Cocktail Whisperer
Photo By Warren Bobrow
“I don’t think anyone has had the nerve to do it, nor have they found a publisher to take that type of risk,” Bobrow tells me over the phone, chuckling. “This is not a big lucrative project. I wish it was, but there’s so much preconceived stuff about it.”
Photo Courtesy: Zoe Wilder
Marijuasana Founder: Stacey Mulvey
Marijuasana Found Stacey Mulvey: Stacey Mulvey loves teaching movement, viewing it as a spectrum of energy–from yin to yang and everything in between. Growing up in Salt Lake City, Utah, Mulvey left the Mormon church at 21 in protest over its discrimination towards the LGBTQIA+ community, women, and minorities. Overweight and unhappy, she began practicing and teaching mindful movement in Callanetics after having an epiphany about mortality and taking control of her own quality of life. Eventually, Mulvey discovered that cannabis helps her concentrate and enhances her motivation. Upon moving to Colorado, she began teaching pole dancing at Boulder Spirals while training directly under second-generation Pilates instructors and founders of the internationally renowned Pilates Center of Boulder, the world’s foremost teacher training school for classical Pilates instructors. Mulvey continued her studies at Naropa University in yoga, painting, and psychology. After completing her coursework honing her skills in mindful and meditative practices, Mulvey launched Marijuasana where she now travels the U.S. and internationally teaching all-inclusive classes fusing the wonders of cannabis with yoga, flow, and mindfulness meditation. http://www.marijuasana.com
Please watch the Mystery Talk I was fortunate to participate in at SXSW – “Learning how to make the most of Leisure Time”
“What’s in the bottle is not what’s on the label,” says Warren Bobrow, handing me a small apothecary jar of amber-colored fluid. Inside is a top-shelf rum, he says, infused with high-grade marijuana — specifically, a strong indica-dominant hybrid known as Granddaddy Purple.
Currently 23 states and Washington DC have enacted laws to legalize medical marijuana; in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, it is legal to purchase marijuana for recreational use. Many more states are introducing bills that will govern some form of legalized marijuana in the near future. And with that legalization, we are embarking upon a world of possibilities when it comes to marijuana… and cocktails.
In Oregon (where the prohibition officially ended in July of 2015) business is booming. “There’re more cannabis shops than coffee shops. It exploded. It’s everywhere,” remarks David Shenaut, Bar Director of Portland’s Raven & Rose. He paints a picture of an Oregon where the local papers are publishing guides on pairing beer with your various varietals of pot.
“Like flavor pairings, to enjoy side by side. We’re talking about a new classification of cicerone or sommelier. It’s like a sommelier of marijuana.”
420 means a lot of things to a lot of people in the cannabis community— activism, education, celebration, normalization, advocacy, policy and tradition. This Friday, while you’re out there blazing for all those reasons and more, take a moment to reflect on all the hard work and sacrifice that’s gone into the movement.
MAGNETIC asked twelve industry experts and influencers to share their thoughts on the high holiday. Check out what they have to say!
With 4/20 just around the corner, it seems the perfect opportunity to discuss the merits of stirring cannabis cocktails. I’m usually hard pressed to find bartenders who really know the physical differences between stirring and shaking a cocktail—any cocktail. Now, add to that equation fragile ingredients that you may not want to pulverize and turn into overly green (read: botanical) flavors like cannabis, and those differences become even more important.
One of the most unpleasant of all overly-green flavors is mint. When it is excessively manipulated, the aromatics and essences resemble that of mud. And no one wants to drink mud. You may have witnessed this yourself in batched up Kentucky Derby cocktails, where the mint is added to the ice the day before, frozen, and then topped with bourbon just prior to serving. The end result is a muddy mess that screams for a fresh glass, new mint, and clean ice.
The Dramatis Personae Cocktail, via Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails, and Tonics / Fair Winds Press.
Warren BobrowDeliciousness Encapsulated
The market for botanically enriched, “health” drinks have exploded over the past few decades or so. There are hundreds of products on the market that promise wellness and health, but nothing could prepare the consumer for the coming wave of micro-dosed; CBD and THC liquids made specifically for wellness. It’s true! All that is required is a healthy thirst and the desire for something different. Case in point with the Monk line of drinking botanicals. This ultra-luxury line of tiny 4 oz bottles are scientifically calibrated to micro-dose just the right amount of CBD/THC to the careful imbiber. Careful because the dosage of CBD/THC is in the micro amounts- nearly undetected after enjoying the scant few sips of this ‘magical’ elixir. What each bottle represents are flavors and health-giving qualities similar to the days of the early apothecary, when fragile herbs and spices made their way into preparations that the pharmacist concocted to order. Not unlike the early preparations that made their way to the cocktail bar with drinks meant to heal the gut, like the famous Sazerac, or perhaps you’d be interested in knowing why Angostura is so helpful when you have a stomach ache, or are seasick? It all comes around again with the deep desire to write the first book about creative mixology that uses cannabis. There is a large distinction between non-Cannabis augmented health drinks and quality products like Monk’s Drinking Botanicals. What we have here is a modern framework, one that is more flavor-driven as opposed to effect-driven, with varieties like the brightly aromatic and refreshing grapefruit/cayenne. This delicately spicy, yet not overly sweet concoction is precise and carefully combined to offer amusement, candor and excitement into every careful sip. Careful because the cayenne element is not overwhelming, but it is right there in front of the brightly delineated richness of the pink grapefruit juice. The combination resembles a fine craft cocktail- especially with the balance and the depth of the ingredients. They almost taste as if the grapefruit was freshly squeezed and infused with the cayenne peppers.
