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Why Flavor is important – Dreaming in flavor, one sip at a time.

Why Flavor is important - Dreaming in flavor, one sip at a time.

I’m fortunate to have a photographic memory for tastes and scents. This helps me in mixology because I’m influenced not by fast food flavors, but ones on a global basis. You see, when one spends a good amount of time traveling and not eating in American hotels, you tend to learn something about flavor and how memory fits into the equation of how flavors work together.

If you want another lazy seltzer, flavor and memory are unimportant.  So no amount of concentrate is going to make that drink palatable. But take a craft beverage, add a thoughtful amount of the best ingredients that money can buy, and combine them in a way that unlocks memories of the first time you tasted a given recipe? That is what makes the efforts of Iconic Tonics resonate with not only your taste buds but your dreams as well. And that is what a good beverage does. It offers you an alternative to industrialized experiences. I come from Craft Spirits and although I don’t drink hard alcohol any longer and haven’t in some time, I will say that the art of mixology is never forgotten, just examine the work of Jerry Thomas!  You could say he is a great influence upon me. And another person, Beach Bum Berry, who influenced a generation of Tiki Bars and party people. I am deeply influenced by the rum lore of the Caribbean and the Beach Bum Berry classic named the Zombie Cocktail is one of my favorites in the repertoire of rum soaked classics. I on the other hand have reinvented the classic, with Cannabis instead of rum- because there is nothing elegant about a Sailor’s Hangover. And a THC infused Rum punch, without the rum?  Essential. You don’t need it. You won’t miss the rum, I promise!  

A thing of Rare Beauty.

Why use the best ingredients? I believe we have a social responsibility to eat simply, drink healthier, and enjoy life- without liquor. At Iconic Tonics we are uniquely geared to the traditional reinventions of the classics of mixology and we are also able to harness your wildest dreams in flavor… To make your dreams come true as well. Why?

Because we dream in flavor and sipping our unique craft beverages and the very special ones, the ones we consult upon are magical in many ways.

We can make your dreams come alive, one sip at a time.

The only thing holding you back is your imagination!

A Simple LYB, a garage rock n’ roll, yet sailor-influenced Rum Punch- without the Rum… But with THC. And you decide how much you want.  I wouldn’t go over 25 mg per drink, but then again, that’s up to you. Cheers!

I use the Ardent to decarb my cannabis (no more burnt batches) and I recommend the Levo2 to infuse the simple syrup with a crazy amount of ouid or Delta 9.

Ingredients for five or six thirsty lost rock and roll stars… who have been too long at sea:

  • 4 oz. Grilled Pineapple Juice- Slice pineapple into rounds and grill until marked, cool and juice
  • 2 oz. Each: Freshly squeezed tangerine, mango, orange, lime, lemon, grapefruit and sour cherry juice
  • 1 oz. Orgeat – almond flavoring
  • 3 oz. Demerara Simple Syrup, infused with THC

Good ice that doesn’t taste like the fridge. *put large cube ice trays in double freezer bags, no…… it won’t be perfectly clear ice, but then again it won’t taste like last week’s garlic pasta lurking in the back of the fridge…*

Angostura Bitters

Prep:

  • Combine all juices in a Boston Shaker with the orgeat (fill the shaker ¾ of ice)
  • Shake darned hard for fifteen or so seconds
  • Double Strain into a couple old fashioned glasses with a couple of your fancy ice cubes
  • Garnish with grilled pineapple spears
  • Dot with Angostura and serve. 

How much THC? That is up to you, my friends. Don’t destroy yourself! 

