This is one of the most impressive books we have seen in a while. Aesthetically pleasing, concise, informational and fun are just a few words I would use to describe Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics. There is so much knowledge in this blue and red book about drinks. Author Warren Bobrow is clearly an expert, and he provides the reader with information to help enhance their cannabis consumption in a really good way.
First of all, why alcohol? Well, for those of you who don’t know, alcohol works well as a solvent, breaking down the available cannabinoids in the plant matter to allow for better absorption into your system. Alcohol is inexpensive, and when used correctly, creates a mostly healthful drink prepared with ingredients that all work together in a positive way.
Now, you might think that combining alcohol and cannabis would be dangerous — and it can be, so remembering “everything in moderation” is very helpful here. Bobrow gives plenty of warning about the dangers of over-medicating with the combination, and encourages everyone to sip slowly and listen to your body. These drinks of art were crafted to help you feel better — not worse.
There are 75 recipes in this book meant to guide you through your day, such as morning cocktails intended to light you up instead of weigh you down, and afternoon cocktails to chill out with. Many of the recipes can be made without the alcohol if that’s a worry for you, and the recipes generally call for only a small amount of alcohol. Bobrow gives a list of strains, flavor profiles and what alcohol they taste best with, as well as what time of day to enjoy them. The recipes to make the infusions that go into the drinks are simple with clear instruction, and they range from tinctures and simple syrups to coconut creams.
The health benefits that lie in each drink are deeper than just cannabis. Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics made me view the way I ingest cannabis differently. The recipes are sophisticated, bold and definitely worth your time.
I was playing around with flavors the other day and coffee seemed to resonate more clearly than ever. Maybe it was the recent cold snap, or perhaps it was my palate calling out for deeper, read- more intense flavors. That’s where Death Wish Coffee comes into play. They say that it’s the world’s strongest coffee and I tend to agree with them- as long as I control the brewing method. You see, I’m pretty picky when it comes to strong. I like to do coffee in either a French Press or as a pour-over. Never do I use an automatic machine.
It’s pretty hard to mess up coffee when it is well roasted and Death Wish seems to have their roasting expertise down to a minute science.
Instead of the pricey Arabica beans, they have chosen the rougher- and more caffeinated Robusta beans. OK, before you get your underwear all in a bunch, it just happens to be that Robusta coffee is excellent in craft cocktails. Especially when they are treated to a long, cold infusion.
For this is why I do what I do. I love to play around with flavors and Death Wish Coffee makes it easy on me.
I’m pretty well known for simplicity in my craft cocktails. This one is no different with only three ingredients plus bitters. That should satisfy even the most hard pressed for time bartender/mixologist. Because if you are ten deep at the bar on any given Saturday night, let me tell you from my own experience that fewer ingredients make a happier bartender!
This cocktail, a take on the classic Manhattan involves a rum that is near and dear to my heart. I use Mezan XO because of the anything but sweet- funky, slightly smoky (bourbon oak cask aged) demeanor. The XO is a combination of rums from four different Jamaican distilleries. The part of the story that speaks most clearly to me involves the rum from Long Pond. Its distinctive flavor stands out as authentic, untouched rum. No caramel, no added sugar, no glycerin, no chill-filtering. Ah, the good stuff.
So I took a healthy portion of the Jamaica XO and added it to a 24-hour infusion of the Death Wish Coffee (It’s usually called cold brewed- I call it slightly insane) and added to a bit of my favorite for a Manhattan of this demeanor, Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth. There is a smoky unctuous quality about Carpano. Perhaps it is the historic recipes that dates back to the 1700’s. I’m not sure- but they did say that Vermouth was originally invented against head lice and stomach worms so it couldn’t hurt you if you use it with rum and coffee.
