Consumption Lounge: July Summer Smoke Show

Hot smokes, cool drinks, and pool-worthy reads for the month ahead

Jul 20, 2024

Welcome to the Consumption Lounge: a regular feature where I showcase all my favorite consumables from the food, beverage, cannabis, lifestyle, literary worlds, and beyond. Occasionally, affiliate links are included, but all recommendations are of my own.

Hey everyone,

If you’re a new subscriber, thanks for being here! To everyone else, sorry this month’s Consumption Lounge is hitting your inboxes at the end of the month, but turns out that smoking weed on your friend’s back porch every morning with a cup of coffee during a long weekend in Michigan decreases the motivation to open up a laptop. Fortunately, I’m back in New York City where nothing stops ever, so I can catch up with all of the amazing things I’ve read, seen, and consumed while I reacclimate with the comfort of my ever-present anxiety over the insanity of the impending election (Claire Zulkey has a pretty good piece on this) and trying my damnedest to fulfill the promise of ‘Brat summer’ (oh, is that why I bought this $32 sparkling chartreuse nail polish from Chanel?).

For those on the East Coast, next weekend is the second annual Borscht Belt Festival in Ellenville, New York, featuring the food, music, comedy, and culture celebrating the Catskills’ iconic Jewish resorts of the ‘60s, including a street fair, babka bake-off, and free outdoor screening of "Dirty Dancing.” I will not be put in the corner! If you’re looking for cool things to do in the Catskills and Hudson Valley while you’re up there, I wrote a fun travel book worth picking up, plus this recent guide to an easy weekend getaway ICYMI.

West Coasters, this year B2B trade show Hall of Flowers opens its doors to the public for the first time on September 21 as a cannabis market and festival—and the line-up looks absolutely bonkers. On the heels of my recent article in Wine Enthusiast on Northern California’s Emerald Green Road, Hall of Flowers will be curating cannabis experiences like Northern California Experience presented by the WOODS and A Taste of Sonoma County Experience presented by Sonoma Hills Farm featuring award-winning chefs and cannabis culinary experts including Preeti Mistry, Mason Hereford, Solomon Johnson, BJ Smith, and Wendy Zeng. Obviously, I’m going.

And for those on the Midcoast, Wiz Khalifa, Raekwon and Gza will be among the headliners at the second annual Miracle in Mundelein music festival September 7-8 at Rise Dispensary (1325 Armour Boulevard, Mundelein, IL), which permits attendees to legally smoke weed at the outdoor music festival (as if you weren’t doing that before) and the convenience of a dispensary cashing in on a very smart marketing opportunity.

Tonight marks the full Buck Moon in Capricorn. I haven’t done any weed witch astrology for a hot minute, but the pull of this lunar cycle hit too hard and was too much to ignore. This is a transit about taking life by the horns, so to speak, and stepping into the limelight. But this isn’t about channeling the aggression of Mars, and instead reflecting on boundaries and embracing empathy, healing, patience, and compassion to restructure ambitions and long-term goals. Let’s shake off those negative and toxic relationships, and repair the ones that rebuild the world (including a little self-compassion)! This isn’t a time to rest on your laurels, so my recommendation is to microdose a sativa-leaning hybrid that keeps you grounded and productive while you get your head on straight. Also, if you plan to do any moon rituals, I’ve got a lead on a pretty good moon blight plum nocino below.

Without further ado, here are this month’s Consumption Lounge picks:

