I’ve recently discovered a 100% fool-proof method for decarbing my Cannabis. The oven method fluctuated as much as 40 degrees (thanks PSEG here in NJ) and the toaster oven fluctuated in temperature about 20 degrees. The NOVA from Ardent up in Massachusetts is 100% Bio-availability and 100% Foolproof. If you are decarbing in the oven… STOP right now. I have a commercial oven thermometer. I was shocked. Burnt batches, under-decarbed batches.. a thing of the past. And no smell. NONE..
I have a THIRTY dollar discount code: Cannacocktails, give it a try.. it’s pretty f-kin amazing what looks like a European designed thermos.. ONE button decarb! No messing around.
If I was to suggest several must haves for Father’s Day, I would recommend some items that are esoteric, yet attainable on the national market. And why my recommendations? I have, according to many, the abilities as a “taste-maker” so please allow me that small slice of an opportunity to share some of my Father’s Day gifts for the home cocktail bar.
Turns out that nobody knows more about crafting the perfect cannabis cocktail than our good friend Warren Bobrow, author of the finest craft cocktail books, including the “Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics”. Bobrow has spent years experimenting with various drinks, tinctures and modifiers that give a little more buzz than your average alcoholic concoction.
I love cocktail parties. Especially ones that give me the opportunity to take my guest’s palates to another level. This little cocktail party served notice that great mixed drinks don’t have Fireball or Tito’s in them. Far from. They take great parts and incredible craft spirits and bring these liquid driven adventures truly to a higher place.
I was given a bottle of Martinique Blue Cane Rhum Agricole recently and I couldn’t think of a nicer way to serve it than with Royal Rose- Simple Syrup of Cardamom and Clove and a bit of seltzer water.
Just over on Mt. Pelee’
Ingredients:
3 oz. Clement Bleue Canne Rhum Agricole (100 Proof)
1 oz. Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Cardamom and Clove
2 oz. Seltzer
2-5 drops Lemon Bitters (of your choice)
Prep:
To a cocktail mixing glass filled ¾ with ice
Add the Rhum Agricole
Add the Simple Syrup
Stir well to combine
Pour into a Collins Glass with ice
Top with the Seltzer
Dribble the bitters over the top and serve
The second cocktail took a simple drink known as the gin and tonic and quite literally, raised the bar with thirty different types of gin. The crowd favorite? A little gin in a gorgeous bottle from Scotland named Caorunn. For some reason (well known to those of us who love artisanal gin) the Caorunn has a richer texture and ‘ginny’ character that worked so well with the multitude of tonic waters that I brought with me. Amongst the gins were The Botanist, SW4, No.3., Martin Miller’s Pot Still, Hat Trick, FEW, Nolet, Beefeater, and many others.
Not Just Another Gin and Tonic
Ingredients:
3 oz. Gin of your choice (Caorunn was the crowd favorite)
Lemon Zest (no pith!)
5 oz. Cane Sugar Tonic Water- the crowd favorite was Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic (Bed, Bath and Beyond)
Aromatic Bitters – like Angostura, often used in a “pink gin”
Prep:
Flavor the glass with the lemon zest then the Angostura Bitters
Add ice
Add the Gin
Top with the Tonic
Stir and Serve
I’m sure that the third drink is where you want to get going- and that would mean immediately!
The Soda and Cocktail Syrup named Fruitations is where this drink really takes off. I used the brilliant Tangerine syrup and combined it with Mezcal and then finished it off with a Cane Sugar Ginger Beer from Australia named Bundaberg. Brilliant stuff. A wedge of fresh lime and lemon bitters sent this drink further than it has ever been prior. Trust me.
Just up Near Mexico City
Ingredients:
2 oz. Mezcal of your choice
Orange Zest
1 oz. Fruitations Soda and Cocktail Syrup (Tangerine)
Splash Ginger Beer
Aromatic or Lemon Bitters
Prep:
Moisten the inside of a rocks glass with the orange zest
Add ice
Let cool
In a Boston Shaker add:
The Fruitations Syrup
The Mezcal
Cap and Shake hard to combine
Double Strain over the ice filled rocks glass
Splash of Ginger Beer
Dot with Lemon Bitters
Spray the lime wedge over the top
Serve with a smile
The next drink was my own take on the classic Old Fashioned, and it departs from the classic in one very determined way. I chose to roast several different kinds of oranges in a bath of both Balsamic vinegar and Demerara sugar until caramelized and bubby- about 2.5 hours at 350 degrees covered. The final ½ hour is uncovered to add a bit of darkness to the softly cooked fruits. I then roasted some Luxardo cherries until warmed through and quite soft- about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Set to cool so you won’t break your expensive crystal with sizzling hot fruit, pricy whiskey and ice!
Not your typical Old Fashioned
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons or so of the oven roasted citrus and cherries
2 oz. Barrell Bourbon Whiskey- I used unreleased batch #012
bitters of your choice
Prep:
Muddle the roasted fruit
Add the whiskey
Stir gently
Dot with bitters
Serve
The final drink was the easiest to duplicate because once you are able to buy a good quality Absinthe, you’ll be more than ½ way there. Any of the fine Absinthes made by Jade would work beautifully, as would the Lucid line. There is one thing that I must stress. The lack of color is far preferable to the ones with color added. It’s just my preference.
Just a Normal Louche
Ingredients:
Jade Absinthe
Drizzle of iced water
Great Conversation
Prep:
Release the chilled water from your Absinthe fountain slowly and gently into 2 oz. of Absinthe, sip and repeat until sated
Nearly everyone has been to their local garden store and ogled over the varieties of fresh herbs that you can grow on your windowsill garden. Who knew there were so many different kinds of basil? And how about all that mint? Are there enough days of growing season left for every different kind of mint, pared with all those incredible bourbons on your groaning shelves? Well, worry not. I’m going to make a few suggestions of which herbs you should be growing in your mixology garden and some simple ways to use them.