Underneath Bell’s Crossing
Ingredients:
2 oz. Mezan XO Rum
2 oz. Cold Brewed Death Wish Coffee
2 oz. Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
1 cocktail cherry – better be home cured
3-5 shakes Chocolate Mole’ Bitters
Prep:
Pre-chill double old fashioned glass with ice and water
You see, although Mr. Trump’s New Jersey electorate lost to the Democrats, the resentment towards the overall losing party has never been so clear. Through winning, there is loss. Through loss, there is winning. Perhaps this will act as a metaphor for the next election. Today, I’m voting for cocktails …the Cocktail Party!
If you’d like to join me, here are a few of my favorite post-election cocktails, most of which are infused with cannabis*, the big winner of this year’s election. We can all drink to that!
The World is Bewildered
Need help sleeping tonight? Try this Manhattan-style cocktail.
Ingredients:
1 oz. cold brew coffee
1 oz. Panamanian rum
1 oz. Carpano Antica sweet vermouth or Dolin for a drier approach
orange zest — cut with a knife, never a peeler — pinched and flamed over the top
Regan’s bitters infused with THC
Luxardo Cherry
either a coupe or a rocks glass
To a cocktail mixing glass: Add one or two large cubes of ice. Add the cold brew. Add the Panamanian rum. Add the Carpano Antica. Stir. Season with Regan’s orange bitters, THC infused (note: I used ¼ oz. high grade cannabis- infused for 1 month in a bottle of Regan’s, strained). Taste. Strain into a coupe or rocks glass (if you use a rocks glass, only one or two cubes maximum!). Pinch and flame the orange zest, rub on the rim of the glass and serve.
Welcome to the Visigoths
The last few weeks have been filled with Twitter Flame Wars. It’s your turn to win one (more). This sleepy-tidrink makes light of the rise of the Anti-intellectuals. We know who you are!
Ingredients:
2 oz. Mezan XO rum
½ oz. Stroh 160 rum 80% alcohol
4 oz. cane sugar cola
¼ oz. orange liqueur
To a Collins glass filled ¾ with ice: Add the orange liqueur. Top with the Mezan XO. Cover with the cane sugar cola. Float the Stroh 160 on top; ignite with a match. Add a colorful straw. Serve!
A Long Steep Hill
A cocktail to bewilder the palates of your neo-conservative neighbors.
Ingredients:
2 oz. bourbon whiskey infused with THC to your strength and taste
To a cocktail shaker filled ¾ with ice: Add the cannabis-infused bourbon whiskey. Add the ginger syrup. Add the Fruitations syrup. Cap and shake hard. Pour over ice in a double Old Fashioned glass. Splash seltzer water over the top. Dot with bitters.
The MacGregories
A cocktail to give you hope and dream of change. A take on the gin and juice of yore… and infused with pure THC for your dreams.
Ingredients:
3 oz. THC infused Barr Hill gin (the amount and strength of the THC is up to you. I used 14 grams of 25% THC cannabis in a 750ml bottle of raw honey and grain gin)
To a Boston Shaker filled ¾ with ice: Add the THC-infused gin and the juices with the cranberry syrup. Cap and shake hard for 20 seconds. Pour into a pair of coupes. Dot with bitters. Serve.
AKA: Political Discourse Fails…Yet Again
So you want to win an argument?
Ingredients:
2 oz. Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1 oz. bourbon whiskey (like Barrell Bourbon) infused with THC of your choice and strength
¼ oz. dry vermouth
1 oz. freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
1 oz. rich simple syrup
aromatic bitters
Add all the ingredients to a Boston Shaker. Cap and shake hard for 20 seconds or so. Pour into a double Old Fashioned glass with one large cube of ice. Dot with bitters. Serve.
*Infusions
To make a cannabis infusion, add 7 grams — or the dosage recommended by your caregiver—of ground, decarbed cannabis to 250 ml (about 1 cup) of a liquor of your choice in a heat-proof mason jar. Do not seal the jar, it could burst. Place the jar in the top of a double boiler on a hot plate or electric stove top.
