High Country: Kitchen Toke shares a trio of cannabis-infused cocktails to shake up at home

With some of us still going strong under Colorado’s “Safer-at-Home” order and limiting nights out at bars, High Country’s quarterly Kitchen Toke spotlight turns to cannabis-infused cocktails.

In the just-released Fall 2020 issue, the magazine tapped two mixology experts: Mirella Amato (author of the book “Beerology: Everything You Need to Know to Enjoy Beer…Even More”) and Javier Garcia (founder of Big Mich, a Chicago-based maker of artisanal Michelada mixes) for its “Beer Cocktails” feature focused on an often overlooked magical ingredient: cannabis.

“Cannabis is the missing key to the perfect Michelada,” Garcia explained to Kitchen Toke writer Tina Caputo. “Hops are cousins with cannabis, so there’s a little bit of that skunky element already in the beer. You really get some complete flavors when the citrus notes from the lime are complemented by a big, juicy, SuperLemon Haze-like cannabis strain [a popular sativa-dominant breed]. It doesn’t feel like the cannabis has been added; it feels like it belongs there.”

He regularly riffs off of the classic Mexican beer cocktail and finds it to be an ideal pairing for the drink’s tangy taste from freshly squeezed lime juice, tomato juice, salt and spice. Garcia either infuses drinks with a cannabis tincture, or just rims the glass with a water-soluble CBD isolate. He’s also known to include an infused garnish.

Here is a trio of cannabis-infused beer cocktails courtesy of Kitchen Toke to shake up on your own this season.

The Michelada Elevada
Recipe courtesy of Javier Garcia

Ingredients:

• Small wedge fresh lime
• Margarita salt
• 4 ounces Big Mich Classic Red Michelada mix (available at bigmich.com)
• 2 ounces Clamato juice
• 1 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon Maggi Seasoning 2 to 3 dashes of salt and pepper Habanero hot sauce to taste
• Pacifico beer, well chilled
• 25 mg of Tangie Tincture*

Instructions:

• Run lime wedge around rim of pint glass; coat with salt. Fill halfway with ice. Add Michelada mix, Clamato juice, lime juice, Maggi, salt, pepper and hot sauce; stir together and top with beer.
  

The Headstrong
Recipe courtesy of Mirella Amato

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce Capo Capo Apertivo (see note)
• 1⁄2 ounce fresh red grapefruit juice
• 1⁄4 ounce cannabis-infused agave syrup (or honey)*
• 3 ounces Double IPA, well chilled
• 2 inches orange peel, colored part only, removed with vegetable peeler
• Dash of Angostura bitters

Instructions:

• In cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine Capo Capo, grapefruit juice, agave syrup and bitters. Shake well, strain into Old-Fashioned glass; top with beer. Twist orange peel over top of drink, rub it around rim and add to glass.

Note:

• If Capo Capo is not available, substitute Campari, using Triple IPA instead of Double IPA. For a tutorial, see the Headstrong Beer Cocktail video on Amato’s “Beerology” YouTube channel.
  
  

The Oaxcanna Michelada
Recipe courtesy of Javier Garcia

Ingredients:

• Small wedge fresh lime
• Sal de Gusano for rim
• 2 ounces pineapple juice, preferably fresh
• 2 ounces fresh-squeezed orange juice 1 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1 ounce mezcal joven
• 3 dashes Tajín seasoning
• 25 mg Tangie Tincture*
• Pacifico beer, well chilled

Instructions:

• Run lime wedge around rim of pint glass; coat with Sal de Gusano. Fill halfway with ice cubes. Add pineapple, orange and lime juices, mezcal, Tajín and tincture; stir to combine. Top with beer.

*Find the aforementioned infusion recipes at kitchentoke.com

Katie Shapiro can be reached at katie@katieshapiromedia.com and followed on Twitter @bykatieshapiro.