For those of you who don’t know my own professional background in Food and Beverage, all you have to do is spend the better part of several decades working your way from the bottom up. In my case, that meant starting as a pots and pans “engineer” better known as a pot-scrubber, then graduating to the exalted place known as the dish sink. After languishing in front of a soapy sink full of greasy dishes for a couple of months, my path to the line… (That’s what we call the actual place where cooking is done in the professional kitchen…) And then, if that wasn’t enough education after college, I took it upon myself to become a bartender, from bar-back on up. Thank you to Chris James for seeing to my education become something actually tangible.
To really learn the food and beverage business, it’s essential to make yourself as well-trained as possible so you can do anything that needs to get done. From taking out the trash to making drinks, this is the way that you become essential to your employer. Otherwise, you’ll be washing dishes for the remainder of your restaurant career. And no… When you graduate from culinary school you are not a chef. Period.
The grunt labor thing in a restaurant was not where I wanted to be for very long. Fortunately, the dish sink was a short-lived adventure into doing really hard work. Manual labor if you will. Which framed the next forty or so years of my life into the person I am today. Working hard, doing something I love. That’s the key to life in my opinion. But that’s just my path, the one of Sara Stewart is quite succinct and I know she is going places. Read her words, Sara is a success story waiting to be discovered, yet again.
Warren Bobrow: Please tell us about your journey into cannabis and how you got into cannabis hospitality.
Sara Stewart: My initial journey into cannabis started in 2019 at Lowell Cafe, the first true cannabis restaurant in America, serving cannabis alongside food, coffee, juice, etc. I had been in the restaurant, nightclub, and event space for almost 15 years, working for some of the most successful companies in Los Angeles, and I was ready for a change. Although I had been a cannabis consumer for most of my adult life, I was unfamiliar with the legal market. I learned METRC from a hospitality viewpoint, which was incredibly unique. I had also been documenting several of the pain points this kind of business underwent, and I wanted to help others avoid some of these headaches in the future.
Upon leaving Lowell Cafe, I started Highspitality to consult for other lounges and eventually joined Green Thumb Industries full-time as a lounge specialist. My time with GTI opened the door for me to help lobbyists and public officials create some of the regulations in new markets, such as Las Vegas. In October of 2021, I opened my second lounge in Mundelein, Ill., making it the first licensed cannabis lounge east of the Mississippi River.
Photo: Sara Stewart
Warren Bobrow: Why do you think consumption lounges are the future of cannabis?
Sara Stewart: We know Americans are consuming more cannabis than ever before, and taxes from the sales of Cannabis are surpassing alcohol in many legal states. As someone who is incredibly passionate about hospitality and customer service, I believe that what we are experiencing now is prohibition 2.0.
In my opinion, cannabis lounges will play an important role in normalizing cannabis use, just as bars did for the reintroduction of alcohol post-prohibition. They will provide a social place for safe cannabis consumption and educational opportunities for curious consumers. Although cannabis usage looks much different than alcohol, I hope onsite consumption will elevate the cannabis industry by implementing hospitality-driven operations that create a familiar environment replicating a social club or lounge.
Warren Bobrow: What concepts do you think will define cannabis hospitality and lounges?
Sara Stewart: I believe the defining concepts in lounges will be hospitality-driven first and cannabis second. Most cannabis companies buy retail buildings with additional square footage and assume they can just “build a lounge” attached to it. Imagine buying a liquor store and then trying to build a cafe or restaurant out the back — you simply wouldn’t do that.
Many lounges that aren’t open yet are grappling with how to make money, struggling to build out unique customer experiences, and aren’t working with their local governments to create and implement appropriate and necessary regulations. This is a major issue, and in my opinion, the concepts that will win won’t just focus on cannabis as their main offering.
Warren Bobrow: What do you want people to know about visiting a lounge for the first time?
Sara Stewart: Start low and go slow — you can always take more, but you can never take less.
If the rules or process seems unnatural or different, it’s most likely a regulation that the company has to comply with (for example, we don’t want to charge cannabis and food on separate checks, but we have to).
Lastly, do some research on the lounge you’re visiting. Every lounge is different; some allow you to bring your own products while others prohibit it and require reservations, so you should know what to expect upon arrival. Keep in mind these models are new and destined to change often.
Warren Bobrow: What are your top 3 favorite cannabis products and why?
Sara Stewart: I love flower, and I’m typically a Sativa diva, so I have to say Lemon Trill by Lumpy’s in California. I also can’t live without the Snoozeberries Chocolate Bar from Incredibles and my long-time love, Cereal Milk by CBX.
Warren Bobrow fell in love with cannabis long before he took his first sip of alcohol. But when talent with mixing earned him the moniker, “The Cocktail Whisperer,” alcohol took center stage in his career. As Bobrow puts it, “I was a pretty established drinker—people would come to me and say I made them the best drink they’d ever had.” But swearing off the hard stuff in 2018 has allowed him to bring his true love to the fore without sacrificing his passion for intoxicating concoctions. Now, the only cocktail whispering Bobrow does involves cannabis, his go-to secret weapon for the perfect drink.
Before Bobrow became a world-renowned cocktail connoisseur, his dream was to become a chef. But as he is quick to point out, he started from the bottom up. “I’ve worked plenty of the least glamorous jobs in the industry,” he says, recalling his first job washing dishes in York Harbor, Maine. “Working as a dishwasher teaches you to work hard and be diligent and treat people exceptionally well, because you never know when they’ll come back into your life. Always, always be nice to the dishwasher.”
The grunt work paid off when Bobrow trained as a chef and started his own fresh pasta manufacturing business. He lost the business in 1989 after Hurricane Hugo, and was deep enough in debt to accept the necessity of a twenty-year detour in banking–though he hated every minute of it. In 2009, he took the chance to reinvent himself. “I took some classes with the New School in food writing and became a published food writer,” says Bobrow, referencing his tenure with publications such as Saveur Magazine. “Then that led to six books on cocktail making, and it seemed to work out very, very well for me.”
According to Bobrow, his foray into writing didn’t necessarily turn down the pressure of the service industry. “My publisher only gave me a month for each of my books,” he says, cheekily suggesting that if you can’t write 160,000 words in a month you have no business in publishing. “But I’ve been writing magazine articles all over the world, so that’s easy for me.”
Asked how he comes up with his recipes, he just shakes his head. “I dreamt them up. I sleep on my successes—everything that I come up with is delicious, I just can’t explain it.” Of course, not all of his material was dreamed into existence—in his 2013 book, Apothecary Cocktails, Bobrow drew on the centuries-old history of herbal concoctions for curing ailments. He argued that drinks like the Milk Thistle Spritz or Lemon Balm Gin and Tonic do more than just intoxicate—they heal.
When a promotional tour for one of his books took him to the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum, which featured a temporary exhibit on the history of medicinal cannabis, something clicked. He began to see that his beloved potions didn’t need to involve liquor, a substance which no longer felt medicinal to him. “After seeing the exhibit I knew immediately what I was going to do with the rest of my life,” he says. The deal was sealed when he enrolled in the New Jersey medical program and successfully used cannabis to treat a terrible case of glaucoma that had been plaguing him for years. In 2016, Fair Winds Press published Bobrow’s Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics.
Now on its tenth printing, the book contains tasting notes and descriptors that illuminate the medicinal and recreational aspects of the plant. Recipes often combine cannabis with alcohol—though with caution—but are focused on cannabis. In addition to cocktails and mocktails, the primer contains basic recipes for butter, oils, tinctures, and creams, followed by a plethora of fun and healing ways to apply the infusions.
Of course, making a craft cannabis cocktail from scratch is a whole lot of work, and it’s perhaps best left in the hands of the master himself. So it’s no surprise that as cannabis beverages storm the market, Bobrow is throwing his hat in the ring to show us how it’s done. Enter Klaus, a craft cannabis cocktail company named for Bobrow’s Internet-famous traveling “1850s German drinking gnome,” who apparently now agrees that cannabis cocktails are to be preferred.
“It’s not like one of those seltzers that, you know, people are chugging to get stoned,” Bobrow insists. “This is a carefully composed craft cocktail that’s made with love and non-industrialized ingredients.”
The cocktail currently on offer is called the Mezzrole, named for Mezz Mezzrow, a jazz clarinetist who earned his notoriety in the Swinging 20s for being the weed dealer to Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Bix Beiderbeck. The ingredients include Pickett’s Hot N’ Spicy ginger syrup, Les Vergers Boiron Lime, and Fee Brothers Bitters. And Bowbrow is careful not to offset the medicinal aspects by overloading the drink with sugar. “I’m very sugar-conscious,” Bobrow says. “Added sugar is a big problem in the liquor industry, so we’ve only added 6/10 of a gram of sugar.”
And of course, as the star of the show, the cannabis is just as lovingly selected. “I’m using an emulsion created by a company called Virtuosa in Oakland, California, a cannabis-infused nanotechnology based on coconut oil,” he says. “It’s a beautiful product that gets you really high.”
For the time being, California is the only market that can benefit from his potions, and even then supplies are limited. “This is carefully, carefully crafted with small run, small producer products that are not industrialized—we’re not making 20,000 cans, we’re making 5,000 cans,” he says. Though he hopes to increase his reach eventually, at the moment Bobrow is content to be clamored for. “There’s nothing wrong with saying that you have the best tasting beverage that no one can buy,” Bobrow says. ”But eventually the market is going to demand it.” At least Bobrow hasn’t left us completely without recourse while we await the day we can pop open a can of Klaus. In the meantime, we can flip open Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics to try our own hand at a cannabis concoction—if only to better appreciate the beverage when it arrives.
I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit Denver a few months ago. While I was participating in the Cannabis Marketing Summit (I sat on two panels), I was able to reach out to some very interesting people in the cannabis business. One person, in particular, stood out to me, probably because of his New Jersey roots- I still live in New Jersey, born and raised. Chris Chiari has the ambition and the fortitude to do something completely different from anything I’ve ever encountered in my cannabis journalism career.
