These weed cocktails will liven up your Cali Sober September
Comedian, actor and TV presenter Jon Gabrus makes a living by partying.
You can verify this statement by watching him on TruTV’s 101 Places to Party Before You Die, including an episode set in Portland entirely devoted to the city’s thriving cannabis scene.
“The second you can separate alcohol from the idea of ’partying’ or even ‘going out,’ you’ve opened yourself up to a new way of life.”
– TV presenter Jon Gabrus
He also hosts the popular podcast High and Mighty, which, as the name suggests, often revolves around getting in front of the mics with fellow comedy nerds.
By the time he decided to take a drinking break, he already had a secret weapon in his arsenal.
Weed.
“During the pandemic, I found that alcohol was making me a little depressed,” Gabrus explains. “If you’re not happy when you’re not drinking, that’s bad headspace.”
He’d heard about the whole California sober trend (no to booze, yes to weed) and even knew a few people who had successfully switched. So he thought, “Why don’t you try it?”
Sleep better, wake up feeling better
For the first two weeks, that meant just smoking a joint while sipping a seltzer water. He felt better during the day, slept better at night, and woke up fresh.
“But I missed the cocktail energy,” he says. “A drink as a sign that the day is over and you’re done with work. Ah, now I can crack a beer.”
Alcohol as a ritual. It’s five o’clock somewhere. cocktail hour. beer thirty.
In the process, he discovered grass drinks.
At first he tried making his own by adding cannabis tincture straight into a glass of iced tea, with less than stellar results. He then started visiting pharmacies and exploring store-bought weed drinks.
His first revelation – a can of Lagunitas HiFi hops really makes the beer itch. Which makes sense considering it’s made by a legendary weed-friendly brewery.
Plan your cannabis cocktail hour
Gabrus says that since that first hi-fi, he’s tried pretty much every form of liquid THC currently on the market. As a former bartender, the quest even led him to create his own cannabis mocktail recipes to take home, using products like Old Fashioned Lemonade Cannabis Quencher and S*Shots mixed with soda water, fresh fruit and a mint garnish.
When lockdown ended, he resumed drinking socially, but not nearly as prodigiously. These days, he’s more likely to bring weed drinks to a house party or order something non-alcoholic at a bar and secretly infuse his own drink with cannabinoids. He says the transition was about changing his perception.
“The second you can separate alcohol from the idea of ’partying’ or even ‘going out,’ you’ve opened yourself up to a new way of life.”
The Bud-y system
If you think you may have a serious alcohol addiction or dependency problem, please consider seeking professional help.
For the rest of us, there are many good reasons to limit or give up alcohol altogether. A recent study showed that even moderate consumption of alcohol can damage the body, and the balance sheet is more than clear when it comes to the dangers of heavy or binge drinking.
What makes California sober such an attractive alternative is that you can replace alcohol with a far less harmful intoxicant. One with no calories and no hangovers.
Journalist and professional party-goer Michelle Lhooq coined the term 2019, and it’s since taken on a life of its own. She tells Leafly that her favorite weed drinks are made by Wunder, and she also loves Artet, Klaus, and House of Saka.
Her top advice for experimenting with California Sober?
“Have a pal or crew from Cali Sober to check in and share your trip with. Solidarity and support are really crucial.”
If you don’t have anyone willing to take the leap with you, visit the online support group they set up on Discord.
Is drinking the future of cannabis?
I decided to explore California Sober by attending Sober September. This also seemed like a good opportunity to delve into the brave new world of weed drinks.
As a journalist who has been writing about cannabis for twenty years, it has been fascinating to see how this new market segment is growing rapidly as the legal cannabis market matures.
According to a recent market study by Global Industry Analysts, the cannabis beverage market will be worth $2 billion by 2026. There are already branded cannabis drinks from Pabst, St. Ides, and other established Hooch brands. Although I have to say that all of my favorite weed drinks come from cannabis companies that came to drinks, while a lot of my least favorite come from alcohol companies that came to weed.
