Automated Bartender?

Recently, we here at The Hedonistic Bar became aware of a 2 new technological gadgets that proclaim to help you make great cocktails at home. Both of these devices are able to connect to a smart phone or tablet. As our readers are aware, we are new to the world of smart phones and tablets. We wondered could these devices help us make better drinks at home or make cocktail creation easier? While neither of the products we are going to talk about here are available for purchase yet, we thought we would provide our readers with our take on this new technology.

Bernoli     https://bernooli.com/index_h.php

This device is a set of electronic pour spouts that you install on your liquor bottles. Along with the pour spouts, there is a app that you install on your smart phone or tablet. You use the app to select a drink recipe based on the liquor you have on hand or create you own recipe. Once you select a recipe the liquor bottles you will need to create the drink light up and the first one you pour flashes to alert you to begin here. Next you simply pour the bottle and the spout automatically pours the correct amount of booze. Each successive bottle will light up making recipes simple and easy to follow.




              


               




 Photo Courtesy Bernooli



Somabar     http://www.somabarkickstarter.com

Think of this as a Keurig for cocktails. This device has 6 pods for your favorite cocktail ingredients. Once loaded with ingredients you use a mobile app to find a drink recipe and order your drink. The makers tout the ability to add bitters in drinks as well as delivering a perfectly mixed drink every time. The device also flushes itself with water between drinks to prevent cross contamination of flavors.

                                                                                         

Photo Courtesy Somabar

While we have not had a chance to test either of these products, we are a bit skeptical of their effectiveness. We don't see how these devices can properly chill different cocktails or add just the right amount of bitters. To us, drink making is part science and part art. While you can precisely measure ingredients, it takes skill and tastes to determine the tartness of citrus on a particular day and adjust accordingly. We at The Hedonistic Bar will save our money for some rare whisk(e)y and continue to uses our shaker and mixing glass to craft our drinks.

We Are Back!

After a long hiatus here at the hedonistic bar we are back. It should come as no surprise to followers of this blog that we are big fans of cocktails created in the early 1900's. Well, it turns out we were also technological holdouts, until last week we were rocking flip phones that we almost as old as the cocktails that we love so much. We clearly understand that value of new and innovative cocktails, and now we have come to know the value of new innovative technology. While we still might be rocking it with a classic like a Hemingway Daiquiri or Sazerac, you will also see us drinking a Bronco Nagurski or Tragedy of Prohibition. Regardless of what we are drinking we will have our new smartphone and tablet along to capture it for our readers.

Scotch on a budget

Here at The Hedonistic Bar we are big fans of all types of whisk(e)y. Among our favorite types are scotch whisky. While we thoroughly enjoy a good single malt, we don't enjoy the sizable portion of our paycheck that is often required to purchase these scotches.  Recently, while having dinner at a friends house, we became aware of scotch at a place we would have never thought of, Trader Joe's. Most are familiar with Trader Joe's large selection of discount wines, but as we discovered this week, they also carry a small but quality selection of spirits.

We choose to purchase two scotches  from Trader Joe's and give them a try for you. The first scotch we tried was Lismore Speyside single malt scotch whisky. Being huge fans of scotch from the Speyside region, we were excited to try this malt. At only $17.99 for a 750 ml. bottle, it did not disappoint. Lismore was a nice amber color with rich caramel aroma and smooth mouth feel. Like many scotches from this region, the Lismore had a briny iodine characteristic that we greatly enjoyed. On par with scotch that cost 3 or 4 times as much, we highly recommend this as both a go to whisky to sip neat or as a mixing scotch for cocktails such as Godfathers and Blood and Sand. 

The second scotch that we purchased to try was Islay Storm single malt scotch whisky. At $19.99 for a 750 ml. bottle, this scotch is a terrific deal. While more of an acquired taste, we did enjoy this malt as well. With strong aroma of smoke, peat, and antiseptic, and a long finish, this scotch reminded us very much of the well known Islay scotch Laphroaig.  Definitely not for everyone, this scotch is still great on its own, or mixed in a cocktail. We are are excited to experiment more with this whisky.  

Warm up this weekend!