What he has achieved is the Patterson Inn; The intrinsic synergy between history, continuity, and political balance makes this story worthy of your attention. Of course, stigmas play deeply into this sage of hospitality vs. City Hall, but that’s what makes the Patterson Hotel passage more than just a metaphor. The people who lived in this house are part of the story of politics and rules.
It is the circumstance and the candor of doing what you love, even if the career is in cannabis. Someday it won’t matter so much, and these stigmas will be a thing of the bad old days. I know Chris is on his way to that place of success, doing what he so clearly loves.
Thank you. WB
Photo Credit: Warren Bobrow
Warren Bobrow: Please tell me about yourself. Where are you from? Living now? Tell me about The Patterson. What brought you to cannabis?
Chris Chiari: A kid from New Jersey, raised in New York City and currently living in Denver. I own and operate the historic Patterson Inn, the keystone property of The 420 Hotels portfolio and the first legally licensed cannabis consumption lounge attached to a hotel as an amenity. I’m also the producer of the documentary Public Enemy Number One, a film about the U.S. War on Drugs, which won the Seattle Film Festival for best U.S. Doc in 2020 and is available on Amazon Prime, Tubi and Pluto.tv.
Back in my mid-twenties, after the removal of a large melanoma a doctor told me, “Don’t make long-term plans.” After a decade of staying one step ahead and removing over 70 moles, I heard the reverse. Within weeks of this new lease on life, I was in Denver for the first time standing on the street in front of what’s now the Patterson Inn. At the time it was this abandoned castle. The combination of its curb appeal, the address over the door, ‘420,’ and a commitment that the next chapter of my life would focus on cannabis inspired that moment. And on March 7, 2011, I pointed up to the house and said out loud, “I’m going to turn you into a cannabis bed and breakfast!” I missed out on buying the property by two weeks.
For 22 months from March ‘11 – January ‘13, I was on what can only be called an adventure of a lifetime. Over 115,000 miles by car and another 100,000 in the air brought me coast to coast and a lap around the world. At every stop I started all conversations with an image, a simple card. But the King of Clubs holding a bong proved an effective conversation starter and the generosity of cannabis and its community welcomed me and graciously informed me about a plant I’d consumed for years by that point, but a process and economy that I had never been exposed to before except as a consumer. From cannabis cups and contests, to bong and pipe trade shows, and down the occasional dirt road to see legacy operations, I learned about and was exposed to some amazing, innovative, and bold entrepreneurs. I learned about strains and terps, made bubble hash in the forest and experienced cannabis as it was transitioning from purely legacy markets to the emerging legal markets, we have in many states today.
I finally made the move to Denver in January of 2013 and over the last nine-plus years have been active in local politics serving in several leadership positions in the county Democratic Party. I spent eight years on the board of Colorado NORML and served as both deputy director and interim executive director. You will also find my name listed as one of the five-person petitioning committee for the successful 2015 Denver initiative that decriminalized psilocybin.
In 2016 an almost unrealistic life ambition became a reality when I was issued an owner’s badge in the regulated Colorado cannabis industry and then in 2018, an idea inspired by a house became an opportunity when the property at 420 E. 11th Avenue in Denver was once again on the market. Renovated and turned into a boutique hotel by the owners who had beaten me to the property seven-year early by just two weeks, the purchase put me back on the path to taking the hotel and adding the most exciting and unique amenity in hospitality, the addition of a licensed cannabis consumption lounge.
A multi-time, multi-state failed political candidate, I’ve made a career of doing marketing and messaging for startup companies and I’ve never been afraid to lean into the arena on policy and issues. Putting my career experience, as well as an over 30-year passion for cannabis into this company, I’ve made the work of normalizing and de-stigmatizing cannabis possession and consumption my life’s work for over a decade. The addition of this first cannabis consumption lounge attached to a hotel is meant to be just the beginning and where I once was told to not make long-term plans, I can share today that there is a long-term plan, and it includes expanding The 420 Hotels from our first keystone location in Denver to a dozen gateway cities in America and around the world.
Photo credit: Chris Chiari
WB: What are six and twelve-month goals?
CC: Within the next six months, I intend to have the first consumption lounge attached as an amenity to a hotel open to guests at the Patterson Inn. The twelve-month goal includes further improvements to the property, including the kitchen and the addition of two more guest rooms. After that, the intention is to expand to gateway cities across the country and around the world.
What obstacles are you facing? How do you anticipate removing those obstacles?
International standards around clean air in a smoke-filled environment have created the biggest obstacles. The greatest obstacle has also been the greatest learning experience. Thinking through and working through the challenges with the design of the HVAC system has been the biggest hurdle to date, but finding the solution and building a design that can grow with the company, has offered a great degree of reward as well.
WB: Who is your mentor?
CC: I have had three great professional influences in my life. My boss in an internship in my third year (of five) in college, Bobby Clark. My boss during my last year in school, Calvin Gould. And a securities attorney who imparted way more than even he may have realized, Richard Lane.
Bobby offered me an opportunity, but he told me to go out into the real world and take a risk first. I’ve never looked back.
Cal was retired and near the end of his life. I became the assistant manager (great title; there were only two of us) for what was left of his supermarket beer & wine business. He’d also have me drive him from Worcester to Tanglewood every Thursday in August and come pick him up on Monday. I remember the first drive; he told me he was going to teach me everything he knew about negotiating the close on commercial real estate. Said the world was changing, and I’d never get to use it, but maybe it would be good to know. The world has changed, it has proven good to know, and I think of Cal every closing, and I smile.
Richard was just kind. It wasn’t anything specific he imparted. Maybe in sharing the true room available for creativity in the structuring of a company. Certainly, that full transparency and full disclosure really do go a long way in business and in life.
WB: What kind of food do you enjoy for breakfast at your hotel?
CC: We offer complimentary sweet and savory options every day at the Patterson Inn. I order both daily. Hospitality is about the experience. We pride ourselves on offering a bed you don’t want to get out of and breakfast you’d never want to sleep in on. A typical day might include fresh baked challah French toast with strawberry compote and whipped cream or biscuits with fried chicken and country gravy.
WB: Who is your core customer?
CC: For the Patterson Inn, our most discernible guests are parents of people who live within walking distance. As one of the few hotels in the heart of Capitol Hill, we are the guest room to the neighborhood. Our other most recognizable guests are couples looking for a romantic getaway. Patterson Inn is housed in an old Victorian French chateau castle. The curb appeal and finish to the rooms (many with clawfoot tubs) give the property an air of whimsy that guests mention in reviews.
For the consumption lounge, we are pairing sophisticated, licensed, legal cannabis hospitality with four-star overnight hospitality, which the Patterson Inn already delivers. The lounge will offer guests something they currently don’t have access to when they visit the Mile High City: the ability to consume cannabis legally in a commercial business. So, for someone new traveling to our state to engage with legal cannabis for the first time, especially if they’re from a state still traumatized by prohibition, they’re looking over their shoulder. They’re looking around for that safe space. They’re still aware that what they’re doing, at least where they come from, is illegal. And that sensation, that awareness — we forget that as cannabis consumers here in Colorado, but it’s no less true still for the tourist. The consumption lounge at the Patterson is not meant to be a place to party. This is an upscale, sophisticated lounge for cannabis connoisseurs and canna-curious alike.
WB: Tell me about the cannabis lounge.
CC: We are blazing a place in history: The 420 Hotels, and our lounge at the Patterson Inn, The 420 Denver, is the first licensed cannabis consumption lounge as an amenity to a hotel.
The plan since I first set eyes on the house in 2011 was to turn it into a cannabis B&B. While the last owners beat me to the property, did the renovations, and opened the bed and breakfast, the final hurdles were still left when I bought the building over four years ago. These hurdles included: navigating through an unexpected closure and the realities of the world the last few years, the rezoning of the property from residential to commercial (required for the cannabis hospitality license), and refinancing the property with two years of the worst unexpected financials factored into the appraisal because of covid and that’s how the real world works. With all the unexpected and expected challenges, we are on pace to open the lounge by late 2022 to early 2023.
The lounge will be a sophisticated space that offers the Patterson Inn guests and annual members a chance to experience legal cannabis on their terms. We look forward to welcoming the canna-conscious and canna-curious consumers looking for a space that doesn’t require sneaking around and allows for the open and responsible use of cannabis in a safe, legal and social environment. As a bring-your-own-cannabis (BYOC) venue, we will center the experience around consumption methods and its many variations, we will have staff that is engaged and informed to help guests make good decisions with an awareness of potential effects or intensity, and we intend to focus on food & beverage.
WB: Will you do food geared to the cannabis scene?
CC: The Patterson Inn is a licensed restaurant and supports food & beverage service for the hotel guests, 12 Spirits Tavern, and will support the cannabis hospitality lounge as well. We already feature sweet and savory, made-to-order breakfast for our hotel guests, and we intend to expand this breakfast service into the lounge, as well as opening to the public for a once-a-week service we are calling our Blazy Brunch.
On a daily basis, we already produce a number of simple syrup infusions that support the craft cocktails in our 12 Spirits Tavern. These simple syrups are an easy way to offer terpenes, added to various beverage options, and will be part of our regular offerings in the lounge, along with light tavern snacks and regular specials.
Cannabis pairs well with food. The national cannabis community has a number of extraordinary chefs that have been working with pairings long before it became fashionable. Conversations with friends in this space have already begun. We intend to expand into fine dining on a regular basis with scheduled guest chef events. Since we are a BYOC venue, chefs will not be limited to our inventory but will be able to bring together the best producers of products to showcase their culinary artistry and maintain control over the experience they are looking to curate.
WB: When was the first time that you discovered cannabis? Do you remember who you were with?
CC: I remember the first time I smelled cannabis and knew it was something different. I was in NYC on the balcony of a movie theater during Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. I was in first grade.
I also remember very clearly the first time I consumed cannabis. I was with a sibling in their first year in college. It was Boston, and it was in late winter. It was the first time I used a dryer sheet tube to mask the odor. Ended up at a house party where Blues Traveler was still a house band, and the next night was in Albany to see the Grateful Dead for the first time.
