How to Host with Weed: Summer Parties with Jamie Evans, part 1

[00:00:06] Jamie Evans: There’s just a very elevated way to approach cannabis and there is a kind of sewer to cannabis as well. I think when people think about cannabis, like they think about a wine, it just gives this like aha moment.

[00:00:21] Ellen Scanlon: Welcome to How To Do the Pot, the award-winning podcast, helping you feel confident about cannabis.

[00:00:26] I’m your host, Ellen Scanlon.

[00:00:35] You just heard from Jamie Evans, the founder of the Psalm, a Culinary meets cannabis blog and lifestyle brand. Jamie is a four-time published author, a certified sommelier, and an entrepreneur focusing on the culinary side of the cannabis industry. If you caught my recent episodes with Nicole Brown about the rise of low-dose THC drinks, today’s conversation [00:01:00] builds on that idea and takes it in a new direction towards a hospitality.

[00:01:06] In today’s show, we’ll explore how the wine industry inspired Jamie’s vision for cannabis, how cannabis drinks are changing the way people socialize. And Jamie shares her best tips for hosting a summer gathering that feels welcoming, safe, and fun for guests at every comfort level with weed. I hope you enjoy part one of my conversation with Jamie Evans.

[00:01:31] If you haven’t read my most recent Substack newsletter yet, go take a look. Jamie shares her recipe for cantaloupe, AUA Fresca from her book High Times Cannabis Cocktails. It’s really a perfect summer drink, fresh, hydrating, and easy to make. I. You can customize the THC level to whatever feels right for you by adding off duty, a fast acting cannabis shot from 1906.

[00:01:58] It’s unflavored low [00:02:00] dose and blends seamlessly into any drink. If you wanna try it, head to 1906. Do shop and use the promo code. Do the pot for 15% off your order. I’d love to hear what you think if you try it.

[00:02:24] Tell me more about where your interest in wine started and how you started this very long and difficult process to become a sommelier.

[00:02:33] Jamie Evans: Yeah, so I started studying wine back when I started at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. So I graduated high school, went straight into the wine and viticulture program, majored in wine and viticulture with a concentration in wine business.

[00:02:47] And so during that time it was such an incredible experience. We did sensory evaluation classes. I learned how to make wine. I worked in the vineyard one quarter, so it really gave you. A great perspective of the wine industry. [00:03:00] Also, during that time, there was different opportunities where I could travel around the world and learn about wine.

[00:03:06] So I studied in Australia for one quarter. I also went to Europe and studied in Switzerland, France, and Italy. So that was a program that really focused on international wine. And coming out of college, I just had this very deep knowledge of the wine industry. I started working at Kendall Jackson, at Jackson Family Wines and kind of got like my, my marketing fix when I was there.

[00:03:29] Worked with a very big corporate company. After that, I decided I kind of wanna do the nonprofit world in the wine industry, so I moved to Napa. Which was an incredible experience. I got to know many of the growers that are over there, and I worked at the Napa Valley Grape Growers and then I went down to San Francisco.

[00:03:45] I wanted to get back to the city, and uh, I helped launch a small tasting room called Jack’s Vineyards. And so they’re still in San Francisco on Brandon Street. It’s a very cool wine bar. At that time, I really worked the CEO, him and I, and I [00:04:00] really learned how to be an entrepreneur and wear many hats. So I think that was a very important step in becoming the herb sum or what I kind of do today.

[00:04:08] But coming from the wine space, when I launched my blog, I really wanted to bring what I learned in the wine industry to cannabis. And so that’s kind of where the name, the Herb Sum came along. And I really wanted to focus on culinary cannabis, which was like the perfect tie into my background. This is.

[00:04:28] Ellen Scanlon: Having that deep experience, a global experience, international experience, what lessons have you brought from the wine world to the cannabis world, especially for women? I.

[00:04:40] Jamie Evans: When cannabis went recreationally legal in 2018, I really wanted to host a dinner series and I called it Thursday Infused. And so I worked with a lot of different women, women chefs to bring this event together.

[00:04:52] And the best thing about this event, it was actually a rotating roster of chefs that I worked with and I think one of like the first [00:05:00] female chefs I worked with, her name’s Chef Kare Carroll. I love her to death. She’s been like a role model in so many ways, but she really taught me how to cook with cannabis.

[00:05:08] And so all of the things that I learned from creating infusions to treating cannabis as a culinary item, I, I definitely owe it to her as well. Some other ladies that were in the, the culinary cannabis space during that time. But my idea was to really bring people together during this event and give them a safe place to ask questions, bring their friends, and it was a very like low dose.

