LAST SATURDAY OF THE DECADE!! VIDEODROME

Tonight we celebrate the last Saturday of the decade at El Dorado with a very special Videodrome edition of Young Guns. For those who dont know, Videodrome employs cutting edge video DJ technology to project your favorite music videos live onto the dancefloor in sync with the DJs mixing. It will blow your mind. Lets have a good time!

TO GET IN FREE B4 11 EMAIL FULL NAMES TO:
groundflooronline@gmail.com

OP: ELDo BITTERS (aka Schmidtters)

On a recent trip to Chicago, I was lucky enough to check out an awesome cocktail lounge: The Violet Hour. If you happen to be in Chi-Town, I highly suggest you mozy up to the bar and let the good people behind the stick work their magic.

While there, I was inspired. Ya see, they feature more than 30 housemade varieties of cocktail bitters.

"Why bitters?" I asked.

Mike Ryan, one of their esteemed staff members replied, "It's the salt & pepper of cocktails."

Well put, sir!

That being said, I had to create our own little batch at ELDo. I mean what's a cocktail bar without housemade bitters, right? (read as: another way for Anthony to fool around and experiment on weird shit) :)

So, with the guidance of our new friends from the Violet Hour, and several OUTSTANDING bloggers (namely, this guy, this guy, and this guy... not to mention this awesome convo on eGullet) I set out on my maiden "bitters making" voyage. The experiment proceeded as follows...



Gentian 2.5 g
Calamus 1/2 oz
Star anise (4)
Cinnamon (1 stick)
Whole Clove (10)
Ginger (dried) 1/2 oz
Cardamom 1/2 oz
Coriander 1/4 oz
Juniper (whole) 1/4 oz

The above ingredients were set to rest in 750ml of base spirit for two weeks. We tested two base spirits: Rittenhouse Rye (bottled in bond - 100 prf) as well as Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum. The high proof spirits help extract the flavor from the ingredients. They also add their own unique flavor (hence the two-spirit test). We shook the jars once daily to agitate the mix and help the maceration.



After a week the color of the rum mix really started to darken:



After two weeks, we filtered the stuff through a britta and added simple syrup (1:1, sugar:water - didn't want to over sweeten the deal) to bring down the proof and round off the flavors. When I made the simple syrup I first boiled the leftover bits and twigs from the maceration. Then, I filtered and added equal parts sugar.

The Result?





I'm very excited to announce, 'they're Not that bad!!!' I was expecting something much worse. Granted, I had a couple of the best teachers a guy could get.

Now, they aren't exactly the greatest either... the star anise is too dominant. The clove is somewhat lost. And a bit more cinnamon might not hurt. I think the whiskey is better than the rum, but I'm the minority... most dig the rum. In the next batch I'm planning to add a couple more herbs/spices that compliment each other while adding some complexity. I'm also planning a little orange bitters experiment, too.

How might you change the recipe?
___________________________________________

And a cocktail to complete the test?

Schmidtters and Rye OLD FASHIONED - has a nice ring to it, huh

2 barspoons simple syrup (1:1... preferably the leftover syrup from the batch)
4 dashes Schmidtters (Rye base)
2 oz Rye Whiskey

Add ingredients and Ice to a double old-fashioned glass. Stir. Taste. Garnish with Lemon zest. Enjoy.




Happy drinking and Happy Holidays, y'all!

- Anthony Schmidt



PS: if you're trying this recipe at home, some of the ingredients can be tough to find. Here in SD, if you're impatient (like me) there's a great little herb/spice shop called In Harmony. Another shop, Tenzin Momo, will have everything you could ever need at screamin' deals, but they're in Seattle. Either way, you'll be set //// Have Fun and let me know how your experiment goes!

Too Much to Include In the Title

Ok people, it's thee last Boys & Girls of 2009, and it's going to be ridiculous. Too much good stuff - Tescia's going away party (she's off to NYC) and Erick Diaz's 41st bday bash. Poppin' bottles.....of cheap champagne. Plus we are doing a little sweater party, so come tacky. 4 peeps providing music - Erick Diaz, Mr. Biggs, Gabe Vega, and Adam Salter. Click here to RSVP and get in for free before 11PM. Get there early!

Check out the latest Boys & Girls video by none other than Mac. His work gets better everytime. Click play to view the madness w/ DJ sets by The Rapture, Richie Panic, Adam Salter, Mr. Biggs, Erick Diaz, and Ms. Toats.

Boys&Girls RapturePanic from mac nguyen on Vimeo.

Happy Houred wants to celebrate... Dec. 17

Happy Houred is a new search engine/iPhone app that tracks... well... Happy Hours! They're focused in major markets like NY, SF, LA, Chi, etc. Now, after a bunch of fan requests, San Diego is gettin' theirs!

