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A Golden State: Three New Strains for Epicure Experiences

Lake Shasta Snowmelt is what powers the textured and redolent cannabis from A Golden State in Northern California. This pure and pristine water source acts to give A Golden State cannabis the unique terroir that adds a certain taste of the place. I wanted to test my theory that A Golden State is unlike any cannabis I’ve enjoyed before by smoking it through two brand new smoking implements to me, namely the Session Bong and the other, a Higher Standards Beaker.

I also used my Stonedware “Purse-Pipe” with splendid results. You don’t need a deep lungful of weed smoke for an abundantly pleasurable smoking experience!

I procured three selections along with some lovely Indica-based, mini-joints that I hope to review in the coming weeks. The flavors are as follows: Lava Flower, Honey Flower and Silver Cloud.  https://www.agoldenstate.com/

Each of these ultra-luxury strains come packaged in eighth-ounce sized glass jars that are painted creamy white with their name, A Golden State penned in gold. There is a round sticker on top of the jar showing the individual strain name. Each sticker is printed in bright Pantone-type color. It’s really impressive to see up close, much care goes into the design of the packaging. This is a brilliant way to be recognized in on the shelf, their labels and micro-stories printed on the boxes really stand out. Each one subtly hinged on art-school worthy color palates that soothe and entice the consumer into a purchase. The consumer, intrigued by all these pigments, will find that A Golden State does more than just look good, the hand-tended cannabis smokes just as exquisitely.

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12 Sips and Scenes from Tales of the Cocktail 2011

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[Photo: Warren M. Bobrow]
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12 Sips and Scenes from Tales of the Cocktail 2011

It’s been said that the sun should be warm over your toes before you have a cocktail—but here in New Orleans, at the site of Tales of the Cocktail, the cocktail shakers never stop making their sing-song sound of rattling ice. The frost of the cold forms on the sides of the shaker. You listen for the snap of the first pour into the chilled glass. It’s all about craft, and everyone here is ready to celebrate.

At the William Grant event over at the WW2 museum the clock stopped in 1945. You find yourself at Jackson Square—in between having your Tarot cards read—there are more cocktails. The Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone is like a circus without animals—the bar moves around the room like a merry-go-round.

At Tales of the Cocktail, there are new products from almost every brand, new technologies to explore, and old drinks to rediscover. Check out some of our favorites sips and scenes in the slideshow »

If you haven’t yet made your reservations for next year, it’s not too late. My advice is to start drinking heavily right now…You’ll need to get your body in shape and this isn’t a 10K race, it’s century marathon, a history lesson in every glass.

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Hydrology 9 NX and Artisan Canna Cigars

Hydrology9 NX Flower & Concentrate Vaporizer

Why smoke cannabis from a joint when you can experience the very essence of the smoking experience with a Hydrology 9/Cloudious 9 Vaporizer.

I was fortunate to have used the prior incarnation of the Cloudious 9 and it served me well for a couple of years. It came to me, resembling a hand-held “Light Sword” from Star Wars and this early device did most things right. What it didn’t do well was the loading process, water sometimes got into the chamber, because the smoking chamber was located on the bottom of the chamber. Not a great design for a device that was quite expensive, and I had a couple of them. Aside from the funky light show, I had hoped for more at the time. Fast forward to the present, the next incarnation of the Cloudious 9.

The Hydrology 9 is the newest and coolest Cloudious 9 yet. NX is the sub-set/name and this completely redesigned vaporizer bong/dab rig is right at home with my fine flowers and ultra-luxe-concentrates. The learning curve is quite short, as this entire device is quite easy to learn how to use.

The NX is a water cooled- vaporizing vessel for both flower and even your super-critical concentrates.

I am extremely happy with the performance of my NX. The smoking experience is cool and robust, each vaporized hit of the flower is cooled by the liquid that you pour into the chamber.  I used Evian mineral water, you can use regular tap water, it’s up to you.