[00:05:29] Cannabis experience and people could customize their dose, which I think was or is still incredibly important for any cannabis event, especially when you’re serving infused foods, because sometimes people would come and they’re like, oh, I’m not very comfortable with eating cannabis infused foods. I’d rather have no infusion at all.

[00:05:48] So they would just come enjoy the meal. And like be with their friends and then some people would want 2.5 milligrams of THC where other people could up their dose. For me, it was just like creating these unique [00:06:00] types of events where people can, can connect and it just so happened that during that time a lot of these people that were coming were women.

[00:06:07] I think that’s what makes cannabis so special is this group of women that we have in the space.

[00:06:12] Ellen Scanlon: Yeah, it’s been such a long time. I mean, when you talk about 20 17, 20 18, like this podcast started in 2019, it feels like a different world in a lot of ways.

[00:06:26] For sure. And what we’re seeing now, I think with the rise of THC drinks with the rise of more access outside of dispensaries is women kind of over 35 that are reconsidering cannabis. I think a lot of it has to do with the reconsideration of alcohol and people trying to balance the different substances that they’re using.

[00:06:50] Are you hearing different questions now than you did when you started?

[00:06:55] Jamie Evans: Oh yeah, for sure. I think there’s definitely more interest in like Nons, smokeable products, [00:07:00] so that means edibles and certainly drinkables back in 2017, drinks weren’t really like a big category, but over these past seven, eight years that I’ve been in the space, this category is.

[00:07:13] Growing so much and there’s so much room to explore and it’s very approachable for new people coming into the space because we all love beverages more than ever. I’m hearing just a lot of questions about drinks, about dosages, and then also I think cannabis is so special because there’s so many categories.

[00:07:33] So we have wellness products, we have beauty products. There’s just so many ways that you can experience the plant to help you feel more balanced and really help with your daily life. And CBD is always a great place to start if you’re kind of curious. But I always kind of point to the cannabis beverages because I think at a low dose people have a really good time.

[00:07:54] Ellen Scanlon: One of the things that has been standing out to me a little bit is that the way that a lot of brands are [00:08:00] positioning the cannabis drinks is as an alcohol alternative, which I absolutely think it is, but I also think they’re talking about it as sort of a social alternative. And my experience in talking to people is that.

[00:08:14] Especially in California where we can’t go out to a bar or a restaurant and and get one of these very easily, it feels more like an at home small group kind of event. What are you seeing in terms of like when and where people are trying cannabis drinks?

[00:08:28] Jamie Evans: Yeah, that’s such a good question. For the most part.

[00:08:32] The industry is really focusing on calling them like social tonics, especially the low dose beverages. And so I have a little different perspective because I host a lot of events that focus like on introducing cannabis cocktails and cannabis drinks to folks. But I know that, let’s say like during the summertime, I think if someone wants to enjoy something besides alcohol.

[00:08:53] They’ll go to a dispensary or order from their favorite delivery service, just like a box of can [00:09:00] or a box of, you know, AET and bring that to the function. And a lot of times when people are bringing their favorite cannabis drinks to these events or to their friend circles, right, they’re introducing their friends to these products.

[00:09:11] And it’s kind of like word of mouth in that way. And then, you know, hopefully one day we’ll start seeing as regulations begin to change. I would love to see cannabis beverage bars where you can actually go in and have that cocktail experience that we have in the regular traditional alcohol space. One of the exciting things too is seeing the growth of onsite consumption spaces or lounges.

[00:09:32] Here in California, and I know that there’s a lot of places now that are trying to incorporate more beverage focused experiences. And so in just a few weeks I’m actually going to Urbana, it’s a dispensary over in Oakland and they have a gorgeous onsite consumption lounge, so we’re gonna do a cannabis cocktail and pairing party.

[00:09:54] And uh, that’ll be a great way for their customers to come in and experience cannabis drinks firsthand. So.

[00:09:59] Ellen Scanlon: [00:10:00] Yeah, well you are exactly who I wanna talk to about this because I feel like you are so focused on hospitality and people always having a wonderful time. And what are the keys to hosting a cannabis event or, or introducing your friends that you want everyone to know?

[00:10:20] Jamie Evans: So I think one of the most important things, it all begins with education. So not like, no matter what type of experience you’re hosting, you always wanna be sure people are comfortable with the products that you’re serving. You always wanna label that what’s infused, what’s not infused. And then you always just wanna kind of like communicate throughout the event with people, like check in how you feeling, and then kind of like introduce the different products that were there.

