In some ways, pot enthusiasts are starting to style themselves more like sommeliers—even taking on names like ganjiers and cannasseurs. According to Allison Edrington, Editor-in-Chief of cannabis website The Ganjier, the term ganjier was spawned by the site’s co-founder, Kevin Jodery, and "a couple of guys" who wanted to create a word to describe themselves, but that could also be applied to any cannabis expert.
"The word ganjier is a play off of sommelier and it means having that knowledge of cannabis at a high level that involves a lot of passion," says Edrington. "It’s a way of reclaiming status in a culture that has been, in a lot of ways, denied—so adopting words like cannasseur is taking it back—playfully adopting it." A cannasseur, Edrington explains, refers to someone who enjoys, and is very well versed in, the flavors and the experience of marijuana. One who can evaluate the drug, but may not be on the production side, like a ganjier.
As cannabis enthusiasts adopt a more serious approach to getting high, sommeliers are looking at wine in a newly relaxed and casual way. Thusly, both groups are working to transcend stereotypes fixed to their respective cultures for decades, and to appeal to a broader audience.
Consider, The Clever Root, a new online magazine from those behind two very serious wine publications—The Tasting Panel and The Somm Journal. According to Meridith May, the publisher of all three magazines, The Clever Root is about "everything that grows," including marijuana, and the site even employs Edrington as its Cannabis Editor.
It’s also an open secret among wine professionals that many California producers make weed-infused wines—popular varietals include syrah, cabernet, grenache, and viognier—for private consumption, or for sharing with friends. Making weed-wine involves co-fermenting wine with weed, and adding a portion of dried and ground marijuana to a barrel while the wine ferments, at which point THC is extracted and infuses into the wine over the course of about nine months.
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