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Some vastly different Cannagars Yet all Are Absolutely Brilliant

WARREN BOBROW

I’ve decided that writing about cannagars has become a full time vocation. There are so many varieties and brands- and of course styles. The names of the ones I’ve tried and loved flash around my brain. They are all memorable. Some got me really stoned.

It wasn’t so long ago that I discovered cannagars. I have a feeling it was a cannagar from the the now making it in a really big way- Artisan Cannagar folks. I was doing a story in the Los Angeles area during my Forbes writing experiences and my meeting with Artisan was a fortuitous glimpse into my future. I didn’t know it at the time but smoking this first cannagar would serve as more than a mere metaphor for the coming years. I’m proud to announce that I survived smoking that cannagar because I didn’t smoke it all in one sitting. It lasted nearly a month. Lightweight? Me? Nah., I like to savor my cannagars and not get too wasted because smoking a cannagar is a commitment of more than time. A cannagar is potent stuff! Make no mistake. This is the top of the house, containing many grams of high quality cannabis and usually some kind of cannabis concentrate, like a live resin or THCa diamonds. One of my pro-tips is the easy purchase of a cigar cutter. I’ve been taking slices off particularly large cannagars and smoking them in human sized pieces. I know that is not quite the process when you’re just one person imbibing a cannagar.

Well, first of all… I have no one to smoke these multi-gram vacations with. And then I haven’t shared anything with anyone in a long, long time…Too bad. So, I enjoy metered slices of the cannagar experience, each in themselves a mini-vacation, rather than a full on Towlie involvement. Please do not ash your cannagar when you do smoke it. Just don’t do it.

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Rythm: The Finest Cannabis in New Jersey

WARREN BOBROW

I can consider myself very lucky to be able to have a medical reason to enjoy cannabis in New Jersey. Yes, cannabis has just been made legal in our state, but that doesn’t mean you can buy it yet. The NJMMP has been very good to me, thank you. The pressure in my eyes thanks this program so I don’t have to use drops to alleviate my pressure. Medical cannabis reduces my symptoms and I’m generally easier to be around because of the way it helps me feel.

The medical cannabis program here in New Jersey has gotten much better for the consumer in regard to the overall quality of the weed. The cannabis was underwhelming for several years- to say the very least, but now there are many bright spots in the room that need discussing and celebrating. Usually I’m reviewing West Coast herb, so it’s refreshing to taste something from my backyard so to speak. They re-tune my palate and most importantly my head.

This is hard to explain, but even in regard to medical strains of indoor cannabis, there are nuances and various quality levels. Sure, the cannabis in New Jersey is still fiercely expensive, but I can tell you that quality is speaking volumes. And I made some new discoveries in the legal realm of medical cannabis in New Jersey. That’s good for the consumer who wants to smoke the good stuff.

Rise is the “storefront” dispensary located on the fringes of faded-industrial revolution, Paterson, New Jersey. My Pro-Tip disregard your gps and find Route 20. They are on Route 20 just next to a parking lot for about ten cars. It never gets too busy in there so be patient with the lot. They are cognizant of COVID, please remember your mask!  They sanitized my hands before I entered, checked my temperature, processed my card and sent me inside. Calling me by name was truly impressive customer service. They made me feel cared for. This level of watchfulness is job one at Rise, I hope they saw my smile under my mask.

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A brief overview of mini-prerolls

WARREN BOBROW

It’s been a long time since I’ve had the pleasure of sharing a joint with friends. Here in New Jersey, smoking cannabis in public is generally frowned upon. Dozens of people are arrested and incarcerated for the simple act of smoking a joint. With COVID deeply engrained into my sense of wellness and safety, it’s been many months since I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a sesh with others. We just don’t share fat doobs anymore and that’s probably for the best.