[00:10:45] And so one of the things that I’ve started to do with the Herbal Cocktail Co, which is the mobile cannabis bartending company that I’m working with, we’re focused on hosting more cocktail experiences, but we like to work with other partners in the cannabis space. Base to kind of host little [00:11:00] educational popups throughout the event so people can learn about Sables or learn about edibles and like just have the opportunity to connect with the producer or connect with the grower they like, who are bringing their flower down from their farm and have that one-on-one.

[00:11:14] I think that’s so important, especially as you’re kind of new to cannabis. It really helps you better connect with the plant in that way. And it’s the same thing with wine. Like you go to a wine industry event, you meet like the wine maker and it just, it’s like so cool to have that, that one-on-one. So I think the same thing goes if you invite like the actual farmer down to give them a chance to connect with the community is really important to me.

[00:11:37] Ellen Scanlon: Yeah. I also feel like the entrepreneurship part of cannabis is sort of the under talked about part. You know, it’s easy to meet founders because they’re often really, really passionate about helping people understand what it is that makes their products so special.

[00:11:54] Jamie Evans: Absolutely. I think that was like one of the main reasons I wanted to cross over to cannabis from [00:12:00] wine.

[00:12:00] Is because of like all the entrepreneurs that I was meeting during that time, and a lot of those entrepreneurs were women, and I just thought that was the coolest thing is like, Hey, this is an industry that you can come into. You can be a woman, you can be the CEO, you can have your own business where that’s like a little bit more challenging in the wine industry.

[00:12:19] And at that time I just like connected with this amazing group. We’re still very close friends and it’s just been incredible to see each other thrive and businesses grow over the years. So yeah, I just love like that entrepreneurial spirit that cannabis has for sure. I.

[00:12:32] Ellen Scanlon: Yeah, I do too. I was really, really drawn to it in the beginning and it’s been a challenging time to be at the emergence of what I think we all believe is going to be a huge category.

[00:12:44] The timing of it. You know, we did a, a three part series about alcohol and cannabis and uh, a big episode about prohibition and I think sometimes about, you know, it’s been 90 years. Since alcohol prohibition ended and those first [00:13:00] five, maybe even 10 years, were probably very chaotic. We don’t experience that really anymore, except for maybe a handful of laws that seem a little bit strange, like you can’t do something on a Sunday, or you have to buy it in a certain spot, but cannabis, you know, we are right in it.

[00:13:15] And so as the category is emerging and people are getting excited, the interior side of it from a business perspective. Has been really challenging for a lot of businesses and I don’t really have anything to say other than that. It’s just, you know, I commend you for building this business, for sticking with it.

[00:13:33] This is not for the faint of heart, and I think that so many people really believe in the plant. When you think about. Sort of like as a podcaster, I’m always thinking about things that people can’t unhear. So like if you hear something and, and suddenly like, whatever your preconceptions were, you just can’t unhear them.

[00:13:53] When you have these events, you know, are there moments when you feel like there’s sort of been like an unlock for someone? Like they’re a little bit nervous, [00:14:00] but they come in and they realize like, oh, I’m gonna be okay. This is fun. Yeah. Oh yeah. All

[00:14:05] Jamie Evans: the time. And I think like when I first came into the space, like coming from the wine industry, I really wanted to do cannabis and wine pairings because I think there’s so many similarities between the two, whether it’s aromas, flavors, growing practices, and just like the nuances that you can actually experience in a pairing.

[00:14:23] And so when I would host these types of things, I still do this to this day actually, but I think when people think about cannabis, like they think about a wine. It just gives this like aha moment. They’re like, oh my gosh, like this is a culinary item. I can pair it with different foods. You can enjoy it in different ways than just like smoking and getting really high.

[00:14:43] There’s just a very elevated way to approach cannabis and there is a conno sewer ship to cannabis as well, which people don’t usually think about, but when you compare it to wine, I think that has always been the kind of the greatest moment for people to really kind of unlock those secrets of cannabis and help them [00:15:00] greater appreciate the plant.

[00:15:02] Ellen Scanlon: Thank you for listening to How to Do the Pot. Stay tuned for part two of my conversation with Jamie Evans. We’ll dive deeper into cannabis drinks, talk about what happens when you mix weed and alcohol, and Jamie shares her tips for how to host an unforgettable event.

[00:15:23] For lots more information and past episodes, visit do the pot.com, and that’s also where you can sign up for my Substack newsletter. If you like how to do the pot, please rate and review us on the podcast platform that you use for listening. It really helps more people find the show. Thank you to our producer Nick Patri.

[00:15:44] I’m Ellen Scanlon, and stay tuned for more of how to Do the Pot.