WB: Tell me about the music you listen to.
CC: Live Music feeds the soul; I’ve learned that over the years. Music and cannabis pair as well as food and cannabis. At my core, I listen to jam bands mostly. Judge me all you want. I’m also an unwavering TWIDDLE fan. Grateful Dead, Phish, Twiddle, Eggy, and lespecial keep me occupied most days.
WB: What is your passion?
CC: I have committed my life to my passion: I am a cannabis consumer and a productive adult, and making that realization normal is the work I join so many amazing people in this industry and space in spreading. The normalization and destigmatization of cannabis is my passion. I also love storytelling and film and am proud to have created and produced the award-winning film Public Enemy Number One, a feature documentary about the War on Drugs.
About the Patterson Inn
Located at 420 East 11th Avenue, the Patterson Inn is a stately and distinguished National Landmark situated in the heart of Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Historically intriguing yet complete with all the comforts of modern amenities, it offers a luxurious reprieve in one of nine uniquely themed bedrooms. The Patterson Inn is also home to The 420 Hotels, the nation’s first legally licensed cannabis consumption lounge in a luxury hotel. Slated to open in late 2022, this high-end, members-only cannabis consumption club that will be merged with luxury overnight accommodations will provide a sophisticated location to consume and onsite guest service representatives who can advise consumers on safe consumption practices. For more information or to make reservations, please visit www.pattersoninn.com or call 303-955-5142.
I’m not from Charleston, South Carolina. But I lived there in the late 1980s and spent Hurricane Hugo huddled with others in my former kitchen house on Charlotte Street, wondering if the roof and the rest of the home would survive the biggest storm I’d ever lived through. This experience would go on to serve as more than a metaphor for the rest of my life. Big storms followed by the loss of everything I worked hard to achieve and accomplish. Gone with the tides, just like the little story I want to recount here. In simple terms…
I am very lucky to have friends who are from Charleston. In this case, born and raised. My friend Witt Rabon is that Charlestonian (the name for someone born there, unlike myself- a Yankee Carpetbagger…) Through the guidance and friendship of Witt, he introduced me to a couple of gentlemen who look like they stepped out of a mid-1970s rock and roll band. Friends of his, Thomas Cutler and Barry Foy, are on the cusp of great success within the very business that got Barry removed from civilization for ten years. Unfair? Absolutely when you consider people convicted of major financial crimes would serve much less time behind bars. The Last Prisoner Project is their deep métier.
A calling is something you learned from experience, not just read in books. That alone gives authenticity and a little something called lagniappe. That little something extra. And what would that be?
Read on for the answers to these clues. Gentlemen Smugglers, it’s now their success story…
Cheers! WB
Barry Foy. Photo Credit Post and Courier, Charleston, SC.
Warren Bobrow: Please tell me about yourself. Where are you from? How did you discover the plant? Do you have someone who introduced you to smoking in your family?
Barry Foy: My name is Barry Foy. I was born in Charleston, SC, but I’ve lived in many locations, from Canada to France to the Caribbean to NYC to the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. I grew up in a conservative Catholic family; my dad was a banker, and my mother was a nurse. My first encounter with the plant was the summer of Woodstock in 1969, right after high school graduation, when I smoked a joint with my buddy. I was the first and basically the only cannabis user in my family. Man, I loved it right away and continued smoking through my first year of college. It didn’t take me long to realize the financial possibilities, and by the summer of 1970, I was selling pot from the back of a local bar in Columbia, SC, to the GIs at Fort Jackson basic training base before they were shipped off to Vietnam. Flash forward a dozen years, and I was running the East Coast, smuggling over 250 tons valued at close to $1 billion, which, of course, led to my crew becoming the main targets of Operation Jackpot, the first Presidential Sting in Reagan’s War on Drugs. I was eventually convicted under the Kingpin statute (§848) for running a continuing criminal enterprise smuggling marijuana and hashish into the US from Jamaica and Colombia. I served 11 years in prison from 1985-1996.
Warren Bobrow: Please tell me what you’re working on right now. For whom? Where? Do you focus on flower? Do you like indoor or outdoor grown cannabis?
Barry Foy: Currently, I’m working on building the Gentleman Smugglers cannabis brand with my team members Thomas Cutler, Kevin Harrison, and Gary Latham. We are based in Charleston, SC. At present, we are launching the brand in Massachusetts with our partner Root & Bloom, a state-of-the-art facility that handles cultivation, processing, packaging, and distribution. The last two years have been devoted to picking up where we left off – bringing the brand to the people and supplying premium product, only this time legally! My focus is on the flower because all products originate from the plant. Start with premium seeds and flower and you’re going to have a premium product in the end, whatever it may be. I personally prefer outdoor when available because organic soil and natural sunlight create a superior, flavorful product.
Photo Credit: Kevin Harrison
Warren Bobrow: What kind of obstacles do you face in your business? How do you anticipate removing them? What are your six and 12-month goals?
Barry Foy: As we all know, cannabis remains illegal at the federal level. This places the burden on individual states to create regulations. This variation in laws from state to state causes obvious complications. It looks like the US Congress is close to passing legislation in 2023 that will clear up the ambiguity caused by these state-level differences. Having said that, we have an authentic story to tell, and I think it will resonate. Our six-month goal is to establish the Gentlemen Smugglers brand of premium flower and pre-rolls in the Massachusetts market. Within 12 months, we hope to launch the brand in New York and New Jersey and expand the product line into edibles, vapable concentrates, and beverages.
Warren Bobrow: What is your favorite cuisine or restaurant? Do you cook? What’s your favorite thing to prepare? Why?
I have always enjoyed fine cuisine and have a special place in my heart for the Southern specialty known as Shrimp and Grits. After spending a decade in prison and having friends who never made it out, I really savor a good meal. I love food and, having owned a restaurant in Charleston, can serve it up with the best of them! Using fresh local shrimp, heads off, I sauté them with butter and garlic for no more than one minute. The grits need to be stoned ground yellow grits cooked slowly with water and butter and finished with heavy cream. Serve the shrimp atop the grits with a side of sliced and chilled Johns Island tomatoes with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Pair this with a Belle Glos Clark and Telephone Vineyard Pinot Noir. Bon Appetit!
Warren Bobrow: What is your passion?
Barry Foy: My passion is and has remained the same for 40-plus years: to bring premium cannabis products to the masses. From the Blue Mountains of Jamaica to the Sierra Madres in Colombia, South America, I’ve always taken the high road and gone the extra mile to find and procure the best cannabis. As we developed the Gentlemen Smugglers brand, it was important to lean into the legacy of what I did so many years ago – to that end, our first Sativa-leaning treat is called High Tide, and our first Indica-leaning delight is called Low Tide, so named because the tides were crucial to smuggling. On a personal level, it’s critical to give back, and we recently partnered with the Last Prisoner Project to support ending needless incarceration for nonviolent marijuana crimes. Down the line, I want to develop specific Gentlemen Smugglers cultivars but for right now, I’m all about working with the best partners in the business to help our friends out there enjoy great flower. And you can always count on me to deliver.
In this article, Aaron Green sits down with Warren Bobrow, CEO and co-founder of Klaus, The Gnome, a cannabis beverage company specializing in terpene-forward canned cocktails.
California is the fastest-growing cannabis beverage market, according to a recent Headset report. The count of beverage product offerings in California has grown quickly, nearly doubling from 2020 to 2021. As of December 2021, there were approximately 530 distinct cannabis beverage offerings.
Mocktails have been a growing product category within the cannabis beverage segment. Klaus, headed up by Warren Bobrow, the “Cocktail Whisperer,” recently entered the California market with their ready-to-drink THC cocktail, Mezzrole, a unique terpene-forward beverage with three simple culinary-grade ingredients.
We caught up with Warren to learn more about his path to the cannabis industry and his inspiration for Mezzrole. Warren is a multi-published author of six books including “Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails, and Tonics” and has contributed to publications such as Forbes and Skunk Magazine. After the loss of his fresh pasta business in Hurricane Hugo, he worked in banking for 20 years before reinventing himself and following his passions—becoming a bar back to bartender and master mixologist and penning his six cocktail-focused books. Warren crafted Klaus with knowledge gained from years of experience in the mixology and culinary worlds and with his strong enthusiasm for cannabis.
Aaron Green: How did you get involved in the cannabis industry?
Warren Bobrow: It was a happenstance, and it was something that I never considered before. I was working in the traditional liquor industry, and because liquor is inherently a poisonous substance, I was slowly poisoning myself and my mind with the alcohol. I made a conscious decision back in July of 2018 – I was down to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans – and I said, “this is my last drink.” I was halfway through a Hemingway, which is absolutely my favorite cocktail to have and that’s what I was known for. That’s the drink that paved the way to a wonderful career on-premises and off-premises doing brand ambassadorship and being a named person within the liquor industry. As with all great careers, this one had to come to an end, or I was going to die because liquor was poisoning me. I was probably about 75 pounds heavier than I am right now. I just didn’t feel myself and I was going to be sick.
So, I decided to take my knowledge of cannabis, which was something that I’ve enjoyed since I was 12 years old – I am 61 now – and put it to use for me in this book, Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics. My first book, Apothecary Cocktails, really did pave the way. I wanted to include cannabis in my early books, but my publisher wouldn’t let me. It just wasn’t time until 2015 when I wrote Cannabis Cocktails, which is all based on the early apothecary. The inspiration for writing the book certainly was from being down in New Orleans and going to the Pharmacy Museum. They had an exhibition of cannabis in the early apothecary, and I knew immediately what I was going to do with the rest of my life. There you have it!
Green: It seems like it was a sharp cut off with the alcohol industry
Bobrow: Yes, like one day to the next, literally. It was absolute. I made the decision; I came back to New Jersey, and I never drank again. I drink a little beer and wine, but I haven’t had a distilled drink in years.
