We live in the future. As if there was any doubt before.

SceneTap isn’t new. It’s been around since last year. But it is finally coming west to the great city by the Bay. Launching tomorrow in San Francisco, SceneTap uses facial recognition technology (captured by video cameras) to determine the age and gender of patrons entering bars with the system installed. What this means is that at any time you can use their app (download here) to get a headcount, along with the demographic composition of the crowd at your local watering hole. Which is great if you’re sick of dealing with all the recently graduated coeds in 6″ heels and tight dresses. Or, conversely, you’re seeking out that sort of company.

Sample screen from a bar in Austin

But the real beneficiaries are the bars themselves. For the first time they get an automated customer tracking system that will clue them in on who’s coming in and when. And based on the liquor consumption, determine what they’re drinking.

Of course, as with any tracking technology, privacy concerns have arisen—most notably with the imminent integration of the San Francisco market. It is potentially unsettling to know that you’re being tracked and tallied as part of a veritable marketer’s wet dream.

But while these dystopic, Minority Report feelings are justified, SceneTap is not the first company of it’s kind. A predecessor, Barspace, that launched amidst similar civil liberties and privacy controversy, installed cameras to stream live footage from participating city bars on its website and mobile app. For the record, Barspace has been pulled from the App Store and their website given back over to the SEO machine.

We’ll see how long SceneTap lasts. But whether you’re happy or horrified by the prospect, the cameras turn on this Friday. Josey and I will be out of town, but we’d love to hear how accurately it works. So wear a big hat and sunglasses and get in there to see if the M/F and age stats are correct! In the meantime, let us know how you feel about this new “service” below.

For a list of supported bars, including Enthusiast favorites Bamboo Hut, Kozy Kar and R Bar, check out SceneTap’s venue page here.

Surveillance camera photo courtesy of spsurveillance.com, Flickr.

We threw a party on Saturday to celebrate the rare congruence of Cinco de Mayo and Derby Day. To ensure we were properly lubricated, the Enthusiasts supplied Margaritas and Mint Juleps. And, with the help of Cashmere Agency we able to secure a sponsorship from none other than the legendary Pabst Blue Ribbon! (For those of you who know me, this is a momentous accomplishment, to be sure).

Costumes were strongly suggested (parties are always more fun with costumes!). The theme was Pirates/Superheros/Spirit animals. And our guests were happy to comply.

A lovely ladybug

Kittie cuties

And this guy

We had the crew from Pulse Generator making music (following an epic tribute to MCA).

And of course your dauntless hosts behind the bar.

Big thanks to everyone who helped make this happen. From Davi, Conor and Sam for graciously letting us use their space—amazingly located above the strip clubs and porn stores on Broadway. To Spencer for helping coordinate the beer and generally making it happen. To Duncan for loaning us sick sound equipment. To Sterling for manning the camera. To Kosta at Cashmere. To Pabst for graciously providing beer. To everyone else mentioned above. And of course all our wonderful guests. We can’t wait to see you next time!

Want to see more? Check out the full photo album on our Facebook page.

I’ve had a love affair with the Negroni for a few months now. Hailing from Italy, this is the seminal drink involving Campari. The more popular legend has it that one day in 1919 Count Camillo Negroni, living and drinking in Florence, asked his bartender, Fosco Scarcelli, to give his usual Americano (Campari, sweet vermouth and soda water) a little extra kick. Fosco obligingly substituted gin for the soda, and an eternal classic was born. The less popular legend is that the French general Pascal Olivier Count de Negroni invented the drink “to aid digestion.”

It must be noted that the Negroni Anitca Distilleria endorses the Count Camillo story. And goes on to explain that Cavaliere Guglilmo Negroni, a young entraprenuer, decided to capitilize on the cocktail that so fortunately had his namesake and created a bottled version that is still sold today.

Negroni Antica products

So it’s debatable whether the Camillo story is just a brilliant piece of marketing lore and the late general with an anxious stomach devised the concoction or Count Negroni did in fact stumble upon this delicious beverage. But one thing is certain, it is indeed delicious.

The traditional recipe calls for equal parts gin, sweet vermouth and Campari with an orange zest garnish. Modern bartenders have adapted to better quality liquor and boozier palettes and often up the gin to two parts. But here at the Enthusiast we ask, why mess with perfection?:

1oz dry gin
1oz sweet vermouth
1oz Campari

Stir with ice and serve up or on the rocks.

Garnish with a slice of orange zest.

Bitter is known to be the final flavor an advanced palette can appreciate. And in the case of the Negroni, bitter is definitely a dominant component. But there is so much more to it. The gin brings a nice botanical essence, but is by no means overwhelming (and depending on which brand you use, the cocktail can take on different levels of this). The sweet vermouth helps to balance the bitter and give it a little body. But the Campari is the real star. With a bitter, but strangely sweet flavor, the first hints are slightly medicinal, but it quickly transitions into a warm orange glow. This is, of course, aided by the oils from the orange garnish. The finish is decidedly sweet as your taste buds clamor to adapt to the bitter and end up overcompensating.

