slap a bunch of mint over the top. Add some ice and stir. Dot the top of this drink with cucumber bitters, I think Fee Brothers makes a fine version of this artistic liquid.

Recipe: Cucumber Melon Mint Cooler

Ingredients:

  • 1-3 small Melons/Musk Melons cut into crescents about an inch or two in diameter (grilled and set to cool)
  • 2-3 European Cucumbers, cut into coins
  • 2-3 bunches, well-washed, fresh mint
  • Fee Brothers Cucumber Bitters
  • 1-750 ml bottle of sparkling water
  • ½ cup, medicated raw honey simple syrup- made 1:1/honey to spring water and 1 ounce of decarbed cannabis infused into each fluid cup of the simple syrup… It sounds like a lot, and it is!

These drinks will be potent… Common sense will tell you not to drink more than one per ½ hour.

Pro Tip:

Wash mint well, let dry in a cloth towel. To Slap mint, place it in your hand, and slap it. Just like that! This releases the oils in the mint and makes it more fragrant.

Pro Tip:

Raw Honey Simple Syrup (with decarbed cannabis) Decarb your cannabis to reveal the THC, from THCA- Activating it. This is accomplished by heat and time. 220-240 degrees for 45 minutes, well covered, or I use the Ardent device to decarb – a much better idea – no burnt batches! Let cool, covered if you use an oven. And it’s going to stink, unless you use the Ardent, which gives off virtually no odor. Something to keep in mind. https://ardentcannabis.com/

I also own a Levo2. This machine does everything I’ve discussed in making an infused simple syrup. Decarbing and infusing. 1 do a 1:1 syrup in the Levo2 as well. The Levo2 does one cup batches so cut the liquid to ½ cup honey to ½ cup spring water in this device… I use ¼ ounce per batch in the Levo2. https://levooil.com/

Instructions:

  1. In a punch bowl, muddle the grilled melon along with the coins of European cucumber.
  2. Add the medicated honey syrup into the mix
  3. Top with a 750ml bottle of cool sparkling water 
  4. Stir to combine and slap a bunch of mint over the top 
  5. Add some ice and stir
  6. Dot the top of this drink with cucumber bitters, I think Fee Brothers makes a fine version of this artistic liquid
Categories
Cannabis Cactus Magazine Recipes

Infused Cocktail: Bertha Lee’s Baby

By Warren Bobrow @warrenbobrow

Going forward into Fall, my body calls out for liquids that warm deeply inside. It’s still getting hot during the day but as the months progress towards the colder period, I thirst for drinks that make me buzzed and warm, all at the same time. 

Bertha Lee’s Baby

One such beverage is comprised of a base of strongly brewed hot coffee, (I use my trusty Vietnamese drip device) along with spirits such as Rhum Agricole, or Mezcal. I also use grilled orange slices to gently squeeze over the top of the liquescent. Funny that orange would compliment coffee so well, but this little potation is meant to refresh, and then sooth, deeply. Grilled orange slices help relax the palate by adding a touch of smoke to the tangy, caramelized orange flavors. Mezcal, the smoky, mysterious neighbor to Tequila or Rhum Agricole, distilled from freshly crushed sugar cane juice, instead of molasses from Martinique has a mysterious finish, reminiscent of your backyard fire pit. Agricole Rhum, or agricultural rum, offers a tangy release to the drink, just like the use of Mezcal offers a splash of smoke to the assembly. 

I think you’ll really enjoy this beverage at the end of the evening, but on a hot day it’s quite refreshing when made with iced coffee and served over ice made from yesterday’s leftover coffee…. Just pour it into an ice cube tray, freeze, and then use in this cocktail. 

The recipe I’ve included here is made with iced coffee, but you can make it any way you like. Hot or iced, it’s quite delicious and depending on how much weed you use, quite potent. 

First you have to decarb your cannabis. I use either the LEVO2 to decarb, or the Ardent device. Both do a fantastic job activating your cannabis. The Ardent decarbs much more flower than the Levo2, so it may work better if you are making a large portion of the base ingredient which is in this case, either Mezcal or Rhum Agricole. 