Green: How did the concept for Klaus come about? Was it something that you always had in the back of your mind?
Bobrow: The idea for creating a cannabis infused beverage came from being incarcerated in New York City for smoking cannabis in the street and being taken out of commission for 48 hours, I knew that if I was drinking a cannabis infused beverage like Klaus, which is the one that I created in California, no one would know my business. Of course, when this happened, it was in the early 2000s, so the technology and the pretense just weren’t available yet. But it did put something in my mind. If I was to create a cannabis-infused beverage using my knowledge and experience as a master mixologist, the fear of consuming cannabis would be diminished.
If you look at the book, Cannabis Cocktails, and you see the recipes, they’re not for the meek. They’re really meant for a medical community – someone who needs to really eliminate pain, if you will. Cocktails in the book started at about 250 milligrams of THC, whereas with Klaus they’re 10 milligrams, Two different stories completely!
Warren Bobrow, CEO & Co-Founder of Klaus
My inspiration for creating Klaus certainly was from the gnome [Warren displays Klaus, The Gnome]. He’s a star and he’s been all over the world with me. I don’t know why I first started traveling with him. Maybe it’s because he was sitting up there up on my mantle and he told me that he wanted to go out on the road with me. I was traveling all over the world as a rum judge for the Ministry of Rum and for Rum XP. We just show up at food events. I’m a trained chef, I love going to the Fancy Food Show in New York City, and I’d meet people and they invite me out to see their places. Then I started writing for Forbes and I don’t know, my career has been up and down. I’ve tried to follow my dreams ever since I left the corporate world in May of 2009.
Green: Let’s talk about the product.
Bobrow: I just have one SKU right now, which is the Mezzrole named for Mezz Mezzrow, Louis Armstrong’s weed dealer. You can’t make this stuff up. It’s all real.
Green: First, how did you land on the flavor profile?
Bobrow: For someone who’s a rum head like myself, we used to drink rum for breakfast. That’s how you become a rum head. The Mezzrole is based on a Ti’ Punch, which is the national drink of Martinique. Ti’ Punch is usually made in Martinique with rum Agricole, which is a sugar cane-based rum rather than a molasses-based rum. It’s the freshly pressed sugar cane rum before it ferments so it has a lovely floral quality and it’s 100 proof. There’s nothing weak about it!
A Ti’ Punch is freshly squeezed lime quarters, the 100 proof Agricole – one or two ounces – and cane sugar syrup stirred usually with your finger like my old friend Gaz Regan, who’s no longer with us, used to do it. He was known for his finger stirred negronis. I would do it preferably in a clean glass and there’s no ice involved because if you’re on a sailboat, you probably don’t have ice anyway. So, it’s potent. It’s a very potent drink. That’s the basis of the Mezzrole.
The Mezzrole contains a single strain of cannabis. We used a craft, land-raised strain called Hippie Crasher. It’s an indica leaning hybrid that is terpene forward. The Mezzrole utilizes the terpene aromatics of the cannabis strain. So, we have this gorgeous French lime puree that I get made from limes that are sourced down in Martinique. They have a certain oily quality to them and they’re very pungent. They’re very citrus forward and very flavorful.
Then, I’m using a ginger syrup that’s made in what I would say is a Great Britain or Jamaican style called Picketts. It’s from Denver, Colorado. My old friend Matt Pickett, and his late brother Jim created it. Jim was the bartender for Malcolm Forbes on his yacht, the Highlander, when they had it in the waters between me and Palm Beach, or wherever they happened to be on the island. Jim crafted this incredible ginger syrup, which is really authentic. And in later years, it became the Pickett’s ginger syrup that I would use in this beverage because I’m paying homage to Matt’s brother by using his extra hot and spicy ginger syrup in here along with the French lime purée.
The final element – there are only three flavor elements [besides the cannabis] – is rice vinegar. Rice vinegar in this case is something called mirin. There are two different types of mirin. There’s the sweet mirin and then there’s the dry mirin, and Mezzrole utilizes the dry mirin. I didn’t want to add any sugar. Mezzrole is six tenths of a gram of sugar for the entire can, which is eight ounces, 16 calories.
So, to recap, each can of Mezzrole is eight fluid ounces, six tenths of a gram of sugar, ginger, lime and rice vinegar with THC infusion. And it’s not a seltzer!
Green: What was special to you about the Ti’ Punch?
Bobrow: My family had a yacht, and we would go places in the Caribbean. One of the places we would go in the Caribbean was Down Island and they would have drinks like the Ti’ Punch. I remember that it was emblazoned in my brain. It was a drink that got me drunk. It was what sailors did; they got drunk. And you would get drunk on drinks that go back to the days of the pirates, because they probably didn’t have ice on the sailing vessels. So, why should a couple million-dollar yacht make any difference? We had icemakers, but you drink the drink without ice. You drink it like it was drunk in the age of sailing.
I wanted to reinterpret the Ti’ Punch and bring credence and life to that drink by bringing it to life in the Mezzrole. But the Mezzrole has another story behind it entirely. That’s because Mezz Mezzrow, who was a jazz head during the jazz era, brought between two and 4,000 pounds of cannabis up from Mexico, and sold it in Detroit, Chicago and Harlem during the early days of jazz. He made quite a name for himself. At the time, cannabis was not illegal on a national level yet. If you were to ask for a joint or reefer, you might become detained by the police, especially if you were Black. Not only were the police at that time incredibly anti-jazz and anti-Black and anti-cannabis, but they were just anti people having fun! So there had to be code names and a well-rolled cannabis cigarette was known as a “Mezzrole” and that’s what I named the cocktail after.
I’m paying homage to Louis, and I’m friendly with Louis’ daughter, Sharon. She’s the daughter that no one ever knew about. It’s a very interesting story. We’re hopefully going to do something together. I find great inspiration in jazz, and we wanted to pay homage to the role of characters in jazz by creating a beverage that hopefully wouldn’t get us arrested.
Green: Can you walk me through your choice of strain for the beverage?
Bobrow: I work with a company named Vertosa. They are the magicians in the world of nanotechnology emulsions. They’re scientists like yourself, who are upper intellects who dream in color. And the colors that they’ve chosen are the colors of the plant. So, they’ve enlivened the plant chemically through their process. I’m not privy to that process, but I’ll tell you it works. Their emulsion is gorgeous stuff. I just chose the emulsion for my next two SKUs and it’s exactly what I was looking for. It’s slightly bitter, it has depth and character, and we haven’t even added the terpenes in yet. So, it’s well balanced, and it will work exceptionally well with the craft ingredients that I’m working with. I don’t use industrialized ingredients, these are all bartending ingredients, if you will. We do 5,000 can production runs with bartending ingredients. It’s incredible food science. I love it.
Green: What was behind your decision in adding the terpene flavors?
Bobrow: What makes that interesting is no one else is doing it. So, we’re the first again! Not only did I write the first book on cannabis, and cocktails, and tonics, and all that stuff, but I created the first beverage that actually smells like cannabis. So, when you’re drinking one of my beverages, and you drink down maybe a quarter inch, and you put your nose right over the top and smell it, it smells just like the plant along with that ginger and the lime and that tangy quality of the mirin. And it’s spicy. It has an herbaceous quality to it. It’s really uncanny.
Green: Were there any challenges in working with terpenes in a beverage?
Bobrow: Yes, there’s always challenges. First off, I’m here in New Jersey, and the company that I’m working with is in California, so they can’t send me anything. So, I work very closely with a food scientist named Chris Anderson who did my scalability, and he’s absolutely brilliant. His palate mimics my own. I don’t want a sweet beverage. I want a tangy beverage. I want something that has balanced quality and fun and it makes you want to dance. I’m not looking for something to put me to sleep. That’s not my goal in life. Life is very short, and you want to have a beverage that is talkative and doesn’t get you totally destroyed. There are beverages out on the market that have 500 milligrams of THC called syrups. They’re absolutely delicious, but they’re so destructive because they want you to put them in a sugary beverage and drink the whole thing down.
I’m not a kid anymore and I don’t drink like a kid. I drink with sophisticated flavors and make beverages that are memorable. People come to me – and have since the early part of 2009 – and they say things like, “That’s the best cocktail I’ve ever had in my life. How do you do that?” My aim in life is to ruin people for their bartender because I expose all the things that our bartenders are doing to rip them off.
I started as a bar back and I worked my way up. I went to this guy named Chris James, who was working at The Ryland Inn running their beverage program. I needed a job, and he hired me as this bar back for a year and they kicked my butt. After that I could write about this stuff with knowledge and not just with something I read in a book. There’s a lot to be said for education and going to bartending school. There’s also a lot to be said for cutting your own ice and squeezing your own juice and taking out the trash.
Green: What are some of the challenges you are facing at Klaus?
Bobrow: We’re hoping to do a Series A round of financing. I wonder who would be interested in lending to us or giving us money or investing in us. I always wonder why anyone would be interested in any of this! But I have a talent and a passion, and I know that it will take me to the next step in life. I’ve waited and been very patient. I have massive shoes to fill, and I’m so committed to being ambitious.
I was an executive assistant in a Trust Bank for 20 years. I put my life on hold for others because they wanted to make an example out of me. I never became the person that my parents wanted me to become. They wanted me to become a lawyer and I didn’t have the aptitude for that. I had the aptitude for being a creative soul and a creative mind. It just took me 20 years longer to be able to achieve that.
I consider myself the luckiest man in the world because I did work for the C-suite and for the top of the house and I sold wine to them when I worked on the nights and weekends in a wine store. My customers were the presidents and “kingmakers of the world.” Here in Northern New Jersey, if nothing else, it’s pretty affluent. So, I’ve long been accustomed to coming from that environment. I know what that environment means and the importance of that environment. I had to figure out how to make it myself because I was, in polite parley, “disowned.” So, I am self-made, and I have a great product that I’ve created out of nowhere. It’s hopefully going to allow me to figure out what the next step will be in my life. I want to make this a national name.
Green: What trends are you following in the cannabis beverage space?
