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.