Looking for something fun to do this weekend? You could bundle up and head to the Saint Paul Winter Carnival. If you are like us though, you are probably sick and tired of the Polar Vortex that we are stuck in. Do not despair, we have a better idea. Instead of bundling up we suggest you dress up and join our friends at the North Star Bartenders Guild are hosting their own Winter Carnival of sorts.

This Saturday January 25th from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. join North Star Bartenders Guild (NSBG) members from some of the hottest bars in the Twin Cities while they create and share the recipes for 8 craft cocktails. In additions to craft cocktails, their will be winter carnival games, fortune tellers, burlesque dancers, and a photo booth. Sounds pretty hedonistic to us!

The hedonists have attended many past NSBG events and have had a fantastic time, we are sure this one will be a fun to too. To make this event even better, proceeds from this event are being donated to the charity, Hold Your Horses. Head on over to the NSBG facebook page for more information or get your tickets here.  

Carbonated Cure

The holidays are long gone and we have finished our celebrations and returned the bar to it's normal state of being. We're working on recipes and getting ourselves organized. To break our long silence we have found a few tidbits we thought you would find interesting. 

We observed several people partaking heavily of the celebration libations and were witness to the hangovers the following day. The hangover is the body's way of saying "You over did it bozo". The dehydration, stomach irritation, drop in blood sugar, inflammatory response, poor sleep, and dilation of the blood vessels all lead to those pleasant symptoms some of us are all too familiar with - blood shot eyes, headache, irritability, nausea, dizziness, and halitosis. So what do you do when your head is throbbing and every time you breathe it smells like hot zoo garbage? "Don't come near me." Well, aside from that. "Start drinking again!" That's about as good an idea as what got you here in the first place. 

Here at the Bar we've heard all kinds of cures. The best way to get rid of a hangover is to not get one in the first place. Space each one of your drinks with a glass of water. This will slow down how much you consume and will help to keep you hydrated. If you have decided to forego prevention, you have a few options to speed up recovery. There are all kinds of suggestions like drink lots of water, take aspirin, start drinking again, eat greasy food, and so on. We suggest a big cold glass of Sprite.

Researchers in China studied 57 different beverages to see which ones would help mitigate a hangover, and Sprite was found to cause a hungover individual to feel about 65% human after consuming it. Other drinks like some herbal teas made the hangover last longer. Why does the lemon-lime goodness work? Well, chemistry. When the body breaks down the alcohol it needs something to help metabolize it. Sprite and soda water were both found to speed up the liver enzyme's process of breakdown.

So, if you must party hard and forget the water, be sure to keep some Sprite in the fridge at home.

Cheers!

Homemade

We are quickly approaching Christmas so that means the stores are full of frantic people and shelves are mostly empty. Instead of joining the throngs of stressed out people, why not stay in the comfort of your own home and make a gift. We found a great recipe for bourbon-pecan truffles. They are easy to make and are decadent little treats. 

Bourbon-Pecan Truffles

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (we suggest Ghirardelli semisweet chips)

2 tablespoons bourbon whiskey (we suggest Old Heaven Hill bourbon)

1 cup finely chopped pecans

1. In medium saucepan, bring cream to boil; remove from heat; and add chocolate and bourbon. Let stand 3 minutes; whisk until smooth. Transfer chocolate to bowl and refrigerate uncovered until thick and firm enough to spoon out. About 2 hours.

2. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Drop teaspoons of chocolate mixture onto baking sheet and refrigerate until firm. About 30 minutes. 

3. Place pecans in a shallow bowl. Using hands, roll each chocolate mound into a ball and roll in pecans, pressing lightly to adhere. Place on baking sheet and refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes to one hour. Store in air tight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

You can modify this recipe many ways too. If you don't want to use pecans to coat the truffles, roll the mix in cocoa powder. You can also swap out the bourbon for one of your other favorite spirits like Amaretto or Irish Cream. 

Enjoy!

Get in the Spirits

Today's gift selection for our readers - barreled cocktails. There are lots of make your own kits out on the market. We haven't tried out any of those kits ourselves so we can't say how well they work. What we do know is that High West makes a very good barrel aged cocktail. Simply chill a bottle down in the refrigerator and pour, cocktailing could not be simpler. They have two choices, the barrel aged Boulevardier and the barreled Manhattan.

High West is not able to ship these fine spirits so you'll have to find a place near you that has them in stock, or hope that Santa brings some to you.

Cheers!