I thought this was going to be a low key sort of afternoon, then other things happened, one of which brought me to this place of calm, and “highly” introspective buzziness. The change of the seasons offers a change in the flavors that I seek at the cocktail bar and eventually into my glass. I’ve been way down the road of helpful bartenders (generally they are not mixologists, that’s something different) attempting to make, ether successfully or not (well-meaning) suggestions as to seasonality. These might be delightful drinks, such as a Mint Julep in the ice and cold of January, or a lip smacking and body buzzing Sazerac in the blazing sun of the summer. You can have these drinks — and right you should! — but for utter seasonality in these early spring weeks, I seek the depth and sophistication that honest and raw ingredients can bring to the cocktail glass.
And a gorgeous recipe for a Louis Armstrong’s Way cannabis fizzy.
I’ve made my living for the better part of seven years in the liquor space. With that said, I’ve noticed some real changes in that traditional world of intoxicants over the past year or so. After being tolerated for a few years, the large liquor companies are having serious misgivings about being too friendly with the cannabis family. Perhaps this is because the ongoing stigma that hovers just over the periphery in every illicit transaction outside of the “three tier system.” You see, the liquor industry has been permitted to print their own tickets since Prohibition, under the watchful gaze of the government. Taxation is a powerful determinate with broad reaching implications.
4 oz. Clement Rhum Agricole “Canne Bleue”
½ oz. Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
1 oz. Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
1 oz. Fruitations Soda and Cocktail Syrup- Tangerine
½ lime cut into chunks
4 oz. Ginger Beer Soda (sugar cane based, never corn syrup based)
Angostura
To a Boston Shaker: Fill ¾ with ice. Add the Rhum Agricole and the Fresh juices. Add the Fruitations Syrup. Cap and shake hard until frosty. Muddle the lime in a rocks glass or two. Add a couple cubes of ice. Pour over the contents of the Boston Shaker. Finish with about 2 oz. of the Ginger Beer Soda over the top of each glass. Stir. Dot with Angostura. Serve.
An Evening of Mezes and Music at The Farm Cooking School, Titusville, New Jersey – May 9 – 6-8 pm with Author Joy Stocke and Friends
“The “aliveness” of the very freshest vegetables in your own garden or farmer’s market deserves a cookbook that honors not only nutritional vitality, but also the hundreds of generations of great cooks who have refined Turkey’s favorite recipes into a kaleidoscopic whirl of tastes, aromas, colors and textures. Stocke and Brenner celebrate the cuisine of a culinary-crossroads country in ways that are truly mouth-watering.” Deborah Szekely, Founder Rancho La Puerta and the Golden Door Spa
Join Farm Cooking School frind and author Joy Stocke for an evening of mezes, conversation and music as we celebrate the publication of Tree of Life: Turkish Home Cooking (Quarto/Burgess Lea Press) by Joy E. Stocke & Angie Brenner. Photographs by Jason Varney.
From her first visit to Anatolia, Joy was captivated by the traditional meze table, an array of small plates and savory snacks. Sample Gougères a la Turka, a twist on the traditional recipe featuring feta cheese and garnished with Aleppo pepper or Nigella seeds; Olives with Garlic and Preserved Lemon, Savory Spiced Chickpeas, Baked Hummus with Pine Nuts, and mini shish kebabs.
Mezes are often accompanied by a cool glass of wine, anise-flavored raki, or a cocktail such as the Bosporus Fizz – a beguiling mix of fresh carrot juice, a dash of turmeric and rosewater, raki and club soda. Cocktail expert, author, and the creator of the Bosporus Fizz, Warren Bobrow, will join Joy and mix the drinks. In addition, he will prepare a second drink, Persephone’s Revenge – an elegant composition of pomegranate juice, raki and ice. Non-alcoholic versions will be available as well.
Guitarist Bruce Fredericks of the duo JB Rocks will play themed surprises (Did anyone say, “Istanbul, Not Constantinople?”) as well as a wide variety of music. JB Rocks entertains audiences from Docs in Burlington, NJ to Freddie’s in Ewing, NJ and the Dubliner in New Hope, PA. www.jbrocks.com
Summer Johnson, owner of Zach & Zoe’s Sweet Bee Farm will be on hand to share samples of her fabulous raw honey. Joy has created a dish for Summer – Zach & Zoe’s Anatolian Roasted Carrots with Raw Beet Honey – which you’ll also be able to sample. Honey will be available for purchase.
Admission is $20.00. Registration appreciated, or email Joy, so we can get a head count. Books will be available for purchase – cash or check only. All after-tax profits benefit Wholesome Wave empowering under-served consumers to make better food choices by increasing affordable access to healthy produce.
The Farm Cooking School, owned and operated by Ian Knauer and Shelley Wiseman, is located at Gravity Hill Farm and is part of Roots to River Farm – a certified organic vegetable farm – 67 Pleasant Valley Rd, Titusville, NJ 08560. The Farm Cooking School is a space where cooks of all levels can come together to learn about and enjoy great food and real community.
Cannabis is a bit like wine: there are different species, dozens of hybrids, and a world of marketing that makes buying the right kind seriously confusing. For the average customer, the differences between Orange Kush or Blueberry Lamsbread are likely no more clear than the nuances that differentiate a Tavel from a Mouvédre Rosé. Fortunately, there’s really only one thing the average pot smokers needs to know to get by — whether they’re an indica or sativa kind of smoker.