Which leads me to the next part of the equation. I cannot smoke an entire spliff of high end cannabis by myself. I’ll just get too wasted. I’m in this thing for the long haul, as in all day. I use cannabis like others snack during the day. That is, all the time. And with the average weight of pre-rolls coming in at least one gram in weight, smoking an entire joint is just too much for me. I don’t need to get that stoned, not if I have writing to do, or I’ll have a Towlie moment and fall down the long internet rabbit hole. I’ll forget to return that phone call or who I was just talking to…

Because I just wandered off.  Just like Towlie.

What I’m seeking is something different. A nice, well-rolled joint, but not a gram full. I’m far from a light-weight, having enjoyed the profound intellectualism of cannabis for about forty-eight years and counting.

I wouldn’t say I’ve just discovered mini-joints; they’ve been around for a while, it’s all we rolled back in the 1970’s. (Because I always had really good weed, just not very much of it!)

The quality level is really good in the world of mini-pre-rolls, if not better than smoking a full sized joint. Especially if you cannot smoke an entire joint in one sitting.

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Big Rootz – World class super soil.
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Xiaolin Cannagars: A Mindful Experience

Xiaolin Cannagar

To become an authentic Shaolin Monk takes a lifetime of deep study. A Shaolin Monk practices certain ancient forms of Chinese Martial Arts for their entire life. Being one with nature is the ultimate ambition of the Shaolin Monk

The same holds true for the quest of supreme fineness. Each wispy inhalation, cajoled into a much different format than the pure training of martial arts.

That is, quite succinctly, the art of a Xiaolin Cannagar. I’ve had the good providence to imbibe several of these hand-crafted cannagar gems over the past few years, made by and smoked with profound mindfulness, by the master cannagar craftsman himself, Christopher Louie.

But first, what goes into a cannagar from Xiaolin?

That arrangement would be the tangle of ultra-exclusive herbs and ample drippings of exotic cannabis concentrates. Pressed, aged and pressed again into very specific stylistic forms, the shape is similar to a cigar.  But unlike the Puro Co, prepared with a shell of tobacco, the Xiaolin cannagar has no tobacco. It is comprised of the finest craft cannabis available in Colorado. These élite cultivars are nurtured in exceedingly small aggregates for a very selective few.

Then of course there are the cannabis concentrates.

Xiaolin Cannagars are not only built with the most wonderful cannabis flower, they are gushing with lushly scented and deeply persuasive cannabis concentrates. These carefully applied concentrates take the cannabis aficionado to another level. Pressed, aged in a humidity controlled setting and carefully hand-wrapped in a variety of casings, like rice paper, gold leaf foil (smokable) or combinations of handmade rolling paper that look like hundred-dollar bills. You can even get organically raised rose petals if you desire.

Each cannagar arrives formed by hand to exemplify these rare objects of desire. And they don’t come cheaply, so start saving your codder now.

If you find yourself in Colorado, make it your business to seek out a couple Xiaolin Cannagars for yourself and some more for your trusted friends.

But first you must find the time to smoke these beautiful creations that stem from genuinely creative minds, as each cannagar smokes for a minimum of one full hour and up to several hours depending on the size of the cannabis cigar or how much you can smoke in a sesh.

Xiaolin Cannagars will change your impression of what actually connotes gourmet craft cannabis. It’s the really good stuff!

Pro Tip?

Get yourself a sharp cigar cutter.

Read more here at Skunk Magazine! https://www.skunkmagazine.com/xiaolin-cannagars-a-mindful-experience//

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Puro Cannagar: The Cannagars Of My Dreams

Puro Cannagars, hailing from the Los Angeles area get me stoned. Not just a little bit high either, but a major- I’ve lost most of the afternoon kind of high, or morning if the experience is framed by a wake-and-bake. But smoking a cannagar for breakfast or before breakfast are for the wildly experienced only. Why? These hand-crafted, from the finest available flowers are not your usual cannagar. They are something far different. They are for the top of the house. Not for a newcomer, what is needed here is for someone who can fershizzle their cannagar whenever it presents itself to you.

Out here on the East Coast, the style that the Puro Cannagar falls under might be known as a wrap or sometimes even called a blunt.

