Marijuana Margarita Recipe

Tequila and Cannabis: quite possibly the greatest marriage of ingredients since the discovery of peanut butter and bananas. Blended fluidly within the guise of a cocktail, the Medical Marijuana Margarita can cure any dark spell (or salty one) with its zesty flavor, inherently cool composition, and verte-infused high-ness. Since its first concoction in Mexico in the early 20th century, the margarita has challenged drinkers with a one tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor! style of living, mixed with the ever-looming question, “Salt? Or no salt?”

With the Medical Margarita, you can essentially “super size” your cocktail (or should I say...pot-tail. Ha.) The simplicity of the recipe is much like any frozen margarita, except for the actual conversion of the cannabis flower into the alcohol. Grab your best pot, and watch as this episode of Baked: Cooking with Mary Jean creates the Medical Marijuana Margarita right before your very eyes.

The most important piece of advice in this recipe is this: plan ahead. Alcohol conversion with marijuana is the most important aspect of this recipe to master; but once you’ve got it down, there’s no stopping you. All in all, it takes about two to four weeks for the alcohol and the cannabis to beautifully blend together into the concoction of your liking. Trust me, it’s worth the wait!

You’ll need three ingredients to start:

• 1 Mason Jar with a tight fitting lid
• Cannabis (Sativa recommended)
• 1 bottle of your favorite alcohol (for this Medical Marijuana Margarita recipe, choose your favorite Tequila! White works best. Silver Patron if you want to make it fancy.)

In terms of how much cannabis to use, fill your mason jar to the top, so it still has a little breathing room to add alcohol. Include the twigs and the sticks (parts I’m sure you throw away all the time). Everything counts in this conversion tip! Make sure that you use clean cannabis as well. Phant Extracts is the clean, natural choice when determining what to use.

To counter against the alcoholic content, choose a Sativa, which is uplifting, energetic, and best suited for day use. The Jacky White strain from White Palm is 75 percent sativa and has well-balanced head and body effects. Jacky White contains a sweet grapefruit and citrus aroma, the perfect addition to any margarita on a hot summer day.

Once you put the marijuana into the mason jar, pour the alcohol (remember, for margaritas you need tequila) in the jar until it fills the container. The higher the alcohol content, the better the conversion. Make sure you pour the alcohol over all of the botanicals.

Once you’ve tightened your lid (and you’ve double-checked to make sure it is tight) shake the mason jar with all of the contents inside of it. Then—and this next part is the easiest—put it away for a few weeks. Two to four weeks is the recommended conversion time for this technique. Every few days, shake the mason jar once or twice to make sure everything is equally distributed.

What happens if you’re impatient and you don’t want to wait three weeks for the perfect alcohol-cannabis combo? I have an alternative method for you: heat. Put the mason jar in a double boiler. This speeds up the conversion time... yet at the same time it burns off a portion of the alcohol. I recommend patience—wait the two to four weeks!

Once the conversion is complete, unscrew the lid of the mason jar and pour the contents out through a sieve into a glass bowl. You’ll be left with a dark brown cannabis infused alcohol liquid. Now you’re ready to make the margarita!

Sip Your Way to Summer

Now that you have mastered the art of alcohol conversion, you’re ready to make your cocktail! For this recipe, you need:

• 1 Blender
• 1 Grater
• 1 Cup of ice cubes
• 1 Freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 Cup of raw, natural honey
• 1 Bitterman’s Flake Cocktail Salt
• Cannabis-infused tequila

Start by placing your ice cubes into the bottom of the blender. Then, add on your freshly squeezed lime juice. Add a cup of honey for sweetening. If you don’t like your drinks too sweet, add less honey! The final—and key—ingredient is the medical tequila.

Blend on high for about 15 seconds to keep it thick and cold. Before you pour the concoction into the drink glasses, add a touch of cocktail salt to the rim. Simply pour the Medical Marijuana Margarita into the glass, and voila! The perfect drink for a summer day. For an added touch, grade lime zest into the drink. This adds a fresh smell and makes it look nice and green (to highlight the special ingredient, of course!)

Tips and Tricks

• When converting the alcohol, don’t make just one mason jar, make many. This recipe makes enough drinks for about four to six people, depending on the size of the glass. For larger parties, make sure you always have an extra mason jar of cannabis-alcohol ready!
• Place your mason jars in a cool, dark place.
• Your tequila should have a golden, slightly dark hue when converted completely with the alcohol.
• Use white tequila because regular tequila becomes too dark when converted with cannabis. This is an issue for two reasons: the first, is that dark alcohol doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing in the final margarita (we want that beautiful green, no?), and the second: by using white tequila, you can judge the infusion process at a glance. If the alcohol hasn’t changed in color sufficiently, leave it alone for a few more days.

Cooking and Cannabis: the greatest marriage since the discovery of food. From cocktails to hamburgers, desserts to eggs, Baked: A Marijuana Cookbook explores the vast and highly anticipated world of cooking with everyone’s favorite green ingredient: weed. With easy to follow instructions, engaging photographs, and a fool-proof “you-can-read-this-even-if-you’re-high” approach, Baked makes a great gift for first time chefs, stoners, food aficionados, and grandmothers. Presented by Potent, powered by pot, Baked makes any cooking occasion a smoking hot one.