Warren Bobrow is a master mixologist and author of 6 beverage books on cannabis cocktails, mocktails, and tonics. He is also the CEO & Co-Founder of Klaus – Ready-to-drink functionally-infused cocktails. With extensive expertise and creativity, Warren brings valuable insight and creativity to our team and clients at Harmony Craft Beverages. If you’re interested in working with Warren on your next beverage innovation, reach out to Harmony Craft Beverages today!

https://drinkiconictonics.com/blogs/blog/dreaming-in-flavor-one-sip-at-a-time

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The Cocktail Whisperer’s Take on Spaghetti Westerns

By Warren Bobrow

Do you remember the genre of motion pictures named the Spaghetti Westerns? Do I see a glint of recognition over there? Perhaps you’ve heard of The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly? Well, you may be a bit young for Westerns, but these fantastically authentic, Westerns were filmed, not in the United States, but in Spain! It’s probably a reach to imagine the actors- those faces were not American ones, but very, very European- look at their teeth for clues. At any rate, Spain is the topic of this piece, and the way that the Gin and Tonic is made in Spain, brings me back to the Spaghetti Western genre. You’re always looking for a way to bring sales forward. New ideas are hard to come by when you’re slogging through that 1000th Vodka Soda with Lemon. How boring! 

As a bartender/mixologist, it is your responsibility to make intelligent responses when your boss, owner, investor, friend, guest- whatever, and whoever asks for a Gin and Tonic. And how will you do this?

By watching the Spaghetti Westerns of course. To fully appreciate the flavor of a Spanish Style Gin and Tonic, you must first understand, deeply- the principal of Terroir. Quite simply, Terroir is the taste of the place. You must have this understanding to expand your mind, and that of your guests. Who will teach this to my guest? You, of course will now want to teach your guest about Terroir and fun. But how will I do this? Well, again it comes back to the Spaghetti Westerns. The territory that is Spain is not all Barcelona or Madrid. There are miles of canyons, deserts and open ranges that, for a film-maker is the perfect background for a Western movie. Especially one that has Clint Eastwood shooting up less fortunate foes. I’m a massive fan of Lee Van Cleef, the late-New Jersey native who also fit in to the overall scenery in a more or less- authentic fashion. Eli Wallach, the late actor who played Tuco, in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, lived his years out, not in balmy Beverly Hills, but in New York City.  

I bring you at least from a flavor perspective to a place where Gin and Tonics get a much-needed lift. Spain is the precipice from which the Gin and Tonic takes its path. The flavors are grounded in fresh herbs. Think about the landscape in the picture that I painted in your mind from the Spaghetti Westerns. The unforgiving earth, rock and dust, no rain except for floods. A harsh existence where roaming cattle eat every last leaf of anything that grows out of the ground. Flavors like the herbs that grow in the chaparral have to be pretty tough ones to survive. Let’s take those flavors and apply them to the principal of the Spanish Style Gin and Tonic. This is an entire art form that probably hasn’t hit your local watering hole yet. It may never, unless you help. You can start by renting a Spaghetti Western to get into the spirit of creating some delicious drinks. Put yourself in the mindset of the 1800’s and use herbs that come from arid environments, like Spain! Where, coincidently they are having a Gin and Tonic Renaissance. 

Please pay attention to the world outside our fast-food driven country. You might make a couple more bucks along the way, by showing your excitement for flavor!  

Tuco and Tonic– Really a Gin and Tonic- but you get the gist…

(author’s note: my drinks err on the strong side…)

Ingredients:

2 oz. Tanqueray 0.0 – I like this drink to speak of the herbs, not of the Gin-which is bone dry

.25 oz. Very Dry Fino Sherry (always chilled, do I need to tell you?)

.10 Dry Spanish Vermouth (Opens the appetite, Spanish Vermouth is very herbal)

4-6 oz. Fever Tree or Q-Tonic

Freshly cut lime and the zest expressed over the top

Peppercorns, fresh thyme and the wood

Prep:

Prepare your Collins Glass by filling it with Ice and water to chill (set aside)

To a mixing glass, fill ¾ with ice

Add the Gin

Add the Vermouth

Add the Sherry

Mix well, rest for a minute while you prepare the glasses

Add the peppercorns and the thyme to the chilled Collins glass

Add ice 

Strain the chilled Sherry, Gin and Vermouth over the ice

Top with Tonic Water

Express the lime over the top and notch a piece over the edge of the glass

Serve with a smile

Angel Eyes- Named for Lee Van Cleef

Ingredients:

2 oz. Fluère Gin (Angel Eyes was the consummate gentleman, with a gun)

1 oz. Spanish Vermouth

1 oz. PX Sherry (float)

1 oz. Campari

4-6 oz. Fever Tree Tonic, or Q-Tonic

A few, no more than this- needles of Rosemary- you don’t need the whole branch! 

