Vietnamese Lemonade. Just the very sound of the word, lemonade makes my lips smack with anticipation for this luscious, sweet treat. In a Vietnamese restaurant, it comes slightly salty and very sour/sweet from the freshly squeezed lemons, expertly woven into simple syrup and a touch of sea salt and or rice wine vinegar. I like it both ways, rice wine vinegar and my special, cocktail whisperer style THC infused Demerara sugar simple syrup.
But how do I transpose the simple syrup in the raw state into something that is wildly potent and able to destroy you and all your neighbors? That probably wouldn’t be responsible but given my need to give you the whole story and not just pieces of it, here goes for one ounce, plenty strong- 100mg drinks. Think in whole numbers-before you lose your ability to think at all!
First of all you need to decarb the cannabis buds. That can be accomplished in a number of ways. But why decarb? And what is decarbing? Quite simply, decarbing is activating the thc so you have the physical effect from “live” cannabis, as if it has been activated, ie: made potent- by a flame. Without decarbing, the cannabis is not active. Sure you can bake with it in the non-decarbed state- the internal temperature will exceed 250 degrees through cooking. This is plenty hot to decarb the plant material, or some people use cannabutter which is similar, but we are not making caramels! In a recipe, with a liquid such as simple syrup, heating it past 250 degrees will caramelize the sugar, giving you soft candy. And that product is not in this recipe!
- Decarb your cannabis. You can use the Ardent or the Levo 2, both of which I recommend. Or in a pinch you can use your toaster oven, but I really don’t recommend that method. Nor sous vide, nor using your easy bake oven, they are just not microprocessor controlled and if you fall asleep after eating that pizza, you’ll probably forget that batch in the oven and burn the whole thing up. Do not grind up the flower buds! Seal well with aluminum foil. Heat for an hour at 260 degrees and let cool to room temperature without opening the package if you decarb in the oven. It will smell. Your neighbors will complain. I promise. Use the Ardent. Hardly any smell and laboratory strength decarbs. Perfect, every single time, no more burnt up batches. The Levo2 also decarbs, but it definitely makes a smell, not as overt as doing the decarb in your oven, but definitely pronounced in odor.
- Combine the decarbed buds into a cup of simple syrup (1:1 sugar to boiling water. I used Demerara Sugar. You can use Turbinado Sugar or any natural cane sugar. Do not use corn sugar, it’s not good for you). Add the whole flower buds and in a double boiler heat the water to simmering and continue to infuse for two hours at about 212 degrees, replacing the simmering water as necessary.
- Carefully strain the buds and squeeze all the sugar syrup out of them, reserve to make ‘High Chai’ tea.
- Prepare a batch of Vietnamese Lemonade- 10 to 20 lemons, split and salted with a few tablespoons of sea salt in a bowl, let sit for an hour covered at room temperature or so then juice/strain, add the THC infused simple syrup and combine. Add ¼ cup of sweet mirin/rice wine vinegar
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- Recheck for sweetness adding more THC simple if necessary.
- Prepare short glasses by making them really cold by filling with crushed ice and water
- Pour out the ice and water and add a dollop of cold coconut milk (it’s vegan!)
- Add a cube or two of ice
- Pour over the coconut milk in the Vietnamese Lemonade
- Sprinkle a bit of sea salt over the top and serve with two short straws.
You can also use the Levo2 for the same process as the Ardent, both the decarb step and the infusion steps. I use both machines with equally good and easy results.
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Warren Bobrow is a master mixologist and author of 6 beverage books on cannabis cocktails, mocktails, and tonics. He is also the Co-Founder of Klaus - Ready-to-drink functionally-infused cocktails. With extensive expertise and creativity, Warren brings valuable insight and creativity to our team and clients at Harmony Craft Beverages. If you're interested in working with Warren on your next beverage innovation, reach out to Harmony Craft Beverages today!
