Forget Wine Pairing. Cannabis Pairing is the New, Hot Dining Trend Wine tastings, elegant coursed dinners with a wine for each dish… these are for old fogies. The new in thing is cannabis pairing. It turns out that marijuana does more than give you the munchies. By choosing strains that compliment a dish you can enhance your dining experience by smoking between courses or even by incorporating the marijuana right into the food. Okay, we still love wine. Fortunately you can pair wine with weed too! To help you get started on the delectable journey into the world of “high dining”, we’ve compiled a list of several places that do the pairing for you. Enjoy cannabis infused food at a fine restaurant, take a cannabis dining tour or bring your own to the local sushi joint. Cannabis Paired with Food: How it Works Let’s take a quick look at what these expert cannabis chefs and guides are doing when they pair a strain of marijuana with food. There are a couple ways to choose the perfect strain to compliment a dish or meal: Flavor – It’s all about those terpenes! Flavorful strains, especially those with a sharp citrus or acid taste like Sour Diesel help to cut the creaminess of a curry or white pasta sauce. Sweet strains like Bubblegum or Blueberry go well with a dessert wine after a big meal. Effect – Many cannabis connoisseurs choose to start the night with a strain that has high CBD levels, or even a 1:1 ratio of THC to CBD like CBD Shark. This starts to mellow your mind without making you so stoned you can’t enjoy the rest of the night. A nice Sativa or cerebral hybrid like Girl Scout Cookies. Then finish the night with Pineapple Expressfor its relaxing, mellow effects. Plus the flavor goes well with a sweet white wine or crème brule. Cannabis, Food and Wine: Cultivating Spirits They are essentially event planners who happen to be cannabis enthusiasts and experts. In addition to their popular dinner and cannabis tour package, Cultivating Spirits offers customized birthday parties, bachelor or bachelorette parties and even classy cannabis themed weddings. Let’s take a peek at some of their cannabis adventures: 1. The Day Excursion Spend a day exploring the food, wine, weed and beautiful scenery of Summit County, Colorado. You’ll head out in a private limo to one of the State’s best marijuana growing farms where expert cultivators will teach you all the subtle differences between Indica and Sativa and how to critically evaluate buds. Then you’re off to learn about edibles, oils and accessories (while enjoying a bit of everything along the way). The day includes a mellow hike, a tour of Lake Dillon and a glass blowing demo that is mind bending after all the strains you’ve sampled. 2. Sensational Fusion Experience Enjoy a cooking demo by top chefs, wine and cannabis pairings at the Frisco Wine Merchant and a gourmet dinner of fresh, local cuisine… with cannabis, of course. Customize your experience to fit any dietary preferences. They can handle gluten free, vegan or any other special requests. 3. THC Fusion Experience This experience is all about cooking with cannabis. There is more to it than mixing up a batch of special brownies. Learn how to incorporate THC into your meals at home with simple, delicious techniques. 4. Mountain Birthday Celebration Customize your birthday party in the Rockies with Cultivating Spirits. An Escalade stretch limo is at your disposal, as are some of the best cannabis guides in the country. 5. Cannabis Weddings Cultivating Spirits is all about making each experience unique. This is especially important when it comes to your wedding. They offer several packages, including destination wedding planning to make your special day even more beautiful. What Guests are Saying about Cultivating Spirits: Lots of people are already enjoying the great services offered by Cultivating Spirits. Here’s what they are saying: “I would definitely recommend this unique experience to anyone who is interested in enjoying a good meal and learning about and seeing Summit County, or learning about and enjoying cannabis legally while you soak in some epic views.” Ryan after the Sensational Fusion Experience “Cultivating Spirits was an amazing experience like nothing else I’ve ever done or seen before. From the 5 star meals, to the first class service, to some of the best herb I have ever smoked.” Matt from Frisco, CO “I was a bit skeptical walking into a cooking class in lack of better words…high and a bit tipsy from the limo ride, but the atmosphere was great, our tour guide made the ambiance comfortable and safe which was my biggest concern.” Kristalyn from Arizona Enjoy Dinner and a Joint a Hapa Sushi – Denver and Boulder, CO Someone’s going to have to coin a new term to describe a sommelier of marijuana. With gourmet restaurants adding cannabis pairings to their menus it won’t be long before a marijuana expert arrives at your table to help you choose the right bud to go with your osso bucco. Hapa Sushi offers a pot-and-dinner pairing menu at both their Denver and Boulder locations. Back before the state legalized marijuana the restaurant ran an ad campaign selling sushi to smokers as the ultimate munchie snack. Now you can enjoy your favorite strains right at the sushi bar. Here’s a sample of their suggestions for dinner and weed: Katsu Curry with Blue Dream Pakalolo Shrimp with Pakistani Kush Honey Miso Salmon with Sour OG 8 Psychedelic Courses at Fraîche – Amsterdam Eating at a great restaurant is a reminder that food is about more than nourishment. Think of the zesty energy of citrus, the buzz of good coffee or chocolate, the lightness of mint or the heavy, relaxing effects of hearty red wine stew. Food impacts the way we feel, think and behave. But the chefs at this Amsterdam restaurant are taking the idea of mood-altering food to another level by offering a meal for serious stoners only: eight cannabis infused courses that promise to delight your palate and leave you soaring. At just 80 euros per person, it is an experience worth trying. Let’s take a look at some of their creations: Hamachi Sashimi with “Red Angel” Dressing Red Angel is a balanced Amsterdam cannabis strain, with 15% THC and 15% THC. Boudin Noir with Egg Yolk, Broccoli, Foie Gras and Hash Sauce Wild Bass with Pineapple Kush cannabis Raspberry Doughnuts infused with Cannabis Vapor Chocolate Fondant with Hash Butter Some of their dishes also incorporate psychedelic truffles and Syrian rue, a plant that prolongs the effects of psilocybin from the mushrooms. Like I said, this is a restaurant for serious tokers only! But guests report going home happily buzzed and waking up refreshed and hangover free. Meet, Eat and Toke – The Cannaisseur Series Pop Up Dinner Pop Up dinners are becoming a popular way to meet new people. In San Francisco Chef Coreen Carroll and her fiancé Ryan Bush host gourmet Pop Up dinners with carefully selected cannabis strains in between courses. Carroll is a freelance chef adept at whipping up such delicacies as house-cured duck leg confit and panna cotta with ginger and rhubarb. To attend guests must present a California Medical Marijuana card. Since the pair is selling the food at a private event (and not technically selling marijuana) they don’t have any legal problems. You’ve probably whipped up a batch of cannabis brownies or cookies before, but it’s time to step your cannabis palate up to the next level. Even if you don’t take a tour or visit a cannabis restaurant, you can try some pairings at home. Remember to consider the flavor profile of the strain and the food and think about the tone you want to set for the evening. These factors will help you decide which strain is perfect for your next dinner party or date night. Save