SD folks can now use the iPhone app/Online features to find the best local happy hour deals as well as other great features like geolocating/google maps, bar type, specific drink and food offers, and easy-to-use cataloging.

To celebrate, Happy Houred is coming to El Dorado and hosting a kick-off soiree, Thursday Dec. 17. Thanks to our friends at Alchemy there will be FOOD! Thanks to DonQ Rum there will be BOOZE (in the form of seasonal cocktails). AND... Like the iPhone app, food stuffs and drinks are on the Happy Houred crew's tab – OPEN BAR FROM 6-8p – So, bring friends and catch some truly awesome savings before the xmas spending spree!

Hope to see you there

xoxo

– The Happy Houred crew & ELDo

PS:

What would an ELDo iPhone app be like? interesting...

ALL THINGS RAD COMMERCIAL...

All Things Rad from Garvin Ha on Vimeo.

ALL THINGS RAD PT. DEUX... TWS & IRON MIKE'S B-DAY JUMPOFF!!!

We're BACK!!! ALL THINGS RAD PT. DEUX... After the success of the first ATR, Profile, Iron Mike & the Gang have teamed up with Transworld Skateboarding Magazine and Dj Blairely Legal to help celebrate one of SD's favorite sons, Dj Iron Mike's B-Day JUMPOFF!!! And we are asking you to bring whatever canned food or non perishable items to help support the Alphanumeric / Transworld / St. Vincent De Paul canned food drive... It's gonna be a MONSTER!!!

YOUNG GUNS THIS SATURDAY!

Young Guns is back this Saturday and its the last one of the year!! 2009 has been a great run with so many awesome guest DJs and high spirited party folk. We are gonna end the year right with both of El Dorado's Saturday night residents, Groundfloor & Adam Salter!!

To get in free b4 11 email full names to:

groundflooronline@gmail.com

El Dorado wants to celebrate its Bday with you...

Hello there!

If you're reading this message, you're one of our favorite human beings!! Seriously! It's due to the support of folks like yourself that ELDo has reached it's first Birfday. Thank You!

To celebrate your efforts, and our growing business, we've decided to buy you HOT DOGS!

Be warned: This is not a joke. This Thursday night (Dec. 3), we are seriously parking a hot dog cart on our back patio and letting y'all have at a couple "Seattle Style" Cream Cheese Dogs!!! We know packing down a couple of these bombers can be a daunting task, so we're also offering a bittered tonic (of sorts)... from 8-10p we'll be featuring a hosted Mule bar! That's right!! as if you needed more exclamation marks - well, friends here's a couple more at ya!!!!!!!! We'll be serving our standard Moscow Mules as well as Bourbon Mules AND Dark & Stormies (Rum Mules) ON THE HOUSE*

What about music, you say? Food and drank is good-&-all, but we've sorta gotten a name for fun music too... we've invited some of our best DJ's to help host the party. From 8-9:30 Rat.Star (Dj Ratty) will kick off the night. Then, Saul Q will follow-up with a set. And last, but definitely not least, DJ Groundfloor will close the festivities.

The details:

(click on the flier or here for facebook rsvp)

ELDo's First Anniversary Party

Thursday, Dec. 3

Hosted Hot Dogs and Mules from 8-10p (sounds kinda bizarre)

DJ's ALL NIGHT

**This event will be a first-come-first-serve type of shindig. Mention this message at the door, and get here early if you're looking to take advantage of the sweet deals**

Come hungry/thirsty and bring friends who might also appreciate us the way y'all do.

So, thanks again for supporting our endeavors and hope to see you Thursday night!

xoxo,

The Management

Sat., Dec 5: Boys & Girls brings RICHIE PANIC

Here are some pics from the last Boys & Girls w/ The Rapture

Boys & Girls brings you another night sure to be ridiculous! RICHIE PANIC of the legendary Blow Up San Francisco, and Frisco Disco parties, will be there to show us why he is the face of indie dance music in SF. Last time he was in SD he tore the roof off of U31....so come prepared. Mr. Biggs and Adam Salter will be on decks as well to get the party started......RIGHT!

4 Other Reasons Not To Miss Saturday:

+Norton - Behind the Lens
+Mac - #1 Videographer
+Carla - Party Extraordinaire
+Daniel - Party Officianado

RICHIE PANIC INFO:
http://www.richiepanic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/richiepanicisagenious

INFO ON MR. BIGGS
http://www.myspace.com/coreybiggsevents

INFO ON ADAM SALTER
http://www.myspace.com/theanalogshow