Words Well-Done

Smoke Show

Oregon-based gourmet edibles maker, grön, recently made their foray into the New York legal cannabis market, eyeing expansion to Illinois next. One of the reasons I am so crazy about this woman-owned brand is not only do they taste good, but that they use fair trade chocolate for their Pips and sustainable practices throughout the supply chain—WHICH IS WHAT IT SHOULD BE. As New York’s market continues to mature, I hope more people will put their money where their mouth is about pressuring cannabis manufacturers to invest in sustainable practices as part of their overall ethos that help the environment, community, and our bodies.
Denver O.G. Jane West has released the ultimate travel pipe for stoners on-the-go: The Outdoor Pipe, a flexible, lightweight, and stylish silicon pipe with stainless steel bowl and easy-open cap. At $22 it won’t break the bank, which is important n case you accidentally lose it while out and about. She also has a Day & Night travel chillum set that’s currently on sale for $15 that has resealable caps so you don’t lose your bud.
For my preroll babes, woman-owned, NY-based brand Vienero has a new line of vegan-dyed rolling papers in Instagram-worthy designs that have been rolling off the shelves and pair beautifully with their super cute high-functioning j cases.
Luxury cannabis brand, oHHo, also has a new line of THC seltzers in refreshing, bright flavors like blood orange and pomegranate and pink grapefruit and elderflower to get lifted and stay hangover-free. Light for microdosing, each come with 3.5mg hemp derived THC, 5mg CBG, and 10mg CBD, clocking in at only 40 calories with 4g of sugar. Get 10% off using the code WEEDWITCH10 at check out.
Looking to freshen up your coffee table? Edie Parker Lettuce Ashtray is a classy and functional addition for your next smoke session.

Drink Up

It’s very rare that a gin captures my attention worthy of drinking neat, but California-based Gray Whale Gin made quite the impression. Yes, this is a gin you can drink neat because it’s just that smooth and balanced with locally sourced or wild foraged ingredients from the California coast, including sea kelp, mint, juniper, fir trees, lime, and almonds.
There’s something really beautiful and poetic about Matchbook Distilling’s overall spirits portfolio, but their limited edition Moon Blight Plum Nocino with Plum and Pinot Noir really spoke to me during my last visit to their tasting room in Greenport, New York. Inspired by a lost labor novel by Mark Twain's illustrator Dan Carter Beard, the fortified spirit is co-fermented Damson plum and Pinot Noir in local black walnut macerated grain with mystical infusion of palo santo, hoja de santa, damiana, rose hips, cinnamon bark, and nutmeg that gives it a distinctively sultry flavor.
By the time I tell anyone about Chicago-based coffee slingers Dark Matter Coffee’s latest drop, it’s usually sold out by then—probably because I selected them among the country’s finest boutique shops for Food & Wine in 2012. Which is why I recommend grabbing a bag of their A Love Supreme house blend so you understand what you’re signing up for: a transformative coffee drinking experience with beans that were roasted with love.

Fly Essentials

As many of you know, I am completely obsessed with the efficiency of packing cubes and sustainability. Eagle Creek brings the two together with their new line of Pack-It cubes made with 100% recycled materials, YKK zips and design modifications.
Rumpl, the versatile high-performance travel puffy blanket made with recycled synthetics, is having a huge farewell sale with everything 40% off. My Rumpl has served me quite well over the past couple of years and I highly recommend taking advantage of this deal!
Let’s face it: long flights suck and take a huge toll on your body. Sutera is a plush, high-density memory foam with ergonomic design to support your posture at your desk or on-the-go in uncomfortable airplane seats.

Get These Gadgets

OXO Good Grips Quick Release Multi Cherry Pitter: Just a reminder that it’s cherry season and cherry pitters never go out of style. Functioning like a hole punch for your fruit, these handy tools help to effortlessly pop out those tedious pits, making it easy to plow through a whole bag of fruit as a snack, sprinkle on a morning yogurt parfait, or polish off the top of an ice cream sundae.
As someone who has generally maintained a hodgepodge kitchen of wares, I’ve been long overdue for an upgrade. This sleek, top-rated seven-piece tri-ply stainless steel set from Goldilocks makes me feel like I’m operating in a professional kitchen with incredible versatility and durability.
Are you trying to spice up your life with a little ‘Brat summer’ inspo, but would rather stay at home than hit the club? May I recommend the Womanizer x Lovehoney InsideOut, a rechargeable g-spot and clitoral stimulator that will remind you of your self-worth so that you’re not instantly falling in love with the first person that touches you and ruining your whole life over it.
MORE FROM THE CONSUMPTION LOUNGE
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Consumption Lounge: The 2024 Guide to 4/20 in NYC and Beyond
Consumption Lounge: 16 Essential Buys For July Summer Travel
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