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Not Swamp Gas: The True Story of Colonel Gary K. Carroll, Project Blue Book, and Flying Saucers

March 25, 2025 By Lisa Grigsby

Renowned UFO researcher and author, Ray Szymanski, has gained a reputation for his meticulous investigation into the UFO phenomena.  Join Szymanski as he discusses UFO (now UAP-Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) experiences, deliberate government coverup, ridicule of the eyewitnesses, and the 2021 admission by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that flying saucers are real.  Book sales available before and after the program.

Tuesday, March 25, 2025
5:30-8:00pm
Springboro Branch
Free.  No registration required.

All ages are welcome.

  • 5:30 – Doors open for pre-talk book sales
  • 6:00 – Presentation begins
  • 7:00 – Q&A session
  • 7:15 – Book sales

Tagged With: aliens, Carroll, community, history, michigan, Public History, Speakers

Serpent Mound — An Icon of Ancient Ohio

November 23, 2024 By Lisa Grigsby

The second presentation in the Archaeological Institute of America Dayton Society’s 2024-2025 Lecture Series presented by Dr. Brad Lepper, Senior Archaeologist World Heritage Program, Ohio History Connection

 

Serpent Mound in Adams County is one of the largest and most spectacular earthen sculptures in the world. The age of the serpent is a subject of much current debate with some archaeologists arguing that it was built by the Adena culture at around 300 B.C.E. and others favoring the Fort Ancient culture at around 1100 C.E. Although much about Serpent Mound still is shrouded in mystery, ancient cave paintings in Missouri may provide a key to unlocking some of its secrets.

 

This lecture is scheduled to take place in person in the Science Center Auditorium (SC 114) at The University of Dayton.

 

For a campus map with building and parking information visit https://udayton.edu/map/

 

Thanks to the Archaeological Institute of America’s Lecture Program and its Dayton Society members this lecture is free and open to the public.

Tagged With: history, native american

The World in Between: Egypt and Nubia in Africa. Telling the Story Through Museum Artifacts

October 12, 2024 By Amanda Delotelle

The first presentation in the Archaeological Institute of America Dayton Society’s 2024-2025 Lecture Series presented by Dr. Anastasia Dakouri-Hild, Associate Professor of Aegean and Near Eastern Art and Archaeology at the University of Virginia.

This presentation discusses the complex interrelationship between ancient Egypt and Nubia based on a new planned exhibition slated to open at the University of Virginia. Beyond merely acknowledging the geographical position of ancient Egypt on the African continent, the lecture examines the extent to which Egypt was of Africa culturally, first by scrutinizing the categories of ‘Egypt’ and ‘Nubia’ and the connections between material and visual culture and identity. Subsequently it utilizes key artifacts in US collections as case studies to tell the story of this interaction anew, fleshing out the rich and complex rapport between Egypt and Nubia over the course of several millennia, from prehistory (ca. 3800 BCE) through pharaonic Meroe (350 CE). In the process, the lecture also highlights the importance as well as the limitations of using visual culture to articulate/construct and understand/read ancient identities.

This lecture is scheduled to take place in person in the Science Center Auditorium (SC 114) at The University of Dayton.

For a campus map with building and parking information visit https://udayton.edu/map/

Thanks to the Archaeological Institute of America’s Lecture Program and its Dayton Society members this lecture is free and open to the public

Tagged With: Egypt, history

Luminaries of Dayton: Woodland Tours and Events 2017

May 4, 2017 By Angie Hoschouer

Have your ever visited the cemetery to take a tour? If no, why not? Woodland Cemetery is one of the best and most beautiful cemeteries in Dayton and Ohio and the nation. Here, you can see a great view from the Lookout Tower, study the architecture of the family mausoleums, explore the geology of the grounds, learn about Dayton’s history, discover the cemetery art work on stones more than 175 years old and so much more. There is never any fee to enter and all of the tours are free and open to the public. Bring your bike or wear a good pair of walking shoes and explore for yourself the timeless beauty that is Woodland Cemetery.

