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!
Ingredients
flower
condensed milk
Directions
LEVO Prep
Pack your LEVO herb pod with flower.
Set your Activate cycle and relax (remember, this is a dry cycle, no oil or butter should be added until you begin infusing!)
Fill the LEVO reservoir with one cup of condensed milk and set it to 160ºF for 3 hours.
Relax!
After 3 hours, your LEVO will turn off and you’ll have steaming hot, infused condensed milk.
Instructions
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!
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.
When is a shrub not a shrub? When is a drink a plant? The quick answer is never, but these acidulated beverages are as old as history itself.
In my recently released book, Bitters and Shrub Syrup Cocktails, I revealed the secrets of these refreshing beverages and attempted to introduce a flavor profile from the past into the modern era of creative mixology. But first, what is a shrub?
A Shrub is in simple terms a mixer that is included in both mocktails (cocktails without the kick) and craft cocktails. In the days before refrigeration, it was pretty evident that without some means for food preservation, keeping items fresh was difficult at best. Gastric blockages from eating food that was less than pure was the norm and people just didn’t live long because of food borne illnesses.
Back in the times of the Egyptians, where the roots were sown for the argument that food and drinks were less injurious when they didn’t poison the imbiber. Food borne illnesses could be prevented or at least minimized by the use of an acid. In this case, the combination of vinegar and sugar when added to either fruit or vegetables contributed to the rudimentary food preservation system that existed to modern days.
Ethnic groups have long practiced food preservation methods and the use of vinegar is a major catalyst for adding both spark and health to the end result. This is of course the refreshing kick that comes from drinking beverages, (and to a lesser extent) eating foods that are preserved with vinegar. But why vinegar?
Vinegar is a powerful preservative and it also adds to digestion. The acid layer that enrobes the sweet sumptuousness of the often less than freshly picked fruit is beguiling in a liquid form, giving each sweet and tangy sip a depth unheard of prior. And the end result is good health for the entire digestive tract. Vinegar, after all, is what adds balance to the body.
Have you ever felt less than healthy from eating heavy food? Take a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and add it to a glass of fizzy water, drink it down and feel better quickly.
Fast forward to the Colonial era when intoxicants were less than high quality and masking the often assertive aromas of poorly made liquors led to the invention of something named punch. Punch was a combination of acid, to sweet, to savory – all meant to intoxicate the drinker with a minimum of effort. Students from the Northeastern states discovered that adding vinegar preserved fruits to their spirituous beverages made for a refreshing drink, one packed full of health giving ingredients that were good for the gut.
Was this vinegar based Shrub the original health drink? Certainly, it was used for good health, right up to the time when soda pop was invented. And soda pop as we all know, spelled out the demise of the Shrub until just recently when a resurgence of old methods took place in the mixology bar. Then add to that classic a voluminous portion of THC? Isn’t that irresponsible? No one said you had to drink the entire drink you know.
Flavors from our modest shrub are what forced the mixologists of today to unlock the secrets of piquancy and good cheer!
Shrubs are simply made with only three ingredients, fruit (or a vegetable), sugar and some type of vinegar. Here is a simple recipe for a Shrub that can be produced in about a week using easily acquired ingredients. It does have to be aged after the mashing of fruit, sugar and vinegar- but that timing is really up to you. It can age quickly overnight using balsamic vinegar, or the old-fashioned way. Often taking several weeks, slowly fermenting in a ceramic jug in the cellar.
I call this Shrub the Squire’s Shrub. It is a very easy Shrub to master. This is, in actuality- the preference for a softer (to the palate), yet pleasingly tangy- end result with or without an intoxicating hit of liquor or the addition of THC.
It’s true, the Squire’s Shrub does require a couple of extra steps, but I promise it’s worth your while: Your patience will be rewarded with a lush, crimson colored syrup that’s straight out of the eighteenth century, when America was in its infancy and early pharmacists would have relied on their gardens to supply the basis for their healing tonics. (Rhubarb has been used as a digestive aid for thousands of years.) There’s nothing difficult to it, though, beyond a little extra mixing, and caramelizing your fruit before making the shrub. The vinegar’s high acidity cuts through the sumptuous, charred, caramelized flavor of the roasted strawberries and rhubarb, making it a seductive addition to gin and rhum-based libations.
Recipe: The Squire’s Shrub
Ingredients
2 cups (340 g) Roasted Strawberries and Rhubarb
1 cup (200 g) Demerara sugar
1 cup (235 ml) light colored balsamic vinegar
Time: 3–4 weeks.
Process
Add the roasted strawberries and rhubarb to a nonreactive bowl.
Cover with the sugar, stir to combine, and cover it with plastic wrap.
Leave at cool room temperature for 24 hours.
