And We're Back!

DSG has somewhat fallen silent lately, if you haven't noticed. Wakowski moved out of House DSG and Rookie moved in, and Big Bear has been studying for a licensure examination. Wakowski's departure made keeping up with Booze Clues far more difficult, as his new place doesn't quite have the set-up for broadcasting as we had planned, and I am not able to make every session, so we would have been trying to share each session after-the-fact or not at all. We moved on to wines after Wakowski moved anyway, and sort of stopped following the movie series, which made things far more difficult to share.

Also, D&D sort of petered off. Our online session which included most of the DSG team fell to the wayside as our DM lives in a different time zone and has kiddos, making it difficult to keep up with. Our local sessions were set to alternate DMs, which might have been confusing on twitter ;) After we switched DMs I kind of fell off the live-tweeting wagon. And now both sessions are currently on hiatus. If/When they pick back up, I will work harder at live tweeting our highlights and more humorous encounters. In good news though, we are looking to start up a Shadowrun campaign, played at House DSG! Our expected start date is around mid-April. This I can guarantee we will live tweet!

Twitch has also been put on pause :( We hoped to live-stream our online campaigns, but due to scheduling difficulties we have no idea if that campaign will continue. I still have a lot of the old sessions recorded and might see if we can edit these down into amusing videos or podcasts to share on our Youtube channel. We've yet to get a good flow and cadence down where I think we would be amusing live, at least for D&D. Maybe Shadowrun, or maybe we'll pick up the channel for video game sessions (since we basically already do something similar in the basement!).

However, while I can't guarantee what is going to happen with Twitch, I can say I am making plans to get Youtube active. I have been tasked with becoming the House DSG Game Master. We have a TON of unplayed board and card games sitting on our shelf because nobody know the rules, or nobody know them well enough to run a game. So I have started going through these unplayed games and educating myself on the rules. Once I am comfortable running a game with minimal reference to the rule book, I plan to put together "How to Play" videos which I will be posting on our Youtube channel. This should also, hopefully, lead to more game plays on our end. Not sure if we'll get video or live-streams as intended (nobody can come to an agreement!), but I can definitely start posting some post-play reviews. Let us know if you prefer blog reviews, video reviews, or if we should aim for both!

As we start getting back to this project, I will also work towards some of our original plans. Booze Clues will still "exist" online, where once every 1 or 2 months we will put together a post about how to enjoy alcohol. The aim is still to keep things educational and include recipes or recommended drinking lists where applicable. I also want to get going on our Baking with Booze series, where we provide snacks or treats to make. Our plan was a video series, but we want to know from our followers what their preference is!

So check back often over the next 2 months while we bring the DSG project back to life. Let us know your thoughts, requests, and recommendations.

Booze Clues: Infusions

The next Booze Clues is tonight over at House DSG. Hopefully you caught our prep post about 2 weeks ago, so your infusions are ready to go! If not, there is still time to prep the Chamomile Rye Whiskey and Jalapeño Tequila.

Taste-testing will include:

• Pecan Bourbon (Buffalo Trace)
• Chamomile Rye Whiskey (Overholt)
• Jalapeño Tequila (Milagro silver)
• Vanilla Pineapple Tequila (Milagro silver)

We will be using 3 of our infusions for cocktails. The Vanilla Pineapple Tequila is pretty sweet and great on it's own for sipping, so we have not chosen a specific cocktail but feel free to experiment.

Blown Rose
3 apple slices
2 oz chamomile rye
1/2 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz cinnamon bark syrup

Buffalo Soldier
2 oz pecan bourbon
1/4 oz demerara (turbinado) syrup

Short Rib
2 oz jalapeño tequila
3/4 oz lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
3/4 Tbsp (~1/8 oz) pomegranate molasses


So, we didn't do the tests necessary to live-stream the first and educational half of Booze Clues this month. However, we are still starting at 7 pm CDT and you can join us on twitter for some conversation!



CREDITS: 
All of tonight's cocktails and their corresponding infusions (except the vanilla pineapple tequila) came from the Death & Co. cocktail book.

Booze Clues: Infusions (Prep)

We are back on schedule in May, with our next meeting being on the 3rd (first Tuesday). However, May is going to be a bit different as we will be sampling infused liquors, and that requires some prep. So we are making an early pre-post for all of you playing along a home. Below are the 4 infusions we will be sampling. As some of these take 1 week, we are posting about 1.5 weeks in advance (to give you time to acquire the ingredients and materials needed while allowing ample time to let the infusions come together). We chose to prep these all together, pouring the strained 1 day infusions back into their bottles and leaving them be.

