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
- ¼ oz. ginger syrup
- 1 oz. Fruitations tangerine
- 3 oz. lemon flavored seltzer water
- 4-5 shakes aromatic bitters
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)
- 2 oz. freshly squeezed orange juice
- 2 oz. freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
- 2 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 oz. Fruitations cranberry
- 3-4 shakes Angostura bitters
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.