For a 25 oz. or 750ml. bottle of liquor, I place ¾ of the bottle in a ball jar. The ball jar is placed in a stainless steel bowl filled with water heated to 160 degrees. Add one ounce of the decarbed cannabis to the liquor inside the ball jar. Only use a hot plate or an electric stove with plenty of ventilation, two fans and an open window is what I ask that you use. Do not use a gas stove unless you want trouble. Vaporized alcohol is highly combustible. You can level your house with it. Don’t be that person who appears in the newspaper for being stupid about an open fire and liquor. 

Simmer the liquor and cannabis together at 160 degrees (no more!) for at least an hour then let cool in the freezer (covered) overnight. The next day let it come to room temperature and strain the cannabis from the spirit. Be sure to press all the cannabis out of the liquor. That’s the good stuff in there! Also, my pro-tip is to use gloves because the activated cannabis will be absorbed through your skin, and you’ll get. SUPER-STONED! 

Recipe: Bertha Lee’s Baby (for one)

Ingredients:

  • 3 Grilled Orange Slices
  • 1 oz. Mezcal or Rhum Agricole- each fluid ounce has about 100mg of THC, more or less depending on the strength of the weed. 
  • 3 oz. cold, strong coffee
  • Angostura Bitters
  • Raw honey or sugar to taste

Prep:

  1. Chill a Collins Glass or a stoneware cup (if the drink is served hot)
  2. Rub the inside of the cup or glass with the grilled orange slice to reveal the secrets… 
  3. Add a spear of hand cut ice to the glass, no ice if the drink is served hot!
  4. Add about three ounces of the strong – either hot or cold coffee over the ice
  5. Pour over the coffee your one ounce (liquid measure) of Mezcal or Rhum Agricole
  6. Dot with Angostura Bitters for good gut health… 
  7. Finally, stir and garnish with a grilled orange round. 

Read More Here :

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Cannabis Cactus Magazine Recipes

Infused Cocktail: Mexican Sleep Cure

Jump straight to recipe below.

I was conversing via Instagram this morning with a cocktail and cannabis alchemist from the Midwest. This person was deeply influenced by the convergence of cannabis and cocktails, and she discovered my work through my first book Apothecary Cocktails and also my ground-breaking book, Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics. She told me that she had experimented with my cocktail named Mexican Sleep Cure and added her secret ingredient, cannabis to my recipe with amazing results.

I knew at that moment exactly what I was going to re-engineer for this article. Or reverse engineer. Or something like that. And that cocktail? The Mexican Sleep Cure cocktail from my first book, Apothecary Cocktails. The secret ingredient is adding weed to the mix. 

It’s traditional in places like Mexico to drink bittersweet hot chocolate with mystical spirits like Mezcal. First of all, Mezcal is not at all like her industrial cousin named Tequila. Mezcal is smoked in the ground for a period of time. Each droplet is enfolded by smoldering pinion wood smoke that gives Mezcal the distinctive charred flavor so well appreciated by connoisseurs of distilled spirits. Mezcal happens to offer flavors that compliment land-race strains of cannabis. Ones that are not sugary sweet, nor candy-like. Mezcal, as I said, is a mystical beverage with healing properties, not unlike cannabis. Cannabis and Mezcal seem to work very well together in diversified drinks such as the Mexican Sleep Cure

Bitter chocolate is the base for this deeply sedative sip of succulent proportions. Sure, there is a touch of heat in this drink. I like a scant teaspoon of cayenne pepper mixed with turbinado sugar (to taste) added to the pot of hot chocolate. I recommend adding enough to offer a drop of bite to the finished potion. 

Choosing the right Mezcal is also important. If your Mezcal has a worm in it, throw it out. This is not real Mezcal, but something concocted by Madison Avenue to imitate the hand-crafted, quality spirits that come from Mexico. Mezcal can be made from over 30 different types of agave, with the vast majority made from a plant named Agave Espadin. Espadin is primarily cultivated in Oaxaca, Mexico, a constituency known as the historical home of Mezcal. As in many spirits that come from Mexico, reverence must be paid to the gods when working with or drinking Mezcal. I recommend pouring a small portion of Mezcal into a one ounce ceramic cup and pouring it on the ground. Why is this done? For the same reason that I add THC to craft spirits. To awaken the life-forces themselves. As in everything mystical, there is a place in the universe for memories and the Mexican Sleep Cure will certainly make them. 

Creating the THC infusion is especially easy with this recipe. What you will need is about a cup of pure vanilla extract. I recommend decarbing at least an ounce of the highest grade cannabis that you can buy. If you can find landrace strains like Mexican Brick Weed, that will work, but if that isn’t readily available, you should utilize something higher end. I tend to prefer earthy and dank aromatics for the Mexican Sleep Cure. These old-fashioned strains go well with Mezcal, spices and dark chocolate. 