(Never, ever use a gas stove or an open flame.) Fill the top of the double boiler with enough water to cover the mason jar halfway.
Simmer lightly at around 160ºF (71°C) for 30 to 60 minutes. Use a digital thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature. Alcohol flames just over 170ºF (77°C), so pay close attention to the job at hand, and don’t go running out for a pizza. Plus, a low heat will keep evaporation to a minimum.
Let the mixture cool, strain it through a fine-mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth, then funnel it back into the empty liquor bottle. Top up the bottle with the remaining un-infused liquor until it’s back to a volume of 750 ml. This ensures that the THC will be dispersed throughout the infusion. Your infusion is now ready to use in your handcrafted cocktails.
Warren Bobrow, a.k.a. The Cocktail Whisperer, is the author of four books, including his latest: Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics.
– See more at: http://thefreshtoast.com/drink/5-post-election-cocktails-need-right-now/#sthash.krGzDYBm.dpuf
Back in the day before we were all born, Mezz Mezzrow was playing jazz clarinet in the normally segregated jazz clubs around the United States. He wasn’t well known, and his history may have escaped all but the most die-hard Jazz aficionados if it wasn’t for one rather large fact.
He was Louis Armstrong’s weed dealer.
In order to properly pay homage to this figure in the Jazz age, who played with Sidney Bechet, (one of my favorite Jazz musicians) I created a cocktail that is featured in my 4th book, Cannabis Cocktails.
The Mezzrole Cocktail
I’m a huge fan of Manhattan-style cocktails; they make great aperitifs. This one is named after Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, a jazz musician who lived in Harlem in the 1920s. And, as Mezz himself would have known, the term for a well-rolled cannabis cigarette was a “mezzrole”—so I just had to commemorate both man and medicine in this elegant cocktail. It combines cannabis-infused sweet vermouth, handmade cocktail cherries, and quality bourbon into a small, but well-formed, libation that’s deeply healing. When you’re infusing your vermouth, consider choosing a Sativa-Indica hybrid strain called Cherry Pie. It’s redolent of sweet and sour cherries, and it complements the toasty, oaky flavors inherent in the liquors. As for making crushed ice, it’s best to place the ice in a Lewis bag—a heavy canvas bag that’s made for the job—before whacking it with a wooden mallet or rolling pin.
INGREDIENTS
• 4-6 Greenish Cocktail Cherries (we infused Barrell Bourbon with a quantity of Cannabis in an infusion, then soaked Rainier Cherries in the thc infused liquor for a month- hence Greenish Cocktail Cherries)
• 1/2 ounce (15 ml) cannabis-infused vermouth, such as Uncouth Vermouth’s Seasonal Wildflower Blend
• Handful of crushed ice
• 1 ounce (30 ml) bourbon whiskey
• Aromatic bitters
Muddle the Greenish Cocktail Cherries with a wooden muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon, then top with the vermouth. Continue to muddle for 30 seconds to combine the flavors. Cover with the crushed ice. Top with the bourbon, then dot with aromatic bitters. Don’t have two: one should be more than enough. And never more than one per hour!
Cocktails on tap require an incredible amount of precision and preparation.
Brian Quinn is an experiential event producer and cocktail writer. He is the cofounder of the Noble Rot, an underground supper club for wine, dubbed “a new form of clandestine drinking” by Tasting Table NYC. He learned the art of craft cocktails from work with the Milk & Honey family, as well as a love for hospitality from renowned Brooklyn oyster house Maison Premiere. Brian has written over 150 articles on cocktails for Food Republic and is also the director of programming for the Taste Talks and Northside festivals.