Bobrow: I’ve had some good ones. I’ve had some okay ones. And I’ve had some that are just, I don’t know. I’m a cook. I’m a saucier. I love flavors. I’m trained in France. I cook. It’s a lifelong thing. I started as a dishwasher, and I worked my way up. I’ve traveled the world eating.
I’ll tell you, if you don’t know flavors, you can’t put anything together. And if you don’t know what goes into making a beverage that’s different than what anyone else is doing in the world, then you don’t deserve to be in this business because it’s highly competitive and people play for keeps. If I only get one chance to capture people’s imagination, it comes with this beverage right here [Warren holds up a can of Mezzrole].
Green: What’s next for Klaus?
Bobrow: I hope to be doing Klaus Nein. It’s a terpene forward, non-cannabis infused craft beverage. It doesn’t have any THC, so I can sell it everywhere. I caught the travel bug years ago, when I was traveling all over the world for the rum business. And I got it back again. I hate that the world became such a small place during COVID. Because it really is a big place. And it’s a place that I need to explore more of. Stay tuned!
Green: What are you most interested in learning about?
Bobrow: You know, it’s funny. I think everyone that I come across I can learn something from. My teachers at Emerson and later at MIT, where I spent a fitful year, taught me that I wasn’t the smartest person in the room, but I certainly was the most inquisitive. So, I want to be known as someone who has pretty good listening skills. I also have great skills in the way of trying to draw out answers from people. So, I have a lot to learn and I’m excited about the opportunity of learning. If I can share a little bit of my knowledge with other people within the industry and they respect me for what I’ve achieved, then I’ll be a much happier person. I’m already happy. I’m very lucky. I am the luckiest guy in the room.
Green: Thank you Warren. That concludes the interview!
ElPlanteo.com exclusive interview with American mixologist Warren Bobrow, author of Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks and Buzz-Worthy Libations.BYTHE PLANTINGJULY 22, 2022
Warren Bobrow was just 5 years old when he tried a cocktail for the first time. He was a glass of sherry mixed with ginger-ale and a salty olive in Barcelona, Spain, with his parents. “I remember it was really hot and the refreshing quality of the ‘kids’ drink has stuck in my brain to this day,” says the mixologist, chef and writer known for Cocktail Whisperer and author of Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails. & Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks and Buzz-Worthy Libations .
Warren Bobrow’s Book of THC Drinks
The memory of that drink became a complex, unusual and unexpected introduction to mixology. “Even if it was made for a kid, it was still a cocktail ,” says Bobrow.
And, in his life, one thing led to another: he was a dishwasher, he studied at culinary school, he became a chef, he worked in restaurants of all kinds, he became a renowned bartender and he was even nominated for the Spirited Awards – Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, renowned industry awards. He has written six mixology books and hundreds of articles in magazines around the world. “It’s been a very busy life.”
As it is, that “busy life” is anointed in the game, in the tests and in the innovation. But, curiously, he supports his professional decisions based on a certain simplicity. “A well-mixed cocktail shouldn’t have a plethora of disparate ingredients,” he acknowledges.
Your first experiences
In that sense, since he was 16 years old he began to investigate the world of cannabis in drinks. And that kickoff was also subject to a bit of a fluke: As a teenager, she bought some awful faso brownies in New York’s Washington Square Park. He came to his house, put them through the blender, dumped a bunch of chocolate liqueur and chocolate ice cream on them. And… Boom!
“I was with some friends and we were very drugged and drunk.”
Over time, this trend was reversed and cannabis was taking a more prominent place in his bibliography.
But his link with cannabis did not occur in his investigative stage, but has an atavistic link: his grandfather had a botanist where he manufactured pharmaceutical products . “It was just snake oil, but I feel like there’s a correlation,” he confesses.
The famous cocktail with THC
Among the most popular cannabis-infused cocktails is the Mezzrole , which is sold exclusively in California, USA.
What is Mezzrole? A combination of small limes from the French Caribbean in a puree, blended with a touch of Japanese vinegar in a tangy, herbaceous version. A very spicy ginger syrup base from Pickett’s hailing from Denver, Colorado. “The best ginger beer concentrate in the world, and I’ve tried many during my research,” he says.
The cocktail follows with a base of 100 proof Agricole, a THC nanotech handcrafted creation. That includes about 10 milligrams of THC, from a strain called Hippie Crasher.
“It’s a really revolutionary drink full of terpenes,” he confesses.
Mezzrole, re crazy
At the time, the Mezzrole is a Bobrow creation whose goal is to drive its drinkers crazy . “You don’t get destroyed, but it’s not too different from the social version of smoking a joint . Of course, without the annoying smoke that announces your presence, ”says the mixologist.
He continues: “ I wanted to build a THC cocktail that would allow you to carry out all the social interactions of the plant without condemning yourself to social ostracism from non-smokers. I am offering the full cannabis experience in a well-constructed cocktail that truly smells like a well-cured cannabis flower.”
Among the riskiest cannabis drinks is the one he made during his appearance on Viceland . “They asked me to make a CBD/THC cocktail that they could feel.”
There, emboldened by the production’s suggestion, he mixed a bottle of straight bourbon on tap with a serving of roasted orange juice, ruby grapefruit with angostura bitters, and Italian orange soda. In addition, he added about 250 mg of THC and CBD .
“They lit up a little bit ,” Warren jokes.
Good and bad, bad and good
His book Apothecary Cocktails is about to reach its fifth printing imminently .
However, it’s not all good news for Bobrow: “ The bad part is that I was blacklisted by the liquor industry , so there was a lot of animosity and fear towards me. Unfairly, the truth. But that was kind of the end of my career . Although, in the abstract, it was not what ended my career.
How!? Did Warren Bobrow Retire From Bars?
“ I had to do it for my health. I put on a lot of weight working as an off-premise craft spirits brand ambassador and as a rum judge for the Ministry of Rum and Rum XP. My job was to get people drunk with the best spirits in the world , with the recipes in my books and the experience that working for Chris James at the Ryland Inn as a bartender gave me,” he reveals.
“It’s not an easy job!” He says, between jokes, at 61 years old.
Today, Warren runs the company that produces Klaus , a cannabis-infused ready-to-drink , and excels at the vice of popularization by writing regularly for Skunk , Cannabis Cactus and Different Leaf magazines .
—The first time you had a drink with cannabis was during that anecdote you told when you were about 16 years old. Now, when was the last one?
—Mmmhhh… The last time was the other night. The experience was, precisely, with Klauss, my drink. I didn’t want to drink any of the caramel-flavored carbonated waters, nor the syrups. They are too sweet, I don’t like them. That is why my drink is not sweet, far from it: it is acidic and well balanced.
THC banned, THC welcome
Meanwhile, the world of professional cocktails looks with some suspicion at the world of cannabis . It is that, these days, the consumption of THC mixed with alcoholic beverages is illegal in the United States (with the exception of California). For this reason, their drinks are not available in American bars .
Among his next creations, Bobrow plans to make a new version of the classic Zombie , a cocktail made up of various types of brandy and rum mixed with various types of fruit juices. The cocktail will feature details from a sativa strain that “will make you want to dance bossa nova.”
In his case, the famous mixologist uses cannabis medicinally because he suffers from glaucoma and marijuana “preserves his vision.” Likewise, he admits that he likes to “be crazy ” because it makes him “feel inspired” and allows him to write, open his brain and, according to him, unlock his third eye . “For various reasons, cannabis is part of my life.”
Let me tell you about Ben Larson, or better yet, I want Ben Larson to speak for himself. And what an opportunity I had to crawl inside Ben’s head, even for a short while.
Interviewing someone as busy as Ben Larson can be a problematic adventure. But with the help of brilliant overseers, I could capture what I believe is Ben Larson unbounded by your typical corporate double-speak messages. After all, I have a deep interest in what Ben does for Vertosa. Ben has achieved a certain level of nirvana working in weed. Being able to share his passion for the plant with fervent entrepreneurs who have dreams but not necessarily the ability to harness THC-based technology, Ben has brought boundless enthusiasm into this nascent space. What Ben is talented at doing is a thing of dreams. He should know that deep in his heart, as he has achieved amazing things by being a deeply talented entrepreneur in the nano-technology space.
Ben is doing what others can only imagine doing. His deep passion for the plant is evident in his ability to capture the essence of cannabis alchemy. To me, he has truly woven straw into gold.
The things I’ve tasted spun out of the minds at Vertosa are nothing short of brilliant.
Thank you, Ben, for listening to my dreams and helping me achieve drinkklaus.com.
WB: Please tell me about yourself. Where are you from? Where are you living now? Tell me about Vertosa. Where did the name come from?
Ben Larson: I was born and raised in Northern California – setting aside a brief high school career in Utah. After graduating from CalPoly, San Luis Obispo, with a Civil Engineering degree, I spent the first six years of my career as a professional engineer working in the transportation planning and engineering sector. Having moved to the Bay Area and immersing myself in the Silicon Valley community and culture, it wasn’t long before I took the leap of faith into tech startups. Like a true, ill-advised leap where I abandoned my professional license and cashed out my 401K.
While I never did prove myself as a successful tech startup founder – I had my fair share of tries – I did discover my love of the creation phase and the startup community-building aspect. After managing global operations for Founder Institute, mentoring many early-stage founders, and directing programs around the Bay Area and beyond, I decided to take my expertise and passion to the cannabis industry where my business partner and I launched California’s first cannabis startup incubator, fund, and co-working space, Gateway. It was here where I had the opportunity to earn my place in the California cannabis community, was educated on the history of cannabis, and discovered my purpose and responsibility in the movement.
I’ve since settled with my wife and two kids in the East Bay in the City of Walnut Creek, where we’ve called home for the past six years.
I met my co-founder, Dr. Harold Han, while I was investigating infusion technology opportunities in the cannabis space back in 2017. He was just starting to explore the industry and had an infectious curiosity, remarkable humility, and the perfect expertise to fill a void we were observing in the market. Sometime between Harold developing the first prototypes that would eventually become the core offering of Vertosa and the structuring of the business, I discovered I was destined to be back on the operating side of the industry.