Pecan Bourbon (1 week)
750ml Buffalo Trace bourbon
2 cups pecan halves
salt
pepper
cayenne

Soak pecans in cold water for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Drain the pecans well, then spread them on a rimmed baking sheet. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and being careful not to burn the pecans. Let cool to room temperature. In a container, combine the pecans with bourbon and stir well. Let stand at room temperature for 1 week, stirring daily. Strain through a cheesecloth-lined sieve.

Chamomile Rye Whiskey (2 hours)
750 ml Overholt rye whiskey
¼ cup of loose chamomile tea (or 8 tea bags)

Combine chamomile tea and rye whiskey in a container; stir well. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour and 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain through a cheesecloth-lined sieve.

Jalapeño Tequila (30 minutes)
750 ml Milagro blanco tequila
4 jalapeño chiles

In a container, combine the ribs and seeds from 4 jalapeño chiles and the chopped flesh of ½ jalapeño with blanco tequila and stir well. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes, tasting frequently so you can stop the infusion when the heat level is to your liking. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve.

Vanilla Pineapple Tequila (1 week)
750 ml Milagro blanco tequila
1 pineapple, large
1 vanilla bean
1⁄4 cup brown sugar

Cut pineapple into large chunks and split the vanilla bean down the center. Combine pineapple, vanilla, brown sugar, and blaco tequila in a container and mix well. Let stand at room temperature for 1 week, stirring daily. Strain through a cheesecloth-lined sieve.



Join us again on Tuesday, May 3rd for the official Booze Clues post, where you will get the cocktail recipes we will be trying from these infused liquors. Play along at home, or just come by to browse and do things on your own time.

We are debating including Booze Clues as a live-stream show, letting you all watch our in-house lecturer Wakowski as he helps us compare and contrast the liquors, provides some history and background info on the liquors and cocktails, and teaches us how to make each cocktail. We will keep you posted on when that will begin! In the meantime we love to see your comments and tweets about each month's adventure,

Booze Clues: Bourbon

Due to all the cool people going to Mexico in April, the next Booze Clues will be Thursday, March 31. Taking a look at whiskey again, specifically focusing on Bourbon.

Taste-testing will include:

• Four Rose Single Barrel (Binny's select)
• McCallan 10 yr
• Blade and Bow
• Wild Turkey
• Buffalo Trace

For cocktails we will be looking at an old classic, a twist on a mimosa, and a modern cocktail.

Old Fashioned
2 oz bourbon
1 tsp sugar
4 dashes Angostura bitters
splash club soda
garnish with maraschino cheery and orange wheel

French 95
3/4 oz bourbon
3/4 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz lemon juice
1 oz orange juice
top off with champagne

Whirling Tiger
2 oz bourbon
1 oz fiji apple juice
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz ginger syrup
garnish with apple slice

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Ok, so a little belated. Most of us have those boring old 9-5 jobs so, minus a small gathering the night of, our big celebration will be tonight. In the spirit, the host has put together a menu of green and "Irish" drinks. We will be sampling these tonight, and may or may not stick with them (some of these seem a bit questionable...). If you would like to join in, or add some fun green drinks that are a bit more than dyed beer to your menu, keep on reading!

Honeydew Martini
3 oz vodka
1/2 oz Midori
1/2 oz Triple Sec

Emerald Rain
2 oz Hypnotique
1 oz vodka
1 oz pineapple juice

Irish Flag
1/3 oz creme de menthe
1/3 oz whiskey
1/3 oz Bailey's

Grass Hopper
3/4 oz creme de menthe
3/4 oz crem de cacao
3/4 oz milk

Misty Mint
1 1/2 oz creme de menthe
1 oz white rum

Irish Coffee
1 1/1 oz Irish whiskey
6 oz coffee
3/4 oz Irish cream

Evergreen
1 oz equila
1 oz creme de menthe
1/2 oz Midori
3 oz pineapple juice

Jade
2 oz white rum
1/4 oz creme de menthe
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz lime juice

Irish Cola
1 oz Irish whiskey
1 oz Irish cream
4 oz cola

Irish Car Bomb
3/4 pint Guinness
1/2 shot Irish cream
1/2 shot Irish whiskey

And of course, lots of Irish whiskey. Ours of choice (at least for the night) is Egan's. You may or may not recall from an earlier post that our friends (the hosts for tonight, actually) are Irish and their family can trace their ancestry back to make a connection with the family who makes Egan's Irish Whiskey. Highly recommended, if you feel like importing it.