It’s an exciting time to drink well. Bartenders continually find ways to test out new ideas, techniques, flavor combinations and approaches to hospitality. The best new ideas tend to gain attention from the larger bartender community and pop up in bars around the country, and soon a trend is born. Here are 10 cocktail concepts to look out for:
1. Bars within bars Don’t call them speakeasies. The veil of secrecy separating two different bar experiences under one roof is simply a means of filtering out those who prefer the utility of a drink versus those who revel in the art. For bars like Los Angeles’s Walker Inn, bartenders are able to offer an omakase cocktail tasting for those who enter via the more accessible Normandie Club’s bar. Walking up a back flight of stairs at San Francisco’s Hawker Fare gets you into the more relaxed Holy Mountain bar setting, where the bar team is able to showcase more experimental drinks. Of course, Grant Achatz’s the Office beneath the Aviary in Chicago did this years ago. The advantage to finding these more intimate, highly curated bars is a more niche drinking experience that you likely won’t find anywhere else.
2. Camera cuisine’s impact on drinking What’s on the inside still counts, many bartenders know that these days, the most Instagram-friendly drinks on the menu will likely be the biggest sellers. A decade ago, seeing a drink like the multicolored and mint-topped Queens Park Swizzle walk across the room on a tray would incite half the bar to order that drink next. Today, with more drinking options available than ever, a well-festooned drink on Instagram might be a bar’s best asset for finding new customers.
Rich Woods of London’s Duck & Waffle uses this showmanship and his unique style to entice drinkers around the globe by, say, serving a hay old-fashioned with the glass cradled in an actual bowl of hay, or creating edible garnishes, such as a ceviche shot served on top of a cocktail. Thankfully, his drinks are as balanced and brilliant in flavor as they are in appearance. Jane Danger’s now-renowned Shark Eye cocktail at the modern tiki bar Mother of Pearl — bloodied with Peychaud’s Bitters — is another example.
Crystal-clear milk punches and milk-rinsed cocktails have cropped up at inventive cocktail bars and restaurants.
3. Clarified milk punches One of the more exciting and delicious techniques that bartenders are now readily using is milk-washing, or clarifying a punch with curdled milk. The process of creating a curdled anything sounds bizarre and ill-advised, but this process dates back to the 1700s and ultimately creates a longer shelf life for the punch. Barman Gareth Howells, formerly of Forrest Point, knows this process well. He combines large batches of fruits, citrus, spices and spirits and macerates them together for several days before adding curdled milk on top. As gravity sets in, the milk proteins, which have attached to the pulpy particles in the mixture, begin to weigh down, ultimately leaving a clear liquid floating on top. Lactic in flavor, this soft and beguiling type of punch is gaining steam for good reason.
4. Dives with damn good drinks Want a killer Last Word or Paper Plane while listening to Led Zeppelin in a bar that looks like it could have been the set for Tom Cruise singing “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” in Top Gun? Well, you can get that now, too. In their off hours or for post-shift drinks, most bartenders find themselves in no-nonsense, unapologetic vestiges where a beer or shot of whiskey might be your best bet. For bars like Brooklyn’s the Starlight, the glow of red lighting makes you feel as though you just walked into some Midwest tavern in the 1970s, except that some of the best bartenders in the city pick up shifts here and can make you pretty much any drink you want, if they have it behind the bar. No frills necessary.
5. Pour-and-go service Time is of the essence in bars these days, and many patrons no longer care if a $15 drink was made à la minute. Eager to find solutions for those in need of a quick but excellent drink, many bars are now experimenting with having one or more drinks on tap or pre-bottled. Yours Sincerely in Bushwick — with its Transmit the Box cocktail (shown at top) — embraces this concept across its entire menu, with over 30 drinks on tap. Far from lazy, this requires an incredible amount of precision and preparation behind the scenes but allows for insanely quick pours and lower drink prices during service.
London’s White Lyan turns many heads, with bartenders pouring from a colorful array of prebatched cocktail bottles stored behind the bar, which incidentally also led the bar to have very little wasted ingredients. The drinking experience at these bars does not suffer and, in fact, the effect is often a whole new world of creative cocktails.