Fresh Lime

Prep:

Chill the Fluère Gin with the Vermouth and the Campari

Pour over fresh ice in a Collins Glass

Top with the tonic

Float the PX Sherry over the top

Express with the lime 

Serve

The Good, The BAD and the Ugly

Ingredients:

2 oz. Ritual Gin- definitely available in the NYC/CT/NJ area… 

1 oz. Spanish Vermouth

1 Spanish Anchovy on a bamboo stick with an orange slice, don’t mock it, it’s delicious! 

4-6 oz. Fever Tree, or Q-Tonic Water 

Dehydrated Orange round

Prep:

Chill your Ritual Gin with the Vermouth 

Strain into a Collins Glass with the Anchovy and the Orange slice inside with the ice

Add the tonic 

Drop the dehydrated orange round on top and serve 

There are three excellent ideas for really fine.  

Uniquely Spanish. Gin and Tonics 

Read More Here at

https://harmonycraftbeverages.com/the-cocktail-whisperers-take-on-spaghetti-westerns/

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Recipes

The BEST Delicious Whiskey Cocktails You Can Make

Whiskey Cocktails
Late Summer Fizz/Photo by Glenn Scott Photography

Whiskey is one of my favorite things. I’ll go to lengths to describe the way it makes me feel and especially the way it performs in craft cocktails. What? Whiskey cocktails? Don’t look away; it’s perfectly acceptable to mix cocktails with whiskey. By the way, if you’ve enjoyed a whiskey smash or a mint julep, you’ve had a whiskey cocktail. And if you’ve treated your glass of whiskey to a splash of soda or a muddle of fruit, that is a cocktail too.

Yup, your world just got a bit bigger and you haven’t event gotten to the Manhattan’s or the Rob Roy Cocktails yet!

One such creative cocktail from my recently published book, The Craft Cocktail Compendium is named “A Pleasant Little Gentleman.” It takes a bit of rye whiskey, raw honey simple syrup and whiskey barrel aged bitters and twists them up a bit.

A Pleasant Little Gentleman

  • 2 oz. Fernet Branca
  • 1 oz. rye whiskey
  • 1 oz. raw honey simple syrup (1 cup raw honey to 1 cup hot, but not boiling, water)
  • 2-4 shakes Barrel Aged Bitters
  • Boiling water for hot tea (Lapsang Souchong)

Boil tea. Add the liquors. Sweeten with raw honey to taste. Add the bitters. Serve.

Another little taste of deliciousness is the “Late Summer Fizz.” It includes Pimm’s Cup. Now you know what to do with this cucumber-scented slice of heaven.

Late Summer Fizz

(Pg. 110 of The Craft Cocktail Compendium)

  • 2 oz. rye
  • ½ oz. Pimm’s No.1. Cup
  • ½ oz. apple cider
  • ½ oz. sweet white vermouth (I used Carpano Antica Formula)
  • ¼ oz. allspice dram
  • Sprinkle of sea salt
  • Lemon bitters
  • Splash of club soda

To a Boston Shaker filled ¾ with ice: Add the liquors and the apple cider. Add the dram. Cap and shake hard for 15 seconds. Pour over fresh ice in a rocks glass. Splash club soda. Dot with lemon bitters. Sprinkle sea salt over the top. Serve.

The next one is my take on the classic Old Fashioned. It involves roasted fruit that you split, add light balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar and Demerara sugar, roasted, cooled and muddled. Pretty spectacular.

Grilled Peach and Thai Basil Roast

  • 1 oz. roasted peaches (split, sprinkled with sugar and 1 tsp balsamic and roasted for 1 hour at 350 degrees until soft and charred)
  • 1 oz. roasted oranges (split, sprinkled with sugar and 1 tsp balsamic and roasted for 1 hour at 350 degrees until soft and charred
  • 4 oz. bourbon whiskey
  • 1-2 sprigs Thai basil

Muddle the roasted peaches and oranges with Thai basil very lightly, just to release the aromatics adding a bit of bourbon along the way, muddle some more and add more bourbon (I used Barrell Bourbon Batch 11). Strain the mixture into a rocks glass without ice or if you want, with one large cube of ice and a bit of the muddling mixture. Garnish with a sprig of Thai basil.