Not only did I know that the industry needed reliable technology to create the next generation of infused products, I knew this industry needed a reliable B2B manufacturing partner that infused trust into an otherwise challenging supply chain. We also knew that this industry deserved a company that strived to be the best place to work and walked the talk when it came to building a corporate culture that resembled the ideals that we all sought for this industry. This is what we’ve focused on building over the past four years at Vertosa: superior, proven ingredients, building trust with our partners and the industry at large, and creating the best company culture this industry has seen.
Now, we haven’t always been called Vertosa. We were actually called Nanogen for the first year of business. It was a great starting point as it screamed science and built a great deal of trust, but as we built relationships with more mainstream natural products companies, we knew we would have to rebrand.
The name Vertosa speaks to who we are and the promise we deliver. VERT speaks to both green and truth – in line with our roots in cannabis and dedication to being the best partners to our customers. OSA, Spanish for the female bear, portrays our strength and proud California roots, with an important nod to the power of the female cannabis plant. Vertosa – not too dissimilar from virtuoso – was intended to be the trusted expert that walks the line between plant and science, commerce and medicine, and business and consumers.
WB: What are your six and twelve-month goals? What obstacles do you face? How do you anticipate removing those obstacles?
Ben Larson: For many in the cannabis sector and beyond, the next 6-12 months are all about survival. We know that great companies are born and proven in challenging markets. Those that learn to navigate these waters will have the opportunity to ride the next wave to success. We’ve had great momentum thus far, so I’ve asked our team to give themselves the permission to not only believe that we will survive but that we have the opportunity to thrive in today’s environment.
What does thriving look like? Well, we will continue to create market-leading ingredients that provide the foundation for the fast-acting, infused product category. We believe that all infused products in the future will be fast-acting. It’ll be table stakes. Fast-acting everything.
We have recently launched our private label offering, where we are helping companies map out their future product releases and designing the products that are leveraging our ingredients. Not all brands need this assistance, but not only do we have the greatest knowledge of our products and how to apply them. We’ve amassed a great brain trust internally with professionals that worked at the likes of Mondelez, Constellation Brands, and McCormick.
Finally, we’re striving to continue the expansion of our global platform that allows brands who work with us to access the same reliable ingredients and services in many markets around North America. While we’re headquartered in California, we’re very active in Canada, Nevada, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Maine, and several other states. The goal is to be a multistate B2B platform that enables brands to grow their total addressable market with ease.
WB: When did you discover cannabis? How old were you? Why cannabis?
Ben Larson: I discovered cannabis when I entered college, but it definitely wasn’t love at first sight. Like many, I chose alcohol in college, or I suppose it chose me. Not saying it was a great choice; that’s just the culture of much of collegiate America.
I rediscovered cannabis when I was at Founder Institute, and people began inviting me to coach cannabis startups and judge cannabis pitch competitions. I remember attending Weed Club’s 420 Pitch Competition back in 2015, where I met many of the OGs still around today. There was so much passion and enthusiasm in the room, but also a lot of really— let’s just say, raw talent. The community needed help—professionalizing— and the ability to speak investor language. This was my entry point. It was my passion for helping people realize their ideas while building supportive entrepreneurial ecosystems that really allowed me to see an opportunity to create value. That was the genesis for Gateway.
However, why I stayed goes much deeper. I became a student of the plant and the movement: the history, the politics, the false stigma, the drug war, all of it. I saw the immense amount of good this plant could bring society and so many wrongs that needed to be made right. I’ve always had a little bit of vigilantism coursing through my veins, and this was a way for me to dedicate my career to it. For the past seven years, I’ve been hell-bent on building up the community around me, being a voice for those unheard, creating opportunities for others as I create them for myself, and ensuring that we all get to benefit from the rising tide.
WB: Do you cook? If so, what is your favorite thing to prepare? Favorite restaurant? Where?
Ben Larson: I love to cook. My wife certainly does the majority of cooking when it comes to feeding the family, but given the privilege of time and freedom of thought, I absolutely love getting lost in the preparation of a meal. Perfecting my art around preparing challenging cuts of meat, like racks of lamb or lamb loin chops, and then creating the perfect sauce to pair it with is probably where I get the most joy, but I really love cooking just about anything. I mean, have you ever had the joy of turning spaghetti squash into actual spaghetti? It’s so awesome and easy. Most of the time, I just love the challenge of creating something from nothing or whatever we have in the pantry and fridge. Finding creative ways to cook vegetables or preparing an unlikely main is where my creativity really gets to show. When I hear someone say, “we don’t have anything to eat,” it’s like a Bat-Signal for me, and I find myself springing into action while saying, “au contraire.”
WB: What is your passion?
Ben Larson: My passion is for helping people manifest their dreams. From the time I was a kid, I always had a lot of ideas but didn’t always see the path forward. My life experiences have allowed me to discover those paths, and I find great joy in lending those learnings to others and helping them see their dreams come to fruition. And in the event I don’t know the path, which is often, I think I make a great companion in the entrepreneurial journey. There is no greater joy for me. I’ve done this for the past decade by working with early-stage startups and now get to continue it every day through the work we do at Vertosa and the hundreds of brands and partners we work with in the space.
Cannabis really tastes differently at sea level than it does at fifty-seven hundred feet above sea level. Hence the conversation that is about to take place. I sat down with Steve Duran and his wife when I visited Denver at the beginning of June. What I discovered by smoking his herbs was a crystalline reminder that I need to get more of his marvelous herbs the next time that I’m in town. Sure, they tasted pretty bodacious at altitude, but bringing the same flowers down to sea level with all the humidity that New Jersey is famous for, brings an entirely deeper experience. This is crafted cannabis that speaks a different language than my usual menu of herbs. Impressive? I’m humbled. Because it’s my job to capture the nuances in cannabis. The taste of the place if you will. With indoor grown cannabis this art is much more intrinsic of an experience. The quality is just so good, it’s hard to say one variety supersedes another. But the pleasure I experienced when smoking Steve’s cannabis is that of the first time, I tried Colorado herbs. A mile up it’s just a different metaphor. The air does something to this proficiency, an art form not yet discovered by mere tokers. If you are spending your life at sea level, you owe it to yourself to taste herbs as ebullient as the ones produced by Cookies in Pueblo. And when you get home, open up that little package stuffed into your shirt pocket and smoke some more. Let me know what you think.
Cheers! WB
Photo Credit: Steve Duran/Colorado Kush
WB: Please tell me about yourself. Where are you from? Living now? Tell me about Cookies. Where did the name come from? How long have you enjoyed the plant?
Steve Duran: I was born and raised in Pueblo, Colorado, by a single parent in a low-income household with every possible barrier set up against me. I actually started smoking at a really young age and the stigma associated with it followed me into my teenage years. Once I hit adulthood, I was incarcerated for cannabis, which surprisingly led to me qualifying as a social equity licensee. It’s still pretty surreal to think about everything I went through and know I was able to come out of it with this type of cannabis license. I always hoped cannabis use would become less stigmatized, so it’s awesome to see legalization happening in my lifetime. I feel blessed to be able to publicly embrace the power of the plant and share what I’ve learned over the years with my community. That focus and drive is really what pushed me to open my first dispensary, Seven One Nine – now known as Colorado Kush – with my wife in our hometown.
It wasn’t until a few years down the road that we opened Cookies Pueblo and that came from partnering up with Berner. We wanted to expand our footprint and felt like Cookies was the perfect fit for us. It’s effortless when you work with people that feel your vibe and share similar personal and professional values. We opened our doors a little over a year ago, in April 2021, and have enjoyed every minute of it. The Cookies team just gets it, and we’re grateful they share our commitment to quality above all else. In addition to owning and operating Colorado Kush and Cookies Pueblo, my wife and I recently launched a cultivation line called Colorado Kush Co. on the retail side, which is sold exclusively at Cookies Pueblo, so that’s definitely been a major highlight for me.
WB: What are your six and twelve-month goals? What obstacles do you face? How do you anticipate removing those obstacles?
Steve Duran: I’d say my six and twelve-month goals are focusing on keeping my businesses afloat, driving foot traffic to the stores, and building brand awareness around Colorado Kush Co., all while keeping social equity at the heart of what my wife, Monique, and I do. Our ongoing goal is to just share the knowledge we’ve gained with others in similar situations in hopes of getting more minorities involved and increasing representation in cannabis.
Even with legalization, there are many challenges associated with the cannabis industry as a whole – especially for black and brown Americans. As you know, the war on drugs continues to disproportionately impact people of color, making it extremely difficult to overcome the economic and regulatory obstacles associated with entering the legal market. I look around and ask myself, “Why aren’t there more owners and executives that look like me?” That’s what we’re trying to change through education and service to our community. I want to make sure that everyone, despite their race, gender, or socioeconomic status has a fair place in this industry.
Photo Credit: Steve Duran/Colorado Kush
WB: Who are your mentors and why?
Steve Duran: There have been a lot of folks who’ve helped me out along the way and given me solid advice, but on a personal level, I’ll always have to show my mom some love. Watching her do whatever it took to raise me as a single parent really instilled the value of hard work in me. I wouldn’t be who I am today without her love, support, and guidance.
Professionally, I have to give a shout-out to Berner. Seeing him turn Cookies into this international cannabis brand was inspiring – I knew I wanted to work with him and learn from his experience in the legal market. That level of insight and just knowing how the legal market works are priceless. We’ve both been in the industry for a minute so it’s motivating to see another Latino build this cannabis empire that’s still about the culture. We need to see more of it in the industry.
WB: When did you discover cannabis? How old were you? Why cannabis? What brought you to the plant?