Stir frequently during this time to combine as the berries and rhubarb give off their liquid.
Place a nonreactive strainer above a second nonreactive bowl, pour the fruit-sugar mixture into the strainer, and use a wooden spoon to mash the mixture in order to release as much liquid as possible. (Reserve the mashed fruit to use in cooking or baking, if you like.)
Add the balsamic vinegar to the liquid, stir, and let the mixture sit for a few hours. Funnel into sterilized bottles or jars, and age for 3–4 weeks in the refrigerator.
This shrub will last nearly indefinitely, but if it begins to quiver, foam, ooze, change color to blue, then begin dancing and speaking in foreign languages, throw it out.
Serving Suggestion:
Add a few ounces of the Squire’s Shrub to a glass of cool seltzer water for a refreshing pick me up or add to a portion of THC infused gin and a slurp of Rhum Agricole to make a proper weed cocktail.
Coffee and cream may sound like a mundane way to start your day, but to many it is the essential way. Taking this daily beverage quite a bit further by adding a generous portion of THC infused Rhum Agricole Vieux which is Aged rhum Agricole from the island of Martinique, now we’re getting lit up!
Down Island is the way sailors discuss the lower chain of islands in the Caribbean that include the French protectorates, Guadeloupe and Martinique. French is spoken as the primary language on these islands and Martinique possesses an AOC – appellation d’origine contrôlée for their very specific Rhum. This Rhum is not distilled from molasses. It is distilled from intensely perfumed, freshly crushed sugar cane juice. Anyone who has been to a Vietnamese restaurant and ordered a sugar cane drink is aware of this delicately sweet, food-friendly drink. In Martinique, they distill their Rhum Agricole (Agricultural Rhum) with this enchanting juice.
The end result is aged in used American Bourbon or French Oak. Sometimes with the lighter verities, they rest for a couple days in stainless, are filtered and then bottled at fifty percent alcohol or more!
For this breakfast cocktail I recommend using a land-race strain or some type of low THC strain so as to allow you to function after imbibing this hard to forget sultry sipper.
The sum of the parts for this little cocktail is quite simple. First, I infuse a 750ml bottle of Rhum Vieux Agricole like St. James or Clement from Martinique with at least an ounce of the finest cannabis that money can procure. This may seem like a lot of weed in a bottle of liquor and you’d be absolutely correct. Each cocktail will have anywhere between fifty and a hundred mgs of decarbed THC, so they are certainly not for beginners. Don’t drink too many at one sitting least you get destroyed, they’re quite potent. Ask me. I know.
Ingredients:
1 oz. non-medicated heavy cream or whipping cream, lightly folded until thick but not whipped
1.5 oz. Cannabis infused Rhum Vieux Agricole
4 oz. Strong Black Coffee or Espresso or Turkish Cardamom Coffee
Scraping of fresh nutmeg
Angostura Bitters
Demerara Sugar to taste
Prep:
Preheat a sturdy mug with boiling water
Pour out the boiling water
Add the steaming hot coffee
Bartender style, pour the THC infused Rhum Vieux Agricole over the coffee, keep pouring…
Fold the heavy cream over the top
Dot with Angostura – for your gut health
Scrape some fresh nutmeg over the top
Sweeten to taste
Serve and prepare another for later… It’s wonderful iced. And yes, it will get you really stoned.
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!
Ingredients
cannabis flower
condensed milk
LEVO Prep
Pack your LEVO herb pod with cannabis flower.
Set your Activate cycle and relax (remember, this is a dry cycle, no oil or butter should be added until you begin infusing!)
Fill the LEVO reservoir with one cup of condensed milk and set it to 160ºF for 3 hours.
Relax!
After 3 hours, your LEVO will turn off and you’ll have steaming hot, infused condensed milk.
Instructions
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!
Recipe created by Warren Bobrow, author of “Cannabis Cocktails”.
Images courtesy of Warren Bobrow: the Hoochie Coochie Man cocktail (left) and the non-alcoholic Rose, Saffron and Cardamom Lassi (right) from his latest book Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks and Buzz-Worthy Libations.
Earlier this year, Warren treated our readers to a sneak peek of the book before it was available for purchase! If you missed that post, click here to get his recipe for the Mezzrole Cocktail, with a little dose of history regarding cannabis beverages.
Now, Warren has generously shared a couple of his favorite drinks that are perfect for transitioning from Summer to Fall.
Labor Day may be considered the unofficial end of Summer, but temperatures are still high here in Los Angeles and probably will be for a few more weeks. These cooling concoctions will definitely help prepare for the cooler climate to come, and the cardamom in the second recipe welcomes in the warm spices associated with Fall.
Really though, there are no rules that say you can’t drink these beverages any time of year. Do you only eat ice cream when it’s hot outside? I’m guessing the answer is no.