6. Thematic menus Bartenders are spending their time pining over more than just the drinks. Menus now seem to exist in their own theatrical context, with storytelling to support a bar’s original offerings. An incredible amount of work obviously goes into the Dead Rabbit’s menu, which seemingly takes months to research and create, with pages and pages of illustrations, history and cocktail lore. San Francisco’s Trick Dog takes a more playful approach, keeping patrons on their toes by presenting drinks on everything from dog calendars to a Chinese takeout menu to Pantone color swatches.
7. Cleansing drinks: Charcoal and kale Bartenders love yoga, too, and it seems that cocktails are finally taking a cue from the juicing movement, as more cleansing or healthful ingredients are becoming prevalent. More than just citrus and herbs, drinks with freshly juiced kale or wheatgrass come out bright green and seemingly healthier in appearance. Thankfully, many people now realize that vodka does not have fewer calories, but it does blend well in these cocktails.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, black cocktails colored with a dose of activated charcoal might look like they could filter away your hangover, but no such luck. These deep black drinks, such as Joaquin Simó’s tequila- and mezcal-driven Heart of Darkness cocktail at NYC’s Pouring Ribbons, offer a unique appearance, but the charcoal has little impact on the flavor.
8. Cannabis cocktails With the growing availability of weed tinctures and oils thanks to loosening regulations, the slow integration of THC into cocktails will likely continue to rise in 2017. The science around being drunk and high at the same time is not entirely clear, though we do know that alcohol can allow for a much quicker absorption of the psychoactive THC by the body. Clearly, it’s an area that needs further investigation, just like knowing the right and wrong way to use liquid nitrogen in a cocktail, which can also have serious effects. A sign of the times: Barman and author Warren Bobrow recently released the first book on this subject, Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails & Tonics.
9. Low-ABV ingenuity Necessity is the mother of invention for low-ABV cocktails. Bars without full liquor licenses have to continue to push these drinks forward, leading to a rise in everything from legit wine coolers to beer cocktails to aperitif-driven coolers. Not to be left out, bars with full licenses also love these drinks, often adding spirits such as gin or liqueurs as modifiers to a largely wine or beer base in the cocktail. Seeing a Riesling cocktail on a menu might not have made sense until now, but that’s just what Maison Premiere bartender Shae Minnillo does with his Bimini Twist, using Riesling, Linie Aquavit, Pêche de Vigne, Suze, lemon and grapefruit.
10. Cocktails around the country Serious cocktails are cropping up in virtually every city in America. Occasionally, transplant bars will migrate from a major city to other parts of the country, such as Sam Ross and Michael McIlroy’s Attaboy in NYC — ranked number five on the World’s 50 Best Bars list — opening up in Nashville. Other times, such as at the W.C. Harlan bar in Baltimore, delicious drinks seem to appear out of nowhere, driven by the owners’ unique aesthetic and approach. One thing is for sure: Deciding how to rate the “World’s 50 Best” anything when it comes to bar culture will soon be a very difficult task.
1. Grinder pipe Not only can you grind you bud, but you can also smoke it with the grinder pipe. Moreover, this product will make your smoking experience more convenient.
2. Grinders for every personality
There are so many custom grinders available that anyone can find one they like. Whether you like pinkand sparkly or Snoop Dogg’s face, you can have it.
3. Cottonmouth gum
Of course, simply drinking some water can put a stop to cottonmouth. Still, it’s kind of cool that some soul out there is inventing gum just for cottonmouth. Although the face behind it all wishes to remain nameless, it’s exciting nevertheless.
4. Smell-proof stash case
If you tend to get unorganized and messy with your weed gear, this is an investment worth making. In fact, this case is smell-proof and stores just about any cannabis product.
There are different ones to choose from based on how you like to consume cannabis. And they even come with accessories, such as a grinder card and dab mat, depending on which kit you choose.