How can you go through summer without a take on the Moscow Mule, but with whiskey instead of vodka? This one takes a bit of a different tack. It involves making a very quick Shrub — no, not a shrubbery, but a little concoction that adds a bit of apple cider vinegar to the usual ginger beer. Kind of a ginger snap in your mouth!

Son In The Foreign Legion

  • ¼ oz. apple cider vinegar
  • 3 oz. ginger beer (cane sugar-based)
  • 2 oz. blended Scotch whiskey (Like Johnny Walker Red)
  • 4-6 drops Angostura bitters (or like)

To a cocktail mixing glass: Fill ¾ with ice. Add the whiskey. Add the ginger beer. Add the apple cider vinegar. Stir well to chill but not dilute. Pour into 2 coupe glasses. Dot with bitters and serve.

The last cocktail is also from my book The Craft Cocktail Compendium. It is simply named “Bill Monroe’s Country Cooler,” paying homage to the master mandolin player himself.

Bill Monroe’s Country Cooler

  • 1 oz. peach nectar
  • 1 oz. apricot nectar
  • ½ oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 oz. sweet iced tea (sugar to your own taste of course!)
  • 2-4 oz. white (un-aged) whiskey
  • 2-5 dashes Angostura bitters
  • Fresh mint (picked in the shadow of the roots of an ancient oak tree, where sweet branch water bubbles forth in a belly laugh)

Add all the liquid ingredients to a cocktail mixing vessel filled ¾ with ice. Stir well to chill. Strain into ball jars. Dot with bitters. Slap the mint against your palm and garnish. Serve and quickly prepare more! They go down quick!

Read More here, at the Fresh Toast! https://thefreshtoast.com/culture/the-best-delicious-whiskey-cocktails-you-can-make/

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Recipes

Infused Lemonade | Cannabis Cocktail Recipe

By Warren Bobrow @warrenbobrow

I love the basic cocktails. You know, the ones that are classics because they resonate with history, not just for getting swilled. Sure, they will take to the place of your dreams, but that’s just part of the equation. Back in the day of the early apothecary down in New Orleans, many punches were created to stave off diseases such as scurvy. Citrus was scarce in much of the south and places that saw plenty of shipping traffic, such as New Orleans would attract sailors who, to say the very least, were not drinking a glass of orange juice with their breakfast. The first thing that happens when you have scurvy is your hair falls out. Then all your teeth fall out. Then you take a flying leap off the yardarm. Because the mind is the next thing to go. Of course, scurvy can be prevented by taking citrus. That’s why British sailors were called Limeys for the fresh lime juice they squeezed into their rum cocktails. Only takes a little bit of citrus to make all the difference between sanity and insanity at sea. 

The Pharmacy Punch is a sum of several parts, so follow along with me… I think you’ll like the way this drink turns out.

Part 1: Infused Simple Syrup

First Step… Making the Simple Syrup… This is a 1:1 Spring Water to Demerara Sugar simple syrup… Boil water. Add a cup of Demerara Sugar and ½-1 ounce per cup of decarbed cannabis in a cheesecloth pouch. Simmer the cannabis and the sugar/water mixture at 160 degrees for 45 minutes adding a touch of fresh water as needed. Let cool. Place in fridge overnight. 

The next morning, remove the cannabis flower pouch from the simple syrup and set aside in the fridge until needed. Should last no more than a week. If the syrup starts jumping around in your fridge and speaking lost languages of the Brazilian rainforest, throw it out immediately… 

Part 2: Vietnamese Style Lemonade

I use only freshly squeezed lemons plus the cannabis infused simple syrup… That’s it! You’ll need 2-3 dozen lemons for this part of the recipe… sweetness to taste. Remember the simple syrup has weed in it, so if it gets on your hands, you’re going to get super stoned. 