Spring Migration Bird Walk
Saturday, May 13, 2017 9:00 am – 11:00 am

Let’s Talk Trees Arboretum Tour
Wednesday’s: May 17, June 14, July 12, August 16, September 13 and October 11
Time: 10:00 am – 11:30 am

Woodland Historic Tour
June 14 and 24, July 12 and 22, August 16 and 26, September 13 and 23, October 11 and 21
Tours begin at 10:00 am

History, Mystery, Mayhem and Murder Tour
Thursday’s at 5:30 pm: June 15, July 20, August 17, September 21
Saturday’s at 10:00 am: June 24, July 22, August 19, September 16
Evening Lantern Tours beginning at 6:30 pm: October 3, 5, 9, 11, 12, 16, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26

Faith and Friends Radio Broadcast and Walking Tour
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Bill and Melody will be broadcasting live from Woodland Cemetery from 3:00 to 6:00 pm. Then join them for the Women of Woodland walking tour at 6:30 pm.

 

Woof Walk
Saturday, August 5
Tours begin at 9:00 and 10:30 am

Discover Woodland Days
Sunday, October 1
Tours begin at 12:00, 12:30 and 1:00 pm

Dayton Metro Library Programs

Early Brewers of Dayton
Northmont Library in Englewood
Monday, May 15, 2017 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Call 937-463-2665 for more information

Doctors of Dayton
Kettering – Moraine Library
Tuesday, June 20, 2017 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Call 937-496-8939 for more information

Cemetery Symbols and Representations
Wilmington – Stroop Library
Monday, July 17, 2017 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Call 937-496-8891 for more information

Cemetery Symbols and Representations
Northmont Library in Englewood
Thursday, August 10, 2017 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Call 937-463-2665 for more information

Street Names of Dayton
Kettering – Moraine Library
Tuesday, August 22, 2017 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Call 937-496-8939 for more information

Tours and programs are free and open to the public. Reservations are required for all tours at the cemetery. Please call 937-228-3221. For more information about tours and programs at Woodland and in the community, click here to visit our website. Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum is located at 118 Woodland Avenue off of Brown Street near the UD campus. All tours start at the front gates on Woodland Avenue.

Volunteers Needed! 

Woodland is seeking volunteers to lead tours and present programs to the public. If you like history and enjoy walking through the cemetery call us now for immediate training. Not interested in leading a tour, we have other positions as well: historical research and helping to plan out new tours, assisting with special events, public speaking engagements, researching family histories, sewing costumes for special events, researching and tagging trees and plants in the arboretum, office work, etc.

For more information on these or any of our volunteer activities, please contact Debra Mescher at 937-228-3221 or debra@woodlandcemetery.org.

Woodland Cemetery, founded in 1841, is one of the nation’s five oldest rural garden cemeteries and a unique cultural, botanical and educational resource in the heart of Dayton, Ohio as you will see as you read through this new MostMetro.com series. Visit the cemetery and arboretum and take one of the many tours Woodland offers free of charge. Most of Dayton’s aviation heroes, inventors and business barons are buried at Woodland.

Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum is located at 118 Woodland Avenue off of Brown Street near the UD Campus. The Woodland Office is open Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm and Saturday 8 am to 12 pm. The Cemetery and Arboretum are open daily from 8 am to 6 pm. The Mausoleum is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm. For more information, call 937-228-3221 or visit the Woodland website.

Filed Under: Community, The Featured Articles, Volunteer Opportunities Tagged With: Bird Walk, Cemetery Symbols, dayton metro library, Faith and Friends, history, Mayhem and Murder, mystery, Tours, volunteers, Woodland Cemetery, woof walk

Haunted Food Adventure at Amber Rose Oct 7th

September 21, 2016 By Dayton937 Leave a Comment

Rhinegiests & Poltergeists Returns Oct 7th to the Amber Rose

Sellout crowd expected again !!

FOOD, BEER, … GHOSTS

This is a post that many of you have been waiting for…  Dayton Most Metro is kicking of the fall season with a “BOO!”