5. Weed treats for your dog
Don’t worry, these treats won’t make your four-legged friend stoned. However, they will help calm your furry pet. These, in particular, are made with hemp seeds by a Canadian company called True Hemp.
6. THC bubble bath
High Gorgeous, a company that makes infused beauty and topical products, has different kinds of medicinal bubble bath. Although they focus on women, men can enjoy the weed bubbles too. Not to mention, smell amazing afterward.
7. All-in-one pipe
Another pipe made for your convenience is the all-in-one pipe. This particular pipe not only holds your lighter but it also prevents the wind from messing with your flame. With this in mind, you no longer have to worry about covering your hand over your flame while you frustratedly attempt to hit your piece.
8. Snazzy stash jars
The days of storing our bud in a plastic bag are long gone. Although some folks still resort to a Ziploc, others use stash jars. As a result of legalizing the herb, we now have clear stash jars, colorful stash jars, and even stash jars that light up.
9. Cannabis mouthcare
Axim Biotech is working on not only weed toothpaste, but also mouthwash and other anti-inflammatory products. As it turns out, brushing with cannabis is a solution to a lot of periodontal problems.
10. Coffee infused with pot
Although people have been pairing their morning cup of coffee with cannabis for some time, legalization has brought us THC-infused coffee. Now you can really get a buzz first thing in the morning.
11. Cannabis cocktails
Did you ever imagine being able to enjoy alcohol and cannabis at once? Well, now you can, thanks to legalization. Warren Bobrow has published a book that will help you create your very own cannabis cocktails.
12. Lube that helps you orgasm
Now this lube is a win-win. Not only is it infused with cannabis, but it also enhances sexual pleasure.
13. Potato chips that will get you high
Step aside Lays, there’s no way you can compete with potato chips that contain cannabis. In fact, a 1.5-ounce bag contains exactly 50mg of THC, which means they’re rather potent. Taking your medication has never been so delicious.
14. Buckle Puffer Belt
Not only does this product allow you to have a pipe attached to your belt, but it’s also magnetically attached, which is perfect for those that stay on-the-go. Whether you are several feet in the air or inside a cave somewhere, you can sneak a toke in with the Buckle Puffer Belt.
15. Medicated lip balm
Dank Stix not only smoothes your chapped lips but also heals bug bites, eczema, minor cuts, and dry knuckles.
The Wild Ginger Brewing Company approached me through their PR wanting me to review their new line of alcoholic craft soda. It’s not my usual topic, I try to stick to craft spirits, the craft soda business is much different. It’s more akin to craft beer. I don’t write about beer at all. It’s just another language!
Imagine my surprise and delight when four ‘hard’ sodas of various alcohol by volume from 4 – 5% arrived at my door. I love craft soda, the kind without alcohol… it used to be one of my topics a while back. Anyhow this lineup of colorfully cartooned cans were waiting to be tasted. With the craft beer boom, top quality beers are being canned in colorful, artist attended vessels. These are no exception with a funky sense about them.
The first one that I opened was the Wild Root Original. Smacking of herbs and good old fashioned Root Beer goodness, this is as close to what I remember from my boyhood, when my father would put some of his Haig and Haig in my root beer to keep me quiet. It was a good representation of the buzz anyhow. I remember it all these years later in a sip. And what a delicious sip it is. The Wild Root is chock full of spice as well. It’s brilliant with large ice and fine bourbon whiskey- like the Barrell Bourbon #010 version that should be out any day now. It’s that good.
The Wild Sit Russ Original.. with a snarling dog on that brightly festooned label was my least likely to enjoy, yet one of the ones that tastes the most true to form. The label reads alcoholic citrus soda, there’s that snarling dog and all I can think about is Mezan XO Rum. Smacking of herbs, spices, an element of tonic from the citrus oils- this wild soda is screaming for funky, dunder laden rum that only can come from Jamaica. No other place in the world makes rum like this and no other soda should taste quite the same. I don’t always recommend mixers with this rum, but the Wild Sit Russ Original (who was Wild Sit Russ I wonder, oh, no matter) it’s good soda. Great with Mezan Rum.
