Coreen Carrol is the co-founder of Cannaisseur Series a monthly underground dining series in San Francisco that offers “Seasonal cuisine infused and paired with artisanal local cannabis”. They also offer private & corporate dining . Additionally, Coreen is the co-author of the best selling cannabis cookbook Edibles.
Cannabis Edibles and Drink Review was thrilled to hear Coreen’s story!
CEDR: How did you come up with the idea to start the series and what were some of the early reactions that you received?
Coreen: I loved to cook for people and I loved to consume cannabis. So coming up with the Cannaisseur Series was actually something that started in my head over a decade ago. It just seemed unattainable at the time. I moved out to San Francisco with my now husband in 2012. We started a cannabis edibles company in 2013 with two other partners. It grew wildly popular and we won awards from High Times Cups and others. We were in 40+ dispensaries in six months after launch. It taught me alot about what the industry was, and what it needed. My husband and I moved on from the company and started the Cannaisseur Series. It was an instant success. We provided the market a new way to consume cannabis.
CEDR: Transitioning to 2015 and the Cannaisseur Series, can you share a little bit about how you began and how it’s evolved?
Coreen: The concept came from wanting to have a safe and enjoyable space to not only consume cannabis but also to learn directly from the people growing, producing and manufacturing those products. Before 2016, during Prop 64, there was nothing like this. My passion is to cook with cannabis and to create super curated events that focused on that. In 2015, my husband and I launched the first monthly cannabis pop up restaurant. We started on a local dining platform called Eatwith, which connects local chefs and cooks with visiting tourists from around the world. After a few months we grew pretty popular and built out our own website with the help of our friends at FEW of MANY. We now not only offer monthly events, but also a variety of private and corporate dining options.
CEDR: What happens at one of your public events?
Coreen: They always start off with a reception where I introduce the zero-proof cocktail for the evening and we pass two to three low dose THC appetizers. You can truly have everything once and have a comfortable effect . During the welcome reception, you’re also getting to talk to the different sponsors for the evening. There’s usually a flower sponsor, an edible sponsor, a product and some kind of concentrate. And people mix and mingle.
Sometimes we have music or a live performer. Next, we guide everyone to the seating hall. We serve 40 people and we’ve arrived at that number through trial and error. 40 is just like the magic number. We tested out 20. We tested out 60 which results in too many high people. 20 is not enough. 40 is that great magic number. And it always gives us great control of the room.
Once everybody sits down, we guide them through four different courses.
I infuse all of the courses with non-psychoactive parts of the plant and then in-between courses we do intermezzos of joint pairing.
And so they have their first joint as the first course gets cleared. We start off with Sativa. Then they go into a CBD joint as the second course is cleared and then they go into an Indica joint break before dessert.
CEDR: And what’s the methodology for the CBD in the middle?
Coreen: Because they have had the cannabis edibles at the beginning. And once that CBD is introduced, it’s been about two hours since they have had all their THC and I do that to level out the room again. It is a bit of a roller coaster of psycho-activity for everyone, but our goal is always to make sure that nobody gets so high that they’re not having a good time. I want them to be at a really comfortable level and I do that by introducing a lot of CBD throughout as the CBD counteracts the THC. They have CBD joints, but they also have things like CBD water that we offer on the tables and CBD cocktails too that they can order. And when I say cocktails, these are zero proof cocktails.
They get sent home with a gift of a fresh cannabis edibles that I made, as well as gifts from all of the sponsors.
CEDR: Does the main course contain THC or is it only in the appetizers?
Coreen: Only in the appetizers. I want them to feel the edible while they’re still under my control.
And if I did it in the third or fourth course, then they would go home and I won’t have an ability to keep them at a nice level anymore. So, when they walk out my door, they have ingested that Indica, but they’ve had so much CBD in their system and other cannabinoids that it’s a really nice full spectrum experience. Not everyone is a fan of these heavy Indica type flowers. But I definitely feel that everyone should try them to understand them. That’s why I add a bunch of CBD before they have the Indica. So they just feel great.
CEDR: What are some of the venues that you typically work with?
Coreen: We’ve worked with such a variety. I mean, we didn’t have many to choose from early on. We mostly stuck to warehouses at the beginning and warehouses rarely have kitchens, so we ended up renting a bunch of stuff and just making it work. I’m happy to say that today we’re in a beautiful restaurant space that we rent out in a gorgeous part of the city and it’s truly like dining out at a cannabis restaurant.
CEDR: Can you tell us about your upcoming event in Chicago
Coreen: It’s our first event outside of California. And a dear friend of mine from high school who has lived out there for the last 15 years has this beautiful event space. He invited us to come do one of our events out there. And so we’re really excited. Unfortunately due to the craziness in our world right now, we had to postpone the event. But if anyone is interested in this event or any of our curated events, please sign up for our guest on our website (www.cannaisseurseries.com) to be notified of any upcoming dates near you.
CEDR: Thanks Coreen. You have an amazing concept!