—October 7th, the popular “RHINEGEISTS and POLTERGEISTS” ghostly beer dinner returns! A brainchild of local bloggers, the Food Adventure crew, this popular scarefest looks to again to have a sellout crowd of over 100 foodies at the Amber Rose restaurant. There will also be a special presentation from a nationally known paranormal investigative group, ParaSense.

Pierogies and More on the Menu

 

HERE IS THE SKINNY ON “RHINEGEISTS and POLTERGEISTS”

WHEN: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7th at 7pm

WHERE: AMBER ROSE RESTAURANT at 1400 Valley St. in Dayton

WHAT: 4 COURSE DINNER from AMBER ROSE and 4 BEERS from RHINEGEIST BREWERY

Visit the Haunted Amber Rose for this Food Adventure

—COURSE 1: Sausage, Potato and Sauerkraut Pierogies and German Bier Cheese Dip

—COURSE 2: Beef Rouladen (rolled) with Roasted, Rustic Vegetables

—COURSE 3: Apple Cinnamon Smoked Pork Chop with German Potato & Bavarian Hash

—COURSE 4: Cherry Almond Bread Pudding

Each course will be paired with a Rhinegeist Beer:

—BEER 1: “ALICE” a Belgium Style Ale

—BEER 2: “EXUM” a Pale Ale

—BEER 3: “HUGH” an Oktoberfest brew

—BEER 4: “STEVE” a Dark Lager

Parasense – Paranormal Investigator Team – Alicia, Shelly and Kat

WHAT ELSE:  A special presentation from a local paranormal investigative team with national exposure, called PARASENSE.  ParaSense will be sharing their findings from numerous overnight ghost hunts from 2015 and 2016.  NEW FINDINGS, NEW GOOSEBUMPS !

COST: $35 per person includes the tip ! Tickets are PRE-PAY and ONLY AVAILABLE at THIS LINK.  This event has always sold out and will be limited to 100 people.

EACH ATTENDEE GETS A FREE RHINEGEIST PINT GLASS !

ALICE from Rhinegeist Brewery

*****The party continues after the event, downstairs at the bar with “Happy Hour” pricing*****

As many of you may know, The Amber Rose is supposedly a haunted venue.  The ghost is believed to be the daughter of the former house owner.  She is a playful ghost named Genevieve Ksiezopolski aka “Chickie.”  Employees have many stories of glasses flying off of shelves, lights being turned on and even the appearance of a poltergeist.  Take for example this case, where a cook claimed to see a full apparition of a lady in a long dress who walked into the room, then turned and walked away.  When the frightened cook alerted the staff, they quickly pulled the security surveillance camera footage. What they saw at the same time the cook claimed to encounter the ghost was this: click to see video

 

Who is Haunting the Amber Rose? Some think it is this lady….

A local, three person “ghost hunter” crew will be investigating the Amber Rose facility in the weeks leading up to the dinner.  They have appeared on on National Television!  Their work has been featured in“America’s Most Haunted,” “My Ghost Story”, and Haunted Ohio VI.  Independent Paranormal Investigators Kat Powell and Shelly Suittor met in 1999 as tour guides for the Ohio State Reformatory, Prospect Place, and Snow Hill Country Club. Teaming up with Alicia Soich in 2012, they’ve logged hundreds of hours of field research and private investigations across the state.

What will their findings be?  Will they be contacted by “Chickie” or some other poltergeist?  Join us and find out !  And stay for the Happy Hour after party at the bar !

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE!  TICKETS ARE PRE-PAY ONLY! LIMITED SEATING!

Browse the photos below…

“LIKE” FOOD ADVENTURES on FACEBOOK HERE !

Sausages Locally made

1400 Valley street – is it HAUNTED>>>

Bier Cheese Dip

Cut into a sausage with some sweet kraut

Staff at the Amber Rose make the whole experience

Beautiful upstairs area

wave hi

excellent food

Chef JT, Joe from Amber Rose and Trevor from Rhinegeist

Lucky guy

Pondering ghost evidence

