Flore, SF-based restaurant, starts offering cannabis cocktails
San Francisco is a beautiful city, on the bucket list of travelers around the world who come to see the Golden Gate Bridge and the unique culture you can’t find anywhere else in the world. It’s an even better place to visit, or live, especially if you’re a cannabis enthusiast. San Francisco has some of the best dispensaries in the country, but now there’s a new reason to visit.
Located at the famous Castro district, the Flore café has just launched a new product: a line of delicious cannabis cocktails, making it the first bar in San Francisco to do so. The line includes 16 new drinks with names as intriguing as its ingredients: Harvey’s Hibiscus Sangria, Peron’s Perverted Punch, Castro Cup, and many more. Last April 20, they also launched a cannabis-infused beer called the Tokeback Mountain and is now the most in-demand brew at Flore.
Together with the cocktails, Flore is also launching a new menu specifically designed to cater to your munchies. Seems like the team behind the bites know exactly what a stoner wants to eat; these include chicken fried bacon strips, jalapeno hog and cheese bites, hummus, and buffalo Tater Tots made with blue cheese crumbles. YUM.
Terrance Alan, co-owner of Flore, says, “The Castro is the neighborhood where medical marijuana got started in this city.” This is why he dedicated a drink to medical cannabis activist Dennis Peron, who helped in the battle for the city’s dispensaries with Proposition 2015, which legalized medical cannabis use in San Francisco back in 1996. Alan, also a nightlife consultant, says that the initiative is part of Flore’s way of trying to continue the tradition.
“When Brownie Mary and Dennis Peron met for the first time, it was here at Flore”, says Alan, talking about the time that Peron met another medical cannabis activist Mary Jane Rathbun. Alan bought Flore with Aaron Silverman, his business partner in January. Their mission was to create a unique menu that would also offer cannabis-laced products. The two met during cannabis legalization and advocacy work in California, and through their discussions realized that they shared a vision of developing a restaurant where customers can enjoy great food while sharing cannabis.
Alan’s history of cannabis activism dates back to the 1970’s, when he worked with Peron to legalize medical cannabis. Today, he sits on the board of San Francisco’s Cannabis State Legalization Task Force. Silverman, on the other hand, is an experienced cannapreneur.
Obstacles
Alan was already aware that realizing his vision would come with its own hurdles. According to local laws, bars are forbidden from selling cannabis products which made it difficult. Despite this he found a way around the law; by using CBD derived from hemp. This was something he discussed with his lawyers, which he told the Bay Area Reporter.
Alan worked with Christopher Longoria, an established mixologist who consulted him for the new menu, as well as chemist Chris Emerson, Ph.D. and also one of the founders of a cannabis company called Level Blends. Alan says that customers won’t get stoned when they consume the new cocktails, since CBD is used and it isn’t psychoactive. Rather, patrons of the bar who enjoy his new cannabis-infused drinks can benefit not only from great-tasting drinks but also from the medicinal properties of CBD including pain relief, relaxation, and more.
Alan also told the Bay Area Reporter that smoking cannabis on the premises is “"strictly prohibited at all times.”
Because of the changing recreational and business landscape involving cannabis consumption, the Cannabis State Legalization Task Force recommends that the state develop new licenses to cater to “"the diverse businesses within the adult use cannabis industry such as baking or cooking licenses, consumption lounges."
Cannabis dishes and drinks using THC won’t be on the menu anytime soon, he says. Proposition 64 was just launched and in order for customers to enjoy THC-infused meals, the law would have to be amended and San Francisco would need to create licenses for businesses, which he’s optimistic about.
The owners of Flore are hopeful that customers will enjoy the new offerings. "We'll see which drinks are popular over the next couple of weeks, "says Alan, "and make any necessary adjustments."
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