A wrap means simply, rolling up the finest flowers inside a hand-selected tobacco leaf. A blunt is a cigar shell with the tobacco removed from the inside of the shell. Stuffed full of fine herbs, the outer shell doesn’t look like a fat joint to the visually uninitiated. Sometimes this is better, especially where cannabis may not be entirely legal to smoke in public. Or you might want to smoke a lot of it at one sitting, the cannagar can facilitate this for you with self-confidence.

The cannagar has a long and exciting history. Cigars themselves are an ancient art form, pressed in a time-honored fashion using the finest tobacco.

Now imagine seeking out the smoothest aged tobacco leaf and stuffing inside tangles of ultra-gourmet cannabis flowers. Add some gooey gobs of the bad boy of the extraction lab; cannabis concentrates. These smokable works of fine art are the stuff that dreams are made of.

Seek them out if you are in Southern California.

Puro Cannagars https://www.facebook.com/thepuroco/

Make sure to check out: www.cocktailwhisperer.com

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A brief overview of mini-prerolls

WARREN BOBROW

It’s been a long time since I’ve had the pleasure of sharing a joint with friends. Here in New Jersey, smoking cannabis in public is generally frowned upon. Dozens of people are arrested and incarcerated for the simple act of smoking a joint. With COVID deeply engrained into my sense of wellness and safety, it’s been many months since I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a sesh with others. We just don’t share fat doobs anymore and that’s probably for the best.

Which leads me to the next part of the equation. I cannot smoke an entire spliff of high end cannabis by myself. I’ll just get too wasted. I’m in this thing for the long haul, as in all day. I use cannabis like others snack during the day. That is, all the time. And with the average weight of pre-rolls coming in at least one gram in weight, smoking an entire joint is just too much for me. I don’t need to get that stoned, not if I have writing to do, or I’ll have a Towlie moment and fall down the long internet rabbit hole. I’ll forget to return that phone call or who I was just talking to…

Because I just wandered off.  Just like Towlie.

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Cannagar by The Puro Co.

One of my favorite things to accompany an infused beverage after the hour of noon strikes is a cannagar. I’ve tasted dozens of them and find that the art and science of cannagars far exceed the basic pre-rolls that clutter the marketplace. That’s not to say that all pre-rolls are the same, some are far better than others. But first, what is a cannagar?

A cannagar is similar to a blunt. The cannagar comes rolled up in either a hemp wrapper or a tobacco shell (or wrap) to resemble the finest cigar. Instead of tobacco in the filling, the cannagars that I enjoy come stuffed full of the best things on earth, specifically cannabis. I love cannagars and they provide many hours of bemusement. This is because they burn extremely slowly. Did I tell you never to ash your cannagar? Take this as important advice. Do not ash your cannagar.

When I was out in California in December, I discovered a new line of cannagars that completely blew me away. The Puro Co in Los Angeles is producing hand-rolled cigarillos – i.e. mini cigar wrapper cannagars that I can enjoy by myself without the stress of putting the “gar” out, midway of finishing it. 

Traditionally, cannagars weigh in somewhere north of three and a half grams making them very difficult for me to finish alone. Truth has it that I’m not sharing joints any longer. With COVID, I’m not seshing with others. The enjoyment of a three or more gram size cannagar is certainly better with a crowd, instead of alone. Sure, I can cut the business end off with a cigar cutter, but once smoke has passed through my “gar” it will taste of the tobacco leaf all the way through. I much prefer my “gars” to be freshly burned. 

By producing a 1.5 gram “Purito,” I can enjoy the experience of the much more expensive cannagars without any waste. 

These cannagars and the three gram cannabis cigar are my great big discovery that I wished I had written about months ago, but I didn’t have the chance to enjoy The Puro Co at that time. 

It’s never too late! 

With a cannabis infused libation in my left hand and a Puro Cannagar in my right hand, I’d say my afternoon will be rather buzz filled. To say the very least. 

Cheers!

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