So, give one of these drinks a try this weekend to cool off and, if you love it, enjoy it whenever you feel like it, regardless of the weather!
Hoochie Coochie Man
“In India, where temperatures regularly hit three figures, cooling beverages are a must. Enter the lassi, a yogurt-based drink that’s akin to a smoothie. My favorite version features mango puree—or, in a pinch, mango sorbet or sherbet—paired with thick Greek-style yogurt and a snow shower of crushed coconut water ice. If you’re making a Hoochie Coochie Man, you’ll want to correct it with a little cannabis-infused light rum. Try infusing your rum with Critical Kush, a mostly-Indica strain. It has deep aromatics of Asian spices, freshly turned soil, and a concentrated pungency that’s the right contrast for the sweetness of the mango and the yogurt. And there’s enlightenment in each sip. (This strain of Kush is a powerful full-body relaxant, though, so no driving or bicycle riding allowed!) Top off your Hoochie with a couple drops of Creole bitters, which were originally invented as a remedy for dysentery.”
How to make the Hoochie Coochie Man cocktail:
Ingredients:
• 4 ounces (120 ml) mango puree
• 4 ounces (120 ml) Greek-style yogurt
• 1 ounce (30 ml) cannabis-infused light rum
• 1 cup crushed coconut water ice
• Creole-style bitters
Note: To infuse your rum, follow the same instructions given to infuse your vermouth that we shared in our previous post for the Mezzrole Cocktail recipe. This technique is straight Warren’s book and can be used to infuse any liquor of your choice.
Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in blender and process until smooth. Divide between two Burgundy wine glasses with plenty of freshly crushed coconut water ice. Dot each with a couple drops of the Creole bitters.
Serves 2
Rose Saffron Cardamom Lassi
“I’m a bit of a lassi addict regardless of the weather, but in summertime, the cravings really kick in. That’s why I couldn’t resist including a second lassi recipe here—one that’s dripping with Asian perfumes of rose, bright-yellow saffron, and green-citrusy cardamom. Cardamom, by the way, is the flavor equivalent of a knife: it slices right through the rich milk fat in the yogurt and milk. This lassi is sweetened with a Medicated Rich Simple Syrup that’s been made with raw honey: make yours with Sativa strain Early Pearl. Its aromatics of chocolate, warm spices, and slow-cooked stone fruits add nuance to the lassi’s exotic floral flavors. This recipe makes two servings, and it contains plenty of medicated syrup, so don’t drink the whole batch yourself—at least not at one sitting.”
How to make a (non-alcoholic) Rose Saffron Cardamom Lassi:
Ingredients:
• 2 cups (460 g) Greek-style yogurt
• 3/4 cup (175 ml) whole milk
• 4-5 threads dried saffron, reconstituted in 2 tablespoons warmed milk, then cooled
• Scant pinch of turmeric
• Seeds from 6 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) rosewater
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) Medicated Rich Simple Syrup (see page 43), made with raw honey
Directions:
Place all the ingredients except the Medicated Rich Simple Syrup in a blender and process until smooth and creamy. Add the Medicated Rich Simple Syrup: taste, and add more sugar and rosewater, if required. Blend again. Divide between two Burgundy wine glasses, and top each with a pinch of saffron, if desired.
Serves 2
Bonus Recipe: Medicated Rich Simple Syrup
Warren was generous enough to also provide his special Medicated Simple Syrup recipe from page 43 of his latest book!
“Simple syrup is an essential weapon in any bartender’s arsenal, and if you’re making cannabis cocktails, you’ll want to have a batch of this at the ready. Feel free to make it with either Demerara sugar or raw honey—and you can also doctor it up with just about any kind of fresh herb or flavoring. (The glycerine helps speed up the absorption of THC into your digestive system.) Use it in just about any recipe that calls for simple syrup.”
Pour the water into a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce the temperature to about 190ºF. Add the sugar or raw honey and stir it until it is completely dissolved into the water. (If you’re using raw honey and you find that the syrup looks too clear, add a little more honey.) Add the cannabis, then cover the saucepan. Reduce the heat again to about 160ºF and simmer for at least 30 minutes to infuse the simple syrup with the cannabis.
Reduce the temperature a third time, to medium-low, and add the lecithin. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent cooking and burning. Remove from the heat, and strain through a cheesecloth-lined strainer into a stainless steel bowl that’s resting in a larger, ice-filled container. This will help it cool quickly. Makes about 1 cup.
To make a Medicated Rich Ginger Simple Syrup, make the Medicated Rich Simple Syrup with raw honey instead of sugar, and add a 1-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and thickly sliced, along with the cannabis. Continue with the recipe as directed.