UPDATE: The questionable ones were not as bad as anticipated. Evergreen surprisingly works--tastes a bit strange, but works. The Honeydew Martini is incredibly strong, I would recommend making a smaller one. Emerald Rain needs more pineapple juice, but isn't bad. My personal favorite was the grasshopper, which tastes as the name implies it should.

Booze Clues: Gin

Hey boys & girls. Are you ready to figure out Booze Clues?

What is Booze Clues? It's like a book club, but less books.

Once a month, typically the first Tuesday, House DSG hosts an event where we get together with some friends and learn about booze. The general gist is we pick a theme (generally an alcohol or alcohol category), try some different alcohols, learn a few drink recipes using said alcohols, and then try those drinks (ideally all of them as we hover around 3, but some people pick the one that sounds most appealing or share drinks if they just want a sip).

If you would like to play along at home, I will begin posting (and back posting) our agendas. This month we are revisiting Gin.

Taste-testing will include:

• Bombay Sapphire
• Hendricks
• Beefeater
• Tanqueray 10
• Geneva's Preservation

For cocktails we will be looking at a classic martini vs. modern, the Negroni, and Tom Collins. Since recipes vary depending on your source, below are the actual ones we will be using.

Classic Martini
1 ½ oz gin
1 ½ oz sweet vermouth
orange bitters

opt: simple syrup (classic cocktails used Old Tom  gin, which was sweeter)

Modern Martini
2-3 oz gin
½-1 oz dry vermouth
*the larger the gin:vermouth ratio, the more modern

Negroni
1 oz gin
1 oz Campari
1 oz sweet vermouth
Orange twist for garnish

Tom Collins
1 oz lemon juice
½ oz simple syrup
1 1/2 oz gin
~2 oz club soda
Lemon wheel and cherry for garnish

Another new game?! A Brief Look at Scoville

Clearly, we have some catching up to do. But I am super excited about this game. I've been wanting to get a copy of Scoville for a long time, but it is on the pricier end of things (for good reason, these are quality pieces!). So when I finally buckled down and went to go purchase it, the game was sold out everywhere. Luckily, Tasty Minstrel Games soon launched a Kickstarter for an expansion and preorders for a second printing. Now, savvy shoppers were able to get the second printing and expansion for quite the deal via Kickstarter, and even though I haven't played yet, everything I've seen online has been stellar and really solidified my desire to own this game. I figured the expansion must be great too, and if not I am not out any extra money. So I jumped on board, and TMG is so awesome they shipped all the second printings in advance of the expansion. Now we will (hopefully!) get some plays in before the expansion shows up.

So what is Scoville? For starters, it's a board game for 2-6 players. Gotta love games climbing past that 4/5 player barrier. Also, it's a multi-phased game involving auctions and set collecting. Players bid for turn order each round, move their farmer through the field, collect/plant peppers, compete to be the first to have the hottest peppers, and participate in the chili cook off.

This second edition is top quality. To start off, all the peppers are actual meeples. Depending on their rank, the pepper meeples differ in height as well as color. The most coveted pepper is is a tall, glitter/pearl, clear plastic meeple. Also, the farmer meeples are super cool looking! Beyond that, the board has pepper cutouts that the meeples fit into, which I find very nice as it keeps the pieces in place and makes it less likely they will get knocked around. The board also fits together puzzle-like, another nice way to make sure the board doesn't get messed up during play. Players also have their own cardboard stands to hide their peppers and recipes behind. The printing is great, and all the pieces are sturdy.

So, what about this expansion? In the base game all players use the same farm field to plant and harvest their peppers. Labs gives each player a 3x3 field (or lab) in which they can plant and cross breed on their own. The base game also provides players with 3 special action tokens (which, if unused are worth points at the end of the game): Move 1 extra space, Double back once, Plant 1 extra pepper. With all that extra planting to do in their labs, players get a second "Plant 1 extra pepper" token. On top of that added fun, there are more pepper meeples and recipes, as well as multiplier tokens (which the second printing also includes, but for all you first printing game owners this is good news).

I can't wait to break this game out and get a few plays under our belt before the expansion shows up in a few months. Wakowski loves things spicy, so I think this is right up his alley ;)

Links to check out:
Scoville
Scoville: Labs
Tasty Minstrel Games