Recipe: New Orleans Style-Fizzy Pharmacy Punch

Ingredients:

  • 1 Quart of Vietnamese Style Lemonade 
  • 1 Cup THC infused Simple Syrup (I do ½-1 oz. of cannabis per cup of simple)
  • Coconut Water Ice Cubes- Freeze a tray of coconut water overnight in an ice cube tray, inside two freezer bags- so they won’t smell like your garlic pasta, lurking in the back of the fridge for a month. it’s back there. I know. I can smell it from here in NJ…. 
  • Fresh Mint, well washed and picked over
  • Sparkling water
  • Pinch of Kosher Salt, and then another pinch. 
  • Creole Style Bitters, like Peychaud’s

Prep:

  1. Prepare the Vietnamese Lemonade with the THC infused Simple Syrup and a couple pinches of Kosher Salt
  2. Add Sparkling Water to taste 
  3. Add the mint and stir gently to combine
  4. Add the Coconut Water Ice Cubes
  5. Add about thirty splashes of the Creole/Peychaud’s Bitters
  6. Stir Again

I love to serve this punch in teacups, preferably with my pinkies out. Do not under any circumstances wash your fingers in this THC laden punch. It’s strictly a sipped punch, not a finger bowl. 

This punch can also be served in a punch bowl. Under those exceptional circumstances, may I please suggest freezing a large cube of the coconut water, like a gallon sized milk carton filled with above mentioned coconut water, then frozen overnight. Remove the wrapper and add to a punch bowl. Build the punch around that frozen block of coconut water ice. As it melts, the magic really takes place. Yum. 

I estimate this punch won’t let you down. You will get stoned. I promise you that. There is a serious amount of weed in that simple syrup. 

For an added kick, might I please suggest a healthy dosage of something medicinal… Craft… potent. I might suggest Foursquare Rum from Barbados. It’s not inexpensive, nor should it be with all the effort that you’ve put into this drink so far. It’s not always that you make lemonade from scratch. Nor do you prepare simple syrup with enough THC to knock down a small village. Ok, maybe not that much, but you get the gist. This is not a weak plonk punch made with uncertain ingredients. It’s a carefully woven story, best told amongst only a couple of like-minded friends who are accustomed to the best things in the world. 

http://resources.magappzine.com/feeds/production/comboapp/3120/media/207323/75e058f3-8dcb-41cb-b2d5-3acd29d889c1.html

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Cannabis Cactus Magazine Recipes

Infused Cocktail: Cucumber Melon Mint Cooler

Cucumber-Melon-Mint-Cooler

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

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

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

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

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

Recipe: Cucumber Melon Mint Cooler

Ingredients:

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

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

Pro Tip:

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

Pro Tip:

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

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

Instructions:

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

Infused Condensed Milk

Try this infused condensed milk recipe for your next cup of Thai iced tea, Vietnamese coffee, or canna-mocktail. It won’t upset the family members who don’t care for the smell of burning herb filling in the air!

Author: Warren Bobrow

Try our infused condensed milk with coffee!

Image of Infused Condensed Milk

Ingredients

  • flower
  • condensed milk

Directions

LEVO Prep

  1. Pack your LEVO herb pod with flower.
  2. Set your Activate cycle and relax (remember, this is a dry cycle, no oil or butter should be added until you begin infusing!)
  3. Fill the LEVO reservoir with one cup of condensed milk and set it to 160ºF for 3 hours.
  4. Relax!
  5. After 3 hours, your LEVO will turn off and you’ll have steaming hot, infused condensed milk.

Instructions

  1. Pour however much of this creamy liquid you like into a mocktail, cocktail, tres leches cake, Vietnamese coffee, or Thai tea or whatever your heart desires!

Read More Here:

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Recipes Skunk Magazine

Cryo Cure is a Quality Driven Method to an End

Cryo Cure is a quality-driven method to an end. In this case, the end connotates perfectly cured cannabis. What Cryo Cure has achieved is remarkable; it’s so light, so fluffy, and so very terpy!

Ok, so I made up that word, terpy- It means to me the scent of the perfectly cured cannabis flower. Those juicy aromatics that ooze out of your glass jar, immediately filling the room with her distinctive perfume.

