A unique cannabis-tasting experience has been taking root across the Hudson Valley, New York City, and Long Island. The Flower Hour offers guided cannabis tasting and educational events highlighting strains and infused products from licensed cultivators and processors in New York's emerging legal cannabis market.
"We were inspired to start based on the question: Can we do this?" explains Scott Brenner, a co-founder of The Flower Hour. "We've always wanted to bring that Amsterdam-style coffee shop vibe to New York."
Drawing from his hospitality industry experience working wine tastings and events with business partner Anthony Colasacco, the owner of POUR Boutique Bar & Eatery in Mount Kisco, Brenner saw an opportunity to apply a similar tasting format to cannabis. "I was pitching cannabis tasting flights to cultivators at networking events, and Anthony said, 'Why don't we just do that here?'" Thus, the concept for The Flower Hour was sparked.
The momentum only grew as Ryan Lepore, a NY cannabis industry veteran and advocate, joined the team to co-found the concept. Having grown up in Westchester, Lepore was the perfect partner to help educate and elevate appreciation for high-quality flower among the area's discerning yet curious smokers.
Brenner connected with Austin Davis of Pre-Pack to incorporate his sleek, user-friendly chillum pipes into the experience. The chillums allowed guests to focus their senses on each strain's nuanced flavors, terpenes, aromas and effects.
Their inaugural tasting in January 2023 at POUR was an overwhelming success. Word quickly spread about the unique and intimate experience of sampling cannabis strains side-by-side in a sophisticated, educational yet familiar setting. The Flower Hour had tapped into something special - bringing the european-style "coffee shop" vibe to Westchester's affluent scene.
In a delightful twist of fate, they crossed paths with Stephanie Black, an impassioned educator who volunteered at their summer Puff Picnic in Beacon - coincidentally attended college at the same time as Lepore. Stephanie's contagious enthusiasm convinced her this was her calling, and she came onboard as director of operations.
With the addition of Harrison Wise, a marketing strategist, and former agency owner with deep experience in cannabis media and marketing, the Flower Hour founding team was complete and ready to fire on all cylinders. The stage was set to take Westchester's canna scene to new and elevated heights.
"We saw the concept resonated in Westchester," notes Brenner. "It shows the normalization of cannabis consumption among an affluent but productive crowd who just want to gather socially to consume cannabis someplace other than their homes or on sidewalks outside their favorite venues."
Over time the events remain consistently intimate, with around 50-65 attendees at a typical Flower Hour session. Guests receive a gift bag containing strain highlights, tasting notes and cultivator/brand information. Experiential and educational stations for rolling, vaping, edibles, and more allow people to explore at their own pace. Adding to the progressive nature of Flower Hour, their events are alcohol-free, with non-alcoholic beverage options and mocktails available.
"We want people to come back and experience flower with intention each time," says Brenner. "It's about conscious consumption in a normalized atmosphere."
What particularly resonates is the crowd’s diversity, from cannabis novices to legacy market connoisseurs. "There's no ego—it's a social experiment seeing people engage so openly about their experiences," describes Brenner. "We're facilitating that level of conversation."
The Flower Hour team has rapidly built relationships with cultivators, brands, processors, and retailers across New York's newly licensed markets. "There's so much to learn as this industry develops its supply chains and quality standards. We want to expose people to everything out there ."
While some products may not meet expectations, Flower Hour sees an educational opportunity. "We're not here to say indoor is better than outdoor or this cultivator is better than that one," notes Brenner. "We want people to taste the difference and understand the nuances between products across all environments.”
The approachable, demo-focused model also resonates with the cannabis businesses that collaborate with Flower Hour activations to raise brand awareness and community engagement. Brenner cites examples of relationships being forged and deals being closed over a social smoke session.
"It's like the two-martini lunch, but with a modern cannabis twist," he describes. "We're building those comfortable settings for people to connect."
Members of the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), alongside prominent cannabis industry lawyers and stakeholders, are working to create a social consumption model to support the education of products in the licensed market and to establish a healthy consumer packaged goods industry.
“With our insistence on safety, education, and responsible use, paired with the state's guidance, Flower Hour strives to provide legitimacy to the New York social consumption program,” says Brenner.
Looking ahead, The Flower Hour is poised to expand its educational format with additional events like greenhouse tours, food and music festivals, and multi-course cannabis-paired dinners under their aptly-named "High Cuisine" Supper Club series.
"Our mission is to normalize consumption through these elevated experiences," he states. "We want to demonstrate consumer confidence in New York's licensed cannabis market and all this incredible plant has to offer."