The Wild Docta’ Original Rock and Rye is way too sweet for me, but with that said I mixed some really amazing barrel aged Rum from Barrell Whiskey with a splash of this ‘rock and rye’ type soda. It dried out the sweetness immediately. It’s more of a millennials drink than I’d like to admit. They’d love it to no end. With that Barrell Rum, it’s so far over the top that I’m heading for a Hemmingway Daiquiri right now. I’m not a big sugar in drinks fan.. Mark my words on that.
The Wild Ginger Original Ginger Beer – Alcoholic, like the other three soda pops is a thing of rare beauty. There is an underlying element of spice that swirls around my tongue. It’s a bit sharp, but the bubble spins in an undulation that is gratifying and bold in every spin around my mouth. There is alcohol in there, you cannot miss it. This element warms as quickly as it pours down my throat. I’m charmed immediately and my palate calls out for something to deepen the spice element of the slurp. I chose a bottle of the Mezan Guyana Rum. This rum, distilled at the Diamond Distillery is a thing of rare beauty. The Ginger Beer mimics the funky elements of the Guyana Rum, the smoke and char from the barrels and the sweetness from long aging in hot climes. To mix this rum would normally be a sacrilege, but I have good feelings about this alcoholic soda. Try it. Let me know.
In conclusion, all good stuff, probably too good for the marketplace. The funky can art is creative. It’s a Millennial product. Flashy. Bold. The soda is pretty darned good; I’d like to say that they will be used as a mixer. A fine mixer at that. Best of luck to them! Cheers!
Aged for 13 years in Char #4 American white oak barrels
Mash bill: 74% corn, 18% rye, 7% malted barley
FLAVOR NOTES
Neat
Appearance: Broiled apricot orange at the core and resplendent warm gold at the edges. Sunlight reflecting off of burnished copper flashes across the surface leaving iridescent streaks with each swirl.
Nose: Slowly roasted exotic fruits like kiwi, coconut, and Satsuma orange swirled with smoked bergamot tea. Herbed brown butter dripping over toasted brioche and northwest cherry
Palate: Lively and amusing across the palate, the mellow warmth makes this bourbon easy to enjoy. Future sips touch all parts of the palate with broad strokes of thick clotted cream. The glow of the 112.10 proof lurks just out of sight, a welcome but not distracting figure.
Finish: Oven dried stone fruit jam with a hint of citrus oils leads to Caribbean spices. The multi-minute finish is reminiscent of sweet buttered carnival corn.
With a few drops of water
Bright sarsaparilla gives way to gooey apricot bread pudding fresh from the oven topped with rum soaked raisins. Each taste leaves almond oil sticking to the back of your tongue. The cool water spreads nuance and sophistication throughout each pleasurable sip.
Zen and Tonic: savory and fresh cocktails for the enlightened drinker
Zen and Tonic is a lovely confection of a book, seemingly happily penned by the talented author, Jules Aron. The book is printed beautifully, reminiscent of Art Nouveau in appearance. Crisp and healthy is her mixology mantra, as each recipe encourages gleeful imbibing! Vibrant photography frames this carefully produced book.
Shaken, Stirred, Drizzled, Garnished: Beautifully Concocted Cannabis Cocktails
I was playing around with flavors the other day and coffee seemed to resonate more clearly than ever. Maybe it was the recent cold snap, or perhaps it was my palate calling out for deeper, read- more intense flavors. That’s where Death Wish Coffee comes into play. They say that it’s the world’s strongest coffee and I tend to agree with them- as long as I control the brewing method. You see, I’m pretty picky when it comes to strong. I like to do coffee in either a French Press or as a pour-over. Never do I use an automatic machine.