Everyone has had that moment when you’ve just scored that perfect eighth from your weed dealer, and you want to open the jar in your car to see what you got. You do, and suddenly the spicy sweetness of the cannabis plant fills the air thickly surrounding you in the skunky, fuel-scented breeze. And looking over your shoulders, you notice not one but two police cars on either side of your leased car. That pungent scent of weed is everywhere! It envelops you in what I said is terpy air! You cannot get away from the aromatics. Wow, will they smell me?

Oh, that would never happen to you these days because the local police have much bigger fish to fry. At least here in New Jersey. And that eighth of Cryo Cure Cannabis is safe for the moment because you’ll be enjoying it deeply into your lungs very shortly thereafter.

To celebrate your good fortune that you didn’t get pulled over for weed this time. Whew, that was close! Stigmatized and ostracized, our plant.

However, later- after you’ve gotten over the shock of the hour, something truly unique and pleasurable will pass through your lips. Cryo Cure is what this disruptive brand is called. The methodology is created through sub-freezing temperatures, and this technique preserves the plant in a frozen state of suspended animation. The color of the final trimmed bud is vibrant, and the aromatics practically fill the room with the sweet scent of triumph. The texture of the flower is soft and moist, not dried out but perfectly cured in every way. Succulent against your lips and no coughing ever. There is not a bit of harshness in Cryo Cure Cannabis. I usually have a lot of difficulties smoking cannabis for the reason that most cannabis is poorly cured, leaving it harsh against my throat and lungs. What Cryo Cure has achieved is remarkable to me. Truly gourmet, luxury cannabis with a twist. The twist is succinctly apparent because you can utilize technology that is completely different than the norm.

In a world driven by bottom-line metrics, efficiency, speed, and ultra-quality flowers are everything.

I’m not sure what the strain was that I smoked, but it was translucent in overall effect; a certain clarity in the high that wasn’t overwhelming, yet it contained deeply pronounced creaminess to the burn as ultra-high-end cannabis sometimes offers me.

Again, I didn’t cough, even once. This is ultra-gourmet cannabis, to begin with, treated with kindness and love.

I wonder what it would be like to use Cryo Cure Cannabis in building a real craft cocktail infused with THC? Is that bad? Should I be experimenting with adding weed to liquor? Will I get that thing called a crossfade?

The answer is yes, no, maybe, and most absolutely.

David Balfour Punch

Named for the resourceful protagonist in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Kidnapped, this refreshing tipple is just as enterprising, and yes, you will experience the much-anticipated crossfade. It’s both marvelous and absolutely unavoidable, so please do not underestimate the feeling you get. That’s why I suggest only using small amounts of cannabis to start.

My pro-tip? Start really slowly when infusing your cannabis in a craft (THC) cocktail. Don’t destroy your friends and family. It’s very easy to do with this friendly, Irish Whiskey Punch. Oh, you may have noticed that Irish Whiskey is similar to Bourbon. Most Irish Whiskey is aged in charred American Oak barrels, formerly used to age Bourbon Whiskey (again, with an e).

Scotch, on the other hand, is spelled Whisky, without the e. Don’t make that mistake and spell Scotch with an e. There is no “E” in Scotch Whisky. You may want to try making this punch with a decent blended Whisky or even a nice smoky Mezcal— but please, save your dad’s expensive single malt for a clean glass without ice, please. He won’t be happy if you use that twenty-five-year-old Islay Whisky for a punch mixed with your weed. I’ll hazard a guess that he’d be absolutely livid. Trust me on this one. I did it with an unfortunate ending for me.

But back to the Irish Whiskey. It’s slightly honeyed with aromatic snippets of hand-cut grass and slightly sweet bursts of wet minerals and sprinkles of saline, sea salt. Irish Whiskey lends itself perfectly to the combination of perfumed garden-fresh mint, tart freshly squeezed lemonade, and a most alluring simple syrup made from funky Demerara sugar and, of course, a good portion of cannabis.

Deliciousness!

David Balfour Punch. For at least ten persons.

Pre-work: infusing the THC into the Demerara Simple Syrup using the Levo2.