Negroni ingredients

As with most non-citrus cocktails, the flavor evolves over time as the drink warms in the glass—assuming you try it up as opposed to on the rocks. Either way, this is one of the fundamental cocktails of the world. The equal measure of the ingredients eloquently demonstrates the core of all great cocktails: balance. And the simplicity of the recipe makes it easy to taste what a well balanced drink should be like, serving as a benchmark for explorations of one’s own.

It is squarely in my top five favorite drinks of all time, if not the top three. Now go buy a bottle of Campari, try one for yourself and let us know how it goes.

Negroni photo courtesy of Geoff Peters 604, Flickr.
Negroni ingredients photo courtesy of fixedgear, Flickr.

A couple weeks ago our friends at MetroWize offered your humble enthusiasts a hosted happy hour from Absolut. The brand has moved away from the iconic print ads we used to paper all our walls with in high school and is now pushing “Cocktails Perfected.” And who better to enjoy some cocktails than us!

Graciously sponsored by Absolut

We invited a few friends sure to happily partake. The big day arrived and we made our way up to Swig. Of course, this was literally the rainiest day we’ve had all year in San Francisco, so by the time we arrived everyone had soaked pant legs and soggy shoes. Nothing a martini couldn’t fix.

Swig’s wall o’ booze

Our bartender mixed 4oz of vodka with a dash of vermouth like a pro and we were off. Absolut treated us right, from Lemon Drops, to Greyhounds to Vodka Tonics. And a too-short hour and a half later, our bartab was expended.

A drink by any other name would be as intoxicating. Except when you name it a free drink—then you can have way fucking more of them and they’re way more intoxicating.

See the rest of the photos on our Facebook page. And fan us to stay appraised of future drinking events!

Check out a few memorable moments we have no memory of below, then hit up our Facebook page (and fan us, you fuckers) to see the full version of the fully-humiliating photo album. 

Twinsies! Guess which dudes these matching belt buckles belong to?

Sterling and Josey at Red’s Place in Chinatown

Christian drinking at Hawaii West in North Beach

The Enthusiasts making their way through North Beach

This is an excerpt from my post “Drinks with Walter,” first published on the Landor.com blog.

Besides being a socially acceptable way to imbibe in the morning, one of the beauties of the Bloody is that it can be customized easily to fit each drinker’s taste.

Drinkers in the states didn’t fill their glasses with vodka much until after the Cold War. During the late ’50s and ’60s, vodka became popular—mostly because of vodka cocktails. Businessmen, mistresses, and housewives alike sipped sweet Moscow Mules and tart Greyhounds—and calmed their hangovers with Bloody Marys.

Like all alcohol-soaked tales of yore, the spiced, red inebriant’s origins are as hotly debated as the Tabasco in (some versions of) the drink. A reigning tale takes place in the ’20s and stars Paris bartender Fernand Petiot who supposedly created an early two-ingredient version at Harry’s New York Bar (whether the featured spirit was originally vodka or gin is up for discussion). In another version of the story, comedian George Jessel is credited with its invention.

Post-Prohibition, Fernand brought the Bloody to the states, mixing it for customers behind the stick at the King Cole Bar in New York City’s St. Regis Hotel. Legend has it that the King Cole attempted to give it the less-grotesque name “Red Snapper” for a time—but that clearly didn’t catch on. Over the years, heat and horseradish, spices, and lemon were all added to the glass.

Today, revelers in sunglasses hunch over Sunday brunch tables, stirring Bloody Marys with everything from pickled greens beans and celery to bacon, doctoring the drink to their liking with Old Bay and clam juice. Or substituting Scotch, beer, or tequila for vodka. The number of Bloody variations is as high as the number of drinks the world’s hungover people downed last night. And that’s the beauty of it.

Christian’s Favorite Bloody Mary

Everyone has their own best recipe, this is ours

2 oz vodka
4-6 oz tomato juice
1/2 oz lemon (3-4 wedges squeezed)
1 squeeze of lime
2-3 dashes Worcestershire
1 bar spoon ground horseradish
3 shakes celery salt
1 dash olive brine
Ground pepper
Tabasco to taste

Pour over ice in a highball glass and stir.

Garnish with celery, olives, cocktail onions, pepperoncini, pickled radish, etc.

Bloody Mary image courtesy of Aurimas, flickr

Have you ever been in your local pub and seen a group of people walk in, drink, and then leave together, excitedly proclaiming how awesome the previous establishment was and how thrilled they are to soon visit the next one, and wondered to yourself: “How do I get in on that?”

Well today is your lucky day.

In honor of our Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade of Drunken Monkeyshines (now with 10% more flimflam and claptrap) here’s our guide to throwing a bitchin’ bar crawl. (If you attend the Parade and have a horrible time, you have only this guide to blame for your misery.)