Steve Duran: I was 12 years old when I smoked cannabis for the first time. Back then, you didn’t have all these reports on the medical benefits of it but everyone in my circle knew there was this holistic component to it. You can see how pills and hard drugs change people, but cannabis didn’t have the same impact. It was different, it actually helped people. It’s been a part of my life ever since. I’ve always used it to relieve stress and anxiety, boost my mood, and increase my appetite – and honestly, I just enjoy it. I truly believe this plant can elevate people’s quality of life by serving as a natural remedy to a variety of ailments. It’s the undeniable sense of community created by a mutual appreciation for the plant that’s kept me dedicated all these years.
Photo Credit: Steve Duran/Colorado Kush
WB: Do you cook? If so, what is your favorite thing to prepare? Favorite restaurant? Where?
Steve Duran: Yes, I love to cook! I grew up around my mom and grandma who were both amazing cooks so I got to taste some of the best homemade food in the world right at home. I would say my favorite thing to make is a pot of green chile cooked with Pueblo Chile of course. That’s my favorite meal to cook because of the smells and flavors that go into it (onion, garlic, chile, spices) – it’s always a reminder of home. When you walk in the house and there’s a pot of chile going there’s no other smell like it. I would take a pan of my mom’s red chile enchiladas, her Spanish rice, and this strawberry banana double-decker cake she makes over any restaurant that I’ve ever been to.
WB: What is your passion?
Steve Duran: My passion is centered around elevating people within the cannabis community. I really want to educate and empower people like me, who came from similar environments and circumstances. I want to be a driving force behind the effort to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal market. I want to help people transition from the illicit market to the legal market. Cannabis is a billion-dollar industry and yet thousands of people of color remain in prison for possession and/or consumption every day. I aspire to be an example of how legal cannabis can lift historically marginalized individuals and ultimately serve as a means of economic prosperity for a well-lived life. We’ve got a limited amount of time on Earth, and we need to make the most of it, regardless of what we’ve been through.
What a pitch. How could I say no? I was and am stunned by the depth of this interview. It digs so deeply that my words are trite in reply. There is really nothing for me to say other than thank you for your service, sir.
Warren,
A true pleasure! We are thankful for your support, and I look forward to speaking with you.
As a new Veteran owned and operated cannabis brand with a non-profit, distribution network, and outdoor/light dep grow, we have developed an incredible mission plan to offer premium cannabis products to Veterans at a discounted price, and proceeds from every sale go directly towards our mission:
Our Mission:
“We support the use of medical cannabis to treat the symptoms of combat-related Post Traumatic Stress, PTSD, and other military service-connected disabilities.”
The use of medical cannabis is known to address profound symptoms of mental and physical health issues that are difficult to treat otherwise. There is currently an epidemic of opioid overdose and veteran suicide in America that we hope to prevent by easing pain and anguish with medical cannabis use.
Support Group
Access donated cannabis for local veterans and other veteran advocate groups
Discuss the medicinal uses of cannabis
Promote and support other veteran advocates
Resource Center
Help veterans file VA disability claims
Provide a list of other veteran advocacy groups
Help navigate VA benefits/services
Disseminate Information via Conference Calls
Educate
Cannabis use and methodology
Dosing and getting started
Talk about VA Mental/Health services
Networking
Create a Strong Veteran Coalition
Veterans doing business with Veterans
Veterans supporting Veterans
Veterans hiring Veterans
Job Placement
Help veterans find employment in the cannabis industry.
I have a personal story to share that led to joining Brothers Mark Cannabis (BMC). I first wrote and self-published my book in 2015 while trying to drink myself to death after coming home from war/s it was my therapy that blossomed into a small bio I felt was important to publish for several reasons…. ‘The Strains of War.’
The Strains of War: a True Story and Still Growing – Kindle edition by Amsler, R.Gage. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phone, or tablet. Use features like bookmarks, note taking, and highlighting while reading The Strains of War: a True Story and Still Growing: www.amazon.com
After 18 months of talks, Jeremy Freitas (Veteran owner of BMC and the Veterans Cannabis Group 501(c)(3)) and I have agreed to build this brand together, so I left my other professional career and my life, packed my things, and drove from Michigan to Cali.
I would not have taken this job if we could not produce excellent medicine. It is obvious with the products we are just now releasing through distribution how incredible this brand is already starting out. We pride ourselves on growing only premium flower and working with the finest extraction/production companies to deliver these products.
Letter w/menu to retailers:
MILITARY VETERAN BRAND
BROTHERS MARK CANNABIS IS A MILITARY VETERAN BRAND.
OUR FARM IN SONOMA COUNTY, ‘PATRIOT VALLEY FARMS’, IS WHERE WE GROW PREMIUM CANNABIS FOR THE BROTHERS MARK BRAND.
WHAT WE FOUND IN RETAIL STORES 10% – 20% OF YOUR PATIENTS ARE MILITARY VETERANS. IN FACT, MOST RETAILERS OFFER A VETERAN DISCOUNT AND HAVE IDENTIFIED THEM IN THEIR POS SYSTEM.
WE HAVE WORKED WITH MANY OF THE RETAILERS TO DO MARKETING EFFORTS IN REACHING OUT TO YOUR 10% – 20% VETERAN COMMUNITY. OUR BRAND OFFERS FLOWER, PRE-ROLLS, CONCENTRATE PRE-ROLLS, AND MORE
Please tell me about yourself. Where are you from? How did you discover the plant? When was the first time you discovered it? Where?
I grew up mostly in southern California but moved often. My father abandoned us when I was eight years old, and my mother married six more alcoholics after. While most kids were growing up and discovering the world and their purpose, I was just trying to survive in a severely abusive household. My PTSD started quite early. My mother abandoned me in my senior year in high school, so I dropped out to work. Through unfortunate events, I ended up homeless at 18yo in Orange County. My best option was the military, so I achieved my GED and went to the recruiting office. All four doors/branches in one location…whoever talked to me first was my calling, I had no idea where I wanted to go. I entered the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman in 1990. Kuwait was just gearing up, and the Marines needed combat field medics, so I went to the green side as an 8404 FMF Combat Field Medic with 1st Recon LAV, 1st Marine Division out of Camp Pendleton, San Diego. I went to support the Kuwait Liberation in 1991-2 for six months.
After my four years, I decided to move on with my GI Bill. I was accepted to the University of Michigan for a medical student program and moved there in 1994. After growing up mostly on the beach, then the military and war, I found out I could not stand to be indoors, so I quit that program and decided to become a paramedic in 1996. I advanced in trauma, cardiac, and pediatric emergency medicine. In 2000 I then became a professional Firefighter in Dearborn, Michigan (the largest Arabic population per capita outside of the Middle East) for the next five years. I was at Station #4 the morning of 9/11. I wanted to support our country again, but I could not go back into the military; this is when private contracting really took off like Blackwater, Triple Canopy, and SOC. A military buddy contacted me who was recruiting for these contracting companies. They are paying big money for medics with my type of military background. It took almost a year to the day, and I received my secret security clearance. I trained in Reston, VA, and became WPPS (World-Wide Private Professional Securities) certified by the Dept. of State. I dropped boots on the ground in Basra, Iraq October 2005.
I spent the next four years all over Iraq.
I decided to take a break and took some time at home. My PTSD was full throttle at this time. It was 2008-9, and Michigan had just gone legal for medicinal cannabis. A friend introduced me to growing and the possibilities of financial gain. I was intrigued by the holistic patient care side, and the idea of making a living doing this seemed like a great plan. I dove headfirst into everything cannabis. Read Jorge Cervantes’s Marijuana Bible three times, and I finally had that AHA moment! When you realize the absolute truth about this plant, the government’s sick intentions and the abuse of so many were gut-wrenching. Changed my entire perspective…… and my life. I obtained a caregiver license and began growing medicine I believed would support my patients’ symptoms. It went well for a little while; unfortunately, it was not enough, and there were many learning curves. So, I ended up going back, but to Afghanistan this time in 2010.
I was handpicked for a 4-man SpecOps Team to directly support security operations for USACE (Army Corps of Engineers) as we were tasked to build small FOBs (Forward Operating Bases) along the mouth of the Taliban Trail near the border of Pakistan in the Paktika Province. Including other extreme operations, we were tasked with, I did this for another four years.
In the second week of November 2013, we were in search of a new area for building a new FOB. We were a bit off grid and accidentally came across the plants growing almost out of rock at 8000′ with a little bit of snow coverage on the ground. With the cannabis knowledge I had and the medic in me, I had some sort of epiphany on top of that Kush mountain. Some of the plants were dropping seeds, so I grabbed what I could.
Over the course of the next year, I made the realization these seeds were worth risking my life for. I found a way to bring them home. It was a harrowing experience I did not put in my book. In 2015 I began researching these genetics and started phenohunting. My complex PTSD was on a different level, and it was a bad time in my life, locking myself away on thirty-four acres and pushing everyone away in my life. I began to drink myself almost to death. At this same time, as I was also growing, I began to write my story, first, just for therapy. As I continued to write, I realized maybe this story was worth telling others, maybe to help them in some way through my pain and suffering. Since I was only growing and could not use cannabis if I wanted to visit my local VA due to my mental health, I was drinking… heavily. In fact, at one time, I tried to drink myself to death until I began bleeding from my eyes, and I woke the fuck up. Moving forward, I began to mix other favorite strains with my Afghani, and I started MERAKII Genetics. Giving away the medicine I grew to Veterans and others with mental health concerns was also therapy for me.
Almost eight years later and California calls me back.
I contacted Aaron Augustus with the Veterans Cannabis Group when I found out about the wonderful resources they were offering for Veterans. I was then introduced to Jeremy Freitas, and their BROTHERS MARK CANNABIS brand. After much discussion, I made a visit to the farm to see for myself what this brand has to offer. Absolutely incredible medicine sun grown/light-dep flower from the terroir of Sonoma!!
Toda I have left my career and my family (for now) to live on the farm in Sonoma County as the Director of Sales and Marketing & Brand Ambassador for BROTHERS MARK to help build an owned and operated Veteran cannabis brand with a 501c3 that is a beacon for all Veterans to find support with.