Prepare a batch of simple syrup- 1:1 ratio of boiling water to Demerara Sugar

Add to the infusion tank of the Levo2- 1 cup total liquid… Add desired amount of cannabis, I’d say start with a gram or two. My recipe has 1 ounce per liquid cup, it’s pretty potent.

Ingredients:

1-750 ml. bottle of good Irish Whiskey, expect to pay about thirty dollars for the pleasure

2 Quarts freshly made lemonade, sweetened to taste with your Demerara/THC Syrup

1 cup fresh mint, very well washed!

Large cube of Coconut Water Ice- I used a gallon-sized milk jug for my giant ice cube for the punch bowl

Orange Bitters

Angostura Bitters

Prep:

Place your large coconut water ice cube into a punch bowl

Cover with one bottle of Irish Whiskey

Add the Two Quarts of freshly made THC infused lemonade over the Whiskey

Scatter the mint over the top after you’ve slapped it. Place the mint in your hand and slap it…

Dot with at least twenty shakes of the orange bitters and equal that with Angostura

Mix and serve in teacups, pinkies up optional……

This stuff hits in a few minutes. Be sitting down.

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Cannabis Cactus Magazine Recipes

Infused Cocktail: Bertha Lee’s Baby

By Warren Bobrow @warrenbobrow

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

Bertha Lee’s Baby

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recipe: Bertha Lee’s Baby (for one)

Ingredients:

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

Prep:

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

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Cannabis Cactus Magazine Recipes

Infused Cocktail: Mexican Sleep Cure

Jump straight to recipe below.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recipe: Mexican Sleep Cure

Ingredients:

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

Directions: Mexican Hot Chocolate

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

Directions: Mexican Sleep Cure

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

Sleep is sure to follow…

https://cannabiscactus.com/infused-cocktail-mexican-sleep-cure/
Categories
Recipes Skunk Magazine

Shrub + French 75

By Warren Bobrow @warrenbobrow

Get ready to try my Cocktail Whisperer’s twisted take on the French 75, that classic combination of gin, champagne, lemon juice, and simple syrup. This version is actually my own hybrid of the French 75 and the traditional champagne cocktail, which calls for a bitters-moistened sugar cube, brandy, gin and a heady top of champagne. 

Fuse the two together, add a healthy whack of the zesty Squire’s Shrub and you’ve got a cocktail that’ll make your knees tremble because you get high and tipsy at the same time. It’s really unexplainable, you have to try it yourself. In the same way that alchemists of old attempted to turn base metals into gold, champagne can turn your plain old Tuesday afternoon into a full-on, hat-waving celebration. Be sure to keep a bottle on hand so you can whip these up the next time you find yourself hosting an impromptu shindig. Make a few batches of the Squire’s, if you dare—just keep that bottle of Fernet Branca on hand to help ease your head for the morning after.

Recipe: The Squire’s Shrub

Ingredients

  • 1 Demerara sugar cube or a teaspoon of Demerara Sugar 
  • Several dashes of lemon bitters (Fee Brothers works)
  • ½ ounce Rhum Agricole Vieux (Fresh Sugar Cane juice distilled into Rhum Agricole, then aged in either French Oak casks or once used Bourbon cask…. From Martinique) 
  • ½ ounce (15 ml) botanical gin such as the popular, rose scented Hendrick’s Gin (infused with a bunch of THC ) 
  • (I used 28 grams per 750ml bottle, then slowly infuse in the gin over a couple weeks, strain and use in cocktails)
  • 2 ounces (60 ml) Squire’s Strawberry-Rhubarb Shrub
  • 1 1⁄2 ounces (45 ml) champagne or dry sparkling wine
  • 1 long lemon zest twist

Process

  1. Add the sugar cube to a champagne flute and moisten with the lemon bitters. Then add your thc infused gin, Rhum Agricole Vieux and the Squire’s Strawberry-Rhubarb Shrub. 
  2. Top with champagne. 
  3. Garnish with a long lemon zest twist. 

Pro Tip: To prepare this libation, combine very finely chopped lemon zest and crushed Demerara Sugar, wet the rim of the glass with lemon, and dip the glass into yellow-colored sugar. Voila!