1. Normal clothes are like assholes. You know how sex is super lame and boring—almost repulsively so—unless you’re dressed as your squirrel fursona Tammy Trees, and he’s roaring and wearing a lion mask? Bar crawls work the same way. Save that pedestrian, plain-Jane, naked-skin-bullshit for the office and pick a costume theme for your crawl. Plus, just imagine how adorable your drunks will look when they’re all match-matchy! Awwwww…

2. Invite cool people. No lames allowed! Unless you get off on being your crew’s Den Mother, avoid inviting anyone you’re going to have to carry. A good test: Anyone who looks shocked, surprised, or a little disgusted when you mention the crawl starts at noon and everyone’s expected to kick-off with a shot of bourbon, is going to turn more Mess than Hot by bar 1.5. Do the mature thing and pretend you hear someone shouting your name in the distance, then run off before they realize their loser-ass is uninvited.

3. Don’t forget your solids. While booze may be the ultimate super food (it’s science, look it up), the reality is you’re going to need some solids to keep you going for 12-22 hours of drinking. Cook yourself a hearty breakfast full of the complex carbohydrates and protein your body needs to soak up the rising tide of booze you’re pouring into it and to stay strong enough to kick ass at the inevitable last-call arm-wrestling competition (anyone want a piece of me, by the way?)

4. Be cool, bro. Carry cash, be polite, have your ID ready, tip your bartenders well. Don’t shove your fellow patrons out of the way in a panic that the bar’s running out of booze. In fact, if strangers seem cool—recruit them to join! But you already know this. If you’re reading this blog you’re one of the good drunks, but *other* people’s bar crawls can attract a certain (ahem) amateur element. Don’t be that guy.

5. Easy. Eaaaaaasy. Start strong, but don’t get sloppy. That whole, I’m-just-going-to-go-home-and-take-a-nap-I’ll-meet-up-with-you-guys-in-an-hour thing never fucking works, and we all know it. If you go home to sleep off the day drinking you’re going to wake up at 3am, parched as fuck, with 35 missed calls, 60 errantly capitalized text messages, and three 26-minute voicemails proclaiming that You’re a Lying Piece of Shit and No One Likes You Anymore, You Lying Piece of Shit. Besides: You wouldn’t want to miss the after party.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Drunk furry photo by me
Cool kid sunglasses photo courtesy of viviandnguyen, flickr
Big breakfast photo courtesy of practical owl, flickr
Angelic dude photo courtesy of toastforbrekkie, flickr
Marathon photo courtesy of agyorke102, flickr

Don your finest greenery, wrangle your most iron-stomached drinking buddies, and meet us at LiPo Lounge at 1pm, ready to wrest this day from the amateurs and claim it in the name of true drunkards. From LiPo we’ll continue our parade through Chinatown to Red’s Place, then into North Beach where we’ll savor first the tropical atmosphere of Hawaii West. Because it’s St. Patrick’s Day after all, next stop is Maggie McGarry’s. And finally, a jaunt down Columbus to the ‘Nash (The International Sports Club), conveniently adjacent to Kennedy’s Irish Pub and Indian restaurant where we can enjoy some tasty solids with our liquid food.

Come prepared to make much flimflam, claptrap, and balderdash.

See the map below for our route. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to find our where we are throughout the day!

 

View The Alcohol Enthusiast’s Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade of Drunken Monkeyshines in a larger map

Our whiskey has been barreling for nearly one month, so we decided to taste it and toast to Valentine’s Day. The logic being that we made the whiskey so it’s like, our baby or something. This whiskey-baby thing we created together. And it’s been maturing in its wooden barrel-womb for almost a month, which makes it dangerously premature. Ok, we know this analogy is total crap. We get it. We know—total crap. Also, creepy. Also, Valentine’s was two days ago. You can probably already tell, but we’re totally on top of our shit.

Anyways, we poured ourselves a couple shots from the barrel-womb and were immediately smacked in the face by oak smell. “Smells like barrel,” I said to Christian. From its clear beginnings, the whiskey’s tanned to a less-embarrassing golden-auburn color. The initial taste was bright and oaky and the finish warm, rich, and almost nutty. The middle was…whateves. All things considered, a thrilling preview of what’s to come.

Happy Valentine’s Day, fellow Enthusiasts. We wanted to show how much we love you, so we got you the greatest gift of all: A red-hot pictorial with Sam. What says “love” better than a sexy chick in a corset—with a bottle of bourbon?

Hometown: Close enough to San Francisco to be better than your hometown…
Enthusiastic since: 2004
First drink: Four shots of a peach-flavored mystery elixir, courtesy of a bartender in Salamanca
Drinks of choice: Maker’s Manhattan and tequila, straight
Shot of choice: Whatever you’re buying
Drinks recently tried for the first time: The good? La Louisiane with Rye and Sweet Vermouth, Absinthe and Benedictine. The bad? Ouzo from the bottle in an Athenian grocery store
Hangover remedy: A spicy Bloody Mary and bacon, bacon, bacon
Bitch drink I won’t apologize for ordering: Chupacabra (Curious? Come to Tahoe and find out)
What you can’t see in the photos: That it was February in the Sierras…And I was freezing my ass off. Now that’s enthusiasm! 

Do you have what it takes to be our next Enthusiast Hottie of the Week? Send your sexiest, booziest photos to submit@thealcoholenthusiast.com and you could be the next half-naked drunk to appear on this blog.