Please tell me about your company, what do you do? What makes your work different? What are your six and twelve-month goals?
The Brothers Mark team believes in safe access to medicinal cannabis to all those who seek it. We aim to provide clean, quality, and affordable products to our military veterans and those who support them. Today the scientific community is finding that cannabis has many medicinal properties, and that’s how we view it as a medicine.
We support the use of medical cannabis to treat the symptoms of combat-related Post Traumatic Stress, PTSD, and other military service-connected disabilities.
The use of medical cannabis is known to address profound symptoms of mental and physical health issues that are difficult to treat otherwise. There is currently an epidemic of opioid overdose and veteran suicide in America that we hope to prevent by easing pain and anguish with medical cannabis use.
The Veterans Cannabis Group offers:
Support Group
Access donated cannabis for local veterans and other veteran advocate groups
Discuss the medicinal uses of cannabis
Promote and support other veteran advocates
Resource Center
Help veterans file VA disability claims
Provide a list of other veteran advocacy groups
Help navigate VA benefits/services
Disseminate Information via Conference Calls
Educate
Cannabis use and methodology
Dosing and getting started
Talk about VA Mental/Health services
Networking
Create a Strong Veteran Coalition
Veterans doing business with Veterans
Veterans supporting Veterans
Veterans hiring Veterans
Job Placement
Help veterans find employment in the cannabis industry
What kind of obstacles do you face? How do you anticipate removing them? Who is your mentor? What are you smoking right now that is just brilliant?
As a newer brand in the great “green brand rush” there is of course, competition from all angles to be recognized and accepted as a brand you can trust that will consistently bring premium medicine to the market. Currently, we have a fully legal 172-acre farm offering full-sun and light-deprivation cannabis along with two greenhouses. We procure the finest northern California genetics that offers, in our research and opinions, incredible opportunities for those with PTSD and related conditions. The continuing drought has a lot of farms desperate for water, and many may fall victim, including to other issues like over regulations and taxes. We have been lucky to have the knowledge, dedication, and support to make this brand sustainable. We just tapped a well on our tallest hill that shows incredible return, so we will be in Cloverdale for a while as we develop this brand and grow incredible flower. The best way to remove obstacles to building this brand is to network, and let everyone know who we are and that we bring the same integrity, passion, and dedication to this medicine and brand as we did in the military and our previous successful careers. I have been introducing myself all over NorCal, and as the events begin this year, we will find many opportunities to find Veterans and others who could benefit from our flower and products. We have wonderful distribution for the entire state, and so far, Brothers Mark is in many retail stores already.
Who is my mentor? Anyone who shares the same passion (or more) than I do about this plant certainly has the knowledge and a perspective I am always curious about. I would say my mentors are those who have always viewed this plant as medicine and non-harmful and have fought the law in some way or another to use or provide this to others. The laws on this plant are unnatural, and natural law is my first law. The underground breeders that have developed so many of these amazing strains.
If I had to name a few; Jack Herer, Mila Jansen, Dennis Peron, Cheech & Chong, Willie Nelson, Steve DeAngelo, Terrence McKenna, Jorge Cervantes, Al Byrne, Mary-Lynn Mather, Nurse Heather, the list of canna-warriors goes on like this.
What am I smoking now that I am loving? There are a few, and of course, it looks like I am biased, but I am truly loving Brothers Mark Apricot Papaya for my daytime smoke. (Papaya x Green Crack x Papaya) is a very uplifting and creative smoke that offers a real focus. Another daytime is Gold Seals ‘Congolese’ cultivar. It’s a 13-week sativa that offers incredible energy and focus, and the taste is absolutely unique. While in LA recently, I picked up some Apples & Bananas by Blaze Mota, a beautiful hybrid and absolutely craft flower. I am really liking this for later in the day.
Right now, we are harvesting the second run of my own hybrid I have developed from my Afghani genetics…. Trigger Hippie Hindu Kush. Over the last 7 years, I have developed several hybrids with my Afghani, and this one pheno has proven herself. This cultivar offers me the perfect daytime smoke that gives me true energy, no jitters, and attention to detail as I enjoy laser-sharp focus on whatever I am doing, then relaxes me without knocking me out. I am very proud of this and am working to release this soon.
What kind of food do you enjoy? Favorite restaurant? Do you cook? Is there anything that you go to when you’re imbibing cannabis?
I went plant-based about three years ago, so I find the most enjoyment in a veggie pizza or Mediterranean food; all that garlic and hummus is my favorite!
I love to cook. In fact, I learned to be a pretty decent cook when I was in the fire department. It was not easy at first, cooking for a bunch of demanding, judgmental guys, but I learned fast. I then learned to enjoy cooking and have always ever since. In fact, I do 90% of the cooking in my house. When I am stoned, I go for anything I can eat with my hands I don’t have to cook. Old pizza, trail mix, ice cream cone, and of course, anything chocolate.
What is your passion?
What inspires me? After so many years learning about myself and what drives me, I have found that I truly love and support Mother Nature and the Earth that offers us everything we could ever need. As a bridge or ambassador of some sort to connect people to what Mother Nature has provided to a better life through health and wellness is an honor and a path. I have found myself continuously on from a Recon medic, paramedic, firefighter, security, and now breeder and grower of natural medicine. My passion IS this journey.
As a New Jersey medical cannabis program patient, I can tell you that low THC cannabis is what my particular affliction requires. But good luck going into a dispensary and asking for strains that test lower than 10 or 12 percent THC. The consensus is pretty clear. The chasing of (high) THC levels is something that is not going away. You’re going to get blank stares, or worse, should you ask the budtender for anything that actually alleviates your ills. With the marketing behind cannabis driving up THC levels, it’s truly refreshing to find people like Joshua Steensland, who studies low THC level cannabis
Warren Bobrow: Please tell me where you’re from and where you live now? What do you do? Please tell me about your company.
Joshua Steensland: I was born in Northern California and grew up in SE Washington state. After serving in the Marines and going through
Photo Credit: Steve Raisner
my roaming gypsy phase, I set roots back in the area I grew up to raise my family. I currently work with our family business, Regenerative Ecoworks LLC, to help cannabis cultivators develop living soil cultivation systems around the world. I also own and operate a premium living soil, low THC, flower facility with two of my Marine veteran brothers, Ohio Fire Factory. The barrier to entry in the high THC space in Ohio is steep and nearly impenetrable in its current state. We decided to leverage the emerging low THC flower market and build out an indoor facility to the same spec one would build a high THC facility with the intention of switching to high THC as soon as the state will allow or recreational gets voted in. Our flower is cold cured, hand-trimmed, and grown in living soil beds under LED lights. Our attention to detail and commitment to treating the flower with the same care and consideration one would with high-value THC flower produces a quality not seen very often in the smokeable hemp flower game. We actually don’t really like calling it hemp because of the negative associations of hemp flower being low quality. Our product is indistinguishable from top shelf, high THC flower. We prefer to call it what it is; ultra-premium, low THC, cannabis.
WB: What obstacles do you face? How do you anticipate removing them? What are your six and twelve-month goals?
JS: These are great questions! I’ve really found over the years, nearly all of the obstacles to my success have been self-imposed in some way. What I mean by that is in the past, I wasn’t open to the deep self-analysis that is necessary to make course corrections on the fly and be a more effective communicator.
Balancing being self-critical with giving myself grace and allowing for forgiveness when I’ve been a less than an effective communicator. Yes, it still happens. This has been a critical thought exercise that helps me retain my sanity when the juggle starts to feel chaotic or if things start to feel unstable. It gives me the time to analyze objectively and not make important decisions based on emotions only which tend to be a very temporary and limiting headspace.
Photo Credit: Joshua Steensland
In 6 months, I would like to see Ohio Fire Factory’s three-phase build-out complete, and in a years’ time, I would like to see our product changing the low THC flower game nationwide while inspiring veterans and cultivators alike to cultivate with living soil systems.
WB: Who is your mentor? Who taught you your craft?
JS: I have several mentors, and they are, either directly or indirectly, my teachers also.
Firstly, Masanobu Fukuoka. He is the author of “The one-straw revolution .”His book really opened my eyes to the possibility of simplifying farming and cultivation by paying attention to the forces of nature and learning to work with mother nature’s design as opposed to against it and hammering it to our will. It’s a very easy and inspiring read. His story of how he transformed his property is nothing short of amazing.
I need to include Dr. Elaine Ingham in this list. Her decades of work studying the important role biology plays in plant growth, and nutrient cycling deserves more attention than it receives. Her body of work, “Foundation Course” classes and microscopy training were fundamental in helping me connect the dots as to what I was observing in my living soil cultivation journey and strengthened my resolve when it comes to my Fukuoka style of minimal input, hands-off cultivation.
I think some honorable mentions would be Rudolf Steiner, John Kempf, Dr. Tom Dykstra, and Dr. Arden Andersen. I highly suggest checking out the body of work these gentlemen have produced regarding regenerative cultivation practices and finding ways to incorporate them into your systems.
WB: What is your favorite food? Restaurant? Why?
JS: Favorite food!!! That’s a tough one. We love food in our house. My daughter and I actually have spent hours watching street food videos
Photo Credit: Joshua Steensland
and already have our dream Japanese street food vacation planned! We don’t eat at many restaurants because we like to cook and prepare food at home as much as possible. We try to eat healthy, vibrant, and nutritionally dense foods but recognize the need for flexibility and balance and enjoy a slice of cake or cookies from time to time, probably a little more than we should, but what’s life if you aren’t living it right?! My absolute favorite foods are any authentic Mexican food or a pan-seared rib eye, bloody rare, with sweet potatoes and broccoli. Pretty simple guy to please here.
WB: What is your passion?
JS: My passions are pretty simple. Family. Cannabis and simple living. The real joy has been finding a way to put all of those things together and create revenue streams that put a roof over our head, food on the table, and explore and deepen my relationship with cultivation in general. This also affords my wife the ability to explore her passions and set the example to our children that one can quite literally forage their own path in this world if you lead with integrity and courage.