How it started… How it’s going
I’m a week into this experiment as I write this and can report that I’m feeling pretty good and haven’t missed alcohol too much, save for some serious FOMO when everyone else at my table shared a nice bottle of red wine at a favorite Italian .
In the meantime, drinking weed is pretty fun. On Labor Day I hosted a small cannabis cocktail party and invited friends to try a wide range of weed drinks and also some non-alcoholic weed cocktails specially prepared for the occasion.
Just as some people drink rum and other wines, my guests all had their favourites, but a few received universal praise: MXXN (a version of tequila), Mad Lilly Passion Fruit Mango Spritzer and Kikoko’s cannabis-infused teas.
Taste a mighty ‘mezzrole’
My personal favorite dispensary cannabis drinks (so far) are Mari Y Juana’s Mexican sodas (guava, tamarind, mandarin orange), Cann’s blood orange and cardamom drink, and Mezzrole - a cannabis mocktail in a named can in honor of jazz clarinetist/reefer dealer Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow.
Made by a company called Klaus, Mezzrole consists of ginger, lime, and rice vinegar mixed with 10 milligrams of a “terpene-forward” THC emulsion. The brainchild of master mixologist Warren Bobrow, Klaus’ drinks come closest to tasting a well-made cocktail with notes of sweet, citrus and spice.
Once known as a “cocktail whisperer,” Bobrow has published six books on mixology, written about cocktails for major media, worked directly with spirits brands, and taught classes and seminars.
Then, in 2018, he quit drinking spirits and became a Cali Sober.
“The experience was eye-opening for us,” he tells Leafly. “Not only have I lost a lot of weight from all the sugar I haven’t been drinking, but my overall appearance has improved as well. And I haven’t had a hangover in almost five years!”
Bobrow: ‘Haven’t had a hangover in almost five years!’
The recipe for the mezzrole comes straight from his book Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails and Tonics. He says the secret to making the highest quality cannabis mocktails is simple – use the highest quality ingredients. Best of all, mezzrole comes in at just 16 calories and 0.6 grams of pure cane sugar per can.
Not that everyone is a fan.
“I no longer go to alcohol industry events or bars. And I don’t miss it,” Bobrow says. He was ostracized by “my supposed friends,” he says, for choosing cannabis over alcohol cocktails.
A grass wine for dinner
Jamie Evans – known as Herb Somm – is a certified sommelier who has managed to stay active in the traditional wine world while launching her own line of non-alcoholic cannabis wines.
“I’m not sober from California, but I have a lot of friends who chose this path for health and wellness reasons,” she says. “With the advent of cannabis beverages, we can now enjoy an alternative to alcohol at social gatherings without feeling pressured.”
This is an important benefit, and one of the reasons I believe weed drinks have a bright future. As a thought experiment, imagine going to a family barbecue – even in a legal state – and lighting up a joint. As opposed to a discreet sip of weed wine.
As for Jamie’s product, one of the most difficult traditional beverages to replicate is wine, partly because dealcoholizing wine removes some of its flavor and essence, and partly because a way has yet to be found to get THC into it to emulsify the wine. Two big challenges at the same time.
I’m no expert, but I’ve been tasting (and writing about) cannabis wines since 2014. And next time I go out for Italian, I’ll definitely bring a bottle of their Herbacée Sparkling Rosier for the table.
David Beehive
Veteran cannabis journalist David Bienenstock is the author of How to Smoke Pot (Properly): A Highbrow Guide to Getting High (2016 – Penguin/Random House) and co-host and co-creator of the podcast Great Moments in Weed History with Abdullah and Bean.” Follow him on Twitter @pot_handbook.
View David Bienenstock’s articles
By submitting this form, you are subscribing to Leafly news and promotional emails and agreeing to Leafly’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe from Leafly email communications at any time.
Post a comment: