11 am Saturday, June 8, at Good Luck Restaurant 50 Anderson Ave, Rochester, NY 14607
What’s the difference between CBD and THC, and how are each usable in the cocktail world? Taste the difference in this hands-on workshop! Warren Bobrow will demonstrate with infusions, seltzers, bitters and Pickett’s Ginger Beer Syrup. Sponsored by El Buho mezcal.
Warren Bobrow, the Cocktail Whisperer, is the multi-published author of Apothecary Cocktails: Restorative Drinks from Yesterday and Today, Whiskey Cocktails: Rediscovered Classics and Contemporary Craft Drinks, Bitters and Shrub Syrup Cocktails: Restorative Vintage Cocktails, Mocktails & Elixirs, Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics: The Art of Spirited Drinks & Buzz-Worthy Libations and his celebrated, 2017 release, The Craft Cocktail Compendium.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — New York states only week-long celebration of craft cocktail culture is back!
The Rochester Cocktail Revival returns this June for its six annual festival.
Twenty Rochester bars will host more than 60 events highlighting vibrant the growing scene of cocktail bars and top-tier mixology talent.
A portion of the proceeds will go towards Gilda’s Club Rochester which offers free support to men, women, teens, and children affected by cancer.
The 2019 Rochester Cocktail Revival includes the following events:
Booze & Botany: A Cocktail Garden Party will take place in The George Eastman Museum estate gardens and feature botanical cocktails, live music, and sun print tutorials | Wed., June 5
The 2019 RCR Gala at Strasenburgh Planetarium. This annual headline event will include a celestial show, whiskey tasting, two cocktail bars, live music, and other entertainment | Thurs., June 6
Nightcap Theatre, where a cocktail party meets a night out at the theatre. This interactive show will transport attendees to the 26th floor of The Metropolitan for a mid-century themed performance | Fri., June 7
Super Sound at Anthology, a live concert experience featuring custom cocktails and local bands | Fri., June 7 & Sat., June 8
The Spirit Tasting Spectacular at The Metropolitan, where attendees can taste through more than 50 spirit brands, including New York State Distillers, and enjoy FREE seminars from writers and spirit reps | Sat., June 8
The Bar Room Battle Royale, the much-anticipated festival finale where local bartenders go head-to-head to earn mixologist supremacy | Sun., June 9
What’s the difference between CBD and THC, and how are each usable in the cocktail world? Taste the difference in this hands-on workshop! Warren Bobrow will demonstrate with infusions, seltzers, bitters and Pickett’s Ginger Beer Syrup. Sponsored by El Buho mezcal.
A full calendar for the event will be available later this month.
There was the rub, I still love a good old-fashioned pocket pipe to smoke my cannabis through. It’s part of my culture. As many as I own, there is still room for more if they are simple in design and in function. I still enjoy the slow motion activity of grinding a fancy, outdoor grown nug in my ancient hand grinder and then starting a sesh with this nice bowl that graces the ancient tin-topped table. That first hit into my lungs encapsulates the experience of why I like to smoke the finest cannabis in the world. I’m positive that you would love to know about all the marvelous strains I’ve been enjoying, if I could only remember them all. One I do remember is from Casa Humboldt. This strain is known as Pineapple Upside Down Cake. And when you open the jar, the aromatics of caramelized pineapple rush up to great your nostrils, thrusting themselves deeply inside your memory of what this strain reminds you of. Was it the rum syrup drizzled over the top of the cake? Each bite bursting in small rewards from the sides of your mouth? This strain has the uncanny ability to bring the aromatics of a well-baked Pineapple Upside Down Cake into the periphery of an ultra-high-end, hand- crafted smoking device. You need to find one of these and master it.
Mara Gordon is exactly what I thought of her, ambitious, someone with a smile on her face leading into her deeply intellectual side and then there is the plant. She sees cannabis as a medical product that has real healing. I would call it agility in the broader scope. Health and wellness needs a place to go within the cannabis dialect. It’s not only recreational cannabis that drives the market. There is real healing taking place here from real medical doctors who are not afraid to buck the tide and create real change away from traditional methods of healing.
I want to share with you someone who has some really fantastic ideas that have taken our collective energy to a higher place in the universe of healing. This is a person who sees a much broader picture in the term “medical cannabis.” Thus, without further delay, may I please introduce you to Mara Gordon.
To experience terroir, quite simply known in wine terms as the taste of a specific place as it applies to Humboldt County, California makes perfect sense. In my travels up and down the West Coast of California and stretching from Oregon to Nevada and Washington State to the far reaches of Maine, Massachusetts and down to Rhode Island, each appellation has it’s own personality. Cannabis, like wine possesses very specific notes, also known as terpenes. I’ve discovered that the terpenes of Southern California take on fruit salad notes, bursting with the brightly textured bowl goodness that seems to make everything that I’ve smoked from this region to taste like each puff is filled with optimism. There is a smile in every puff. Moving on up the coast from Southern California to the verdant hills north of San Francisco, terroir is much more evident. Outdoor growth under the sun is the key to the smiles that ooze their way from the earth. Nary a drop of added water enters the growth process. This is a way that resembles Biodynamics, the study of the earth and the universe, interpreted by Rudolph Steiner over one hundred years ago. The flavors of the earth speak with great clarity when Casa Humboldt is nurturing the cultivars from soil untouched by heavy metals and manipulation. Great care is taken to ensure the finest possible results with minimal intervention, just like in wine.
I never thought that less would truly exemplify more, but I have been wrong before about micro-dosing cannabis. Traditionally on this 4/20 day, it has special meaning to many, but in my case it is especially profound because I’ve chosen to go the less is more route. As many folks will rise before the dawn for their first foray into the experience of the day, others slept through the first class, like myself. I never should schedule an early class, just not a good idea. Maybe if I had packs of OLO Sublingual strips on hand I could fine tune my day.
California Cannabis cultivars possess a intriguing quality that changes from place to place. In the language of wine this aromatic descriptor is called Terroir. Quite literally, Terroir means, the taste (or smell) of the specific place. It’s very esoteric language, but it shouldn’t be overwhelming to the lay person. The same holds true for cannabis. There is in my opinion, there are striking differences between growing regions in the propagation of cannabis. The flavors differ wildly from place to place! This is especially true when the strains are grown under their own specific California-radiance of the sun. In the absence of the natural sun, there are the terpenes. These are naturally occurring scents that are added to cannabis oils and concentrates. What terpenes are in the language of the nerds, (I’m definitely one of those) are the scents that define different varieties of cannabis. Perhaps you’ll remember that I’ve discussed this topic prior at some length and here is a refresher on the topic. Terpenes are those scented-things that we recognize in cannabis. Sometimes they smell like pine. Other times they are citrus in their overall demeanor. And then there are the cultivars that smell like your neighbor’s male cat has been roaming around. I want to smoke those! There are more terpenes in cannabis than in wine! I’ve learned to detect many hundreds of nuances in cannabis, some of them exciting and intellectually stimulating. The mysterious umami ones are amalgamations of many scents. As a saucier and a mixologist, (sort of like a chef and a bartender, only deeper) I’ve learned to detect scents and further myself into the experience of the flavors and the buzz. There are many strains of cannabis to taste and evaluate. It’s what I do! Hey, I could be studying butterflies!
Why Frank White? King of New York? I couldn’t resist the idea of writing an interview with CJ Wallace, who wouldn’t want to? Then I realized there is always a back-story. This one is particularly intriguing. I’m honored to let the words flow, only as I know best. And that is by letting my interviewees enjoy themselves. This gentleman clearly embraces the format. Cheers!
CannaCraft co-founder Dennis Hunter gives an extractor demonstration at the California Capital. PHOTO COURTESY OF CANNACRAFT.
Dennis Hunter is entrepreneurial thinker. Deeply pragmatic, he refuses to make one product, and one only. What he has achieved in the short time that cannabis has been legal is truly amazing. He is truly an advocate for the elimination of stigmas through CannaCraft’s diversified line of cannabis products — Satori, Care By Design, AbsoluteXtracts and Hi-Fi Hops. From chocolates to CBD-rich over the counter medicinal products to the fine art of brewing IPA-inspired sparkling beverages, Dennis is not slowing down to only smell the roses. He has a business plan to make those roses bloom all the time. His products shine where others haven’t even dipped their proverbial toes into the water. Dennis Hunter and the CannaCraft co-founders and team represent a company that is richly diversified and intriguingly market savvy. I mentioned pragmatic in the title because Dennis couldn’t succeed at so many tasks without being a level-headed and pragmatic thinker. His products may be designed to fit outside the box, but they fit every niche without effort. They are that good! Why force anything? Dennis seems to fit the Northern California ethos of laid-back intensity. How does that work? Intense to get the job done, the first time, and laid back to enjoy his success along with the success of CannaCraft’s family of brands. Now, without further delay, may I introduce to you a very intriguing person…Dennis Hunter.
Jesse from Green Peakz PHOTO COURTESY: GREEN PEAKZ
Instagram, How I love it. Many interesting tangents I’ve run down through this very specific, visual imagery. I’ve actually taken Twitter off my business card. Instagram has brought me real value in the cannabis industry. And recently I received the following note. It was, as I say not so often, irresistible. I had to publish this young, extremely passionate and bright entrepreneur.