Stuff a bunch of weed (minimum of one ounce that you’ve decarbed at 240° for 45 minutes in a closed container) then place in a Ball jar with the pure vanilla extract. Let steep for at least thirty days and thirty nights in a cool, dark place. Strain the weed out (make High Chai with the stuff) and place the Ball jar in a dark colored paper bag in a sunny spot for at least another couple weeks. This activates the THC in your vanilla extract, the process may also be done in a double boiler, not more than 160° on a hot plate – no gas stoves allowed here. Your vanilla extract will be much more concentrated if you use the heating method. Use this activated THC/vanilla extract in your Mexican Sleep Cure.

Recipe: Mexican Sleep Cure

Ingredients:

  • 3 ounces (90 ML) Mezcal, infused (see cannabiscactus.com for
  • detailed instructions & infused liquor recipes)
  • ¾ cup (175 ML) Whole milk
  • ¼ cup (60ml) Heavy Cream
  • ¼ pound (115g) grated bittersweet chocolate
  • Vanilla extract, to taste
  • Cayenne pepper, to taste
  • Dark brown sugar, to tast

Directions: Mexican Hot Chocolate

Combine ¾ cup (175ml) of whole milk with a ¼ cup (60ml) of heavy cream. Add ¼ pound (115g) grated bittersweet chocolate. Heat slowly, do not boil, and whisk constantly until smooth. Add cayenne pepper and sugar to taste.

Directions: Mexican Sleep Cure

Mix the Mezcal of your choice (not that stuff with a worm in it!) with 1 cup of your Mexican “Spicy” Hot Chocolate. Adjust your sugar and cayenne if needed. Add vanilla extract. Stir well. Serve in pre-heated ceramic mugs.

Sleep is sure to follow…

https://cannabiscactus.com/infused-cocktail-mexican-sleep-cure/
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Articles Cannabis Cactus Magazine Reviews

Leira Cannagars

Leira-Cannagar
Leira Cannagars

I’m fortunate to have enjoyed a very special gourmet cannagar, made all by hand for a captivated party. Myself! 

Why do I call a cannagar gourmet? Because experiencing a hand-crafted Leira Cannagar is an other-worldly experience that surpasses the appreciation for the finest cuisine and wines in my opinion. How does a humble plant raise itself to the pinnacle of ultra-high end food and wine? When you experience the kindness of a Leira Cannagar your overall experience will approach the studied depth of fine cuisine. And the appreciation of fine wine. You just have to try one! This is cannabis raised to a “higher” level, one ebullient puff at a time.

http://www.leiracannagars.com/

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Cannabis Cactus Magazine Interviews Klaus Apothicaire Podcasts

Warren Bobrow, Contributor at The Cannabis Cactus

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Cannabis Cactus Magazine Reviews

Artisan Cannagar

Artisan-Cannagar
Artisan Cannagar

Last month was my sixtieth birthday. And with this said, for my birthday I enjoyed a particularly wonderful cannagar, one completely hand-made by Artisan Cannagars. It was a six gram version, all flower and no extracts. I smoked it over several days, it was that succulent. Patience is a virtue with a cannagar, especially if you smoke it without the assistance of another person. Artisan hand-crafts their cannagars using the finest ingredients available. I’m particularly happy to announce that I had taken a break from smoking for a week or so because I had some work done in my mouth. My dentist told me to stop smoking for a bit. When I finally started using cannabis again, the first thing that I smoked was the six gram Artisan Cannagar. Impressive to say the very least. They do amazing work with the plant. There is something really sophisticated about smoking a luxury cannagar. There is no mistaking what it is and what a cannagar represents. Pure indulgence!

Artisan Cannagars from California.


For all Cactus Approvedclick here.


Warren Bobrow is the CEO of Klaus Apothicaire, a 6x Author, Chef, Barman, Cannabis Alchemist, Master Mixologist. Some of his cannabis awards include: SXSW Cannabis Disruptor 2018, Berlin Bar Convent-Cannabis, and Moscow Bar Show-Master Class-Rum. He is the author of Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails, and Tonics, Available in Indie Bookstores, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indigo Books. See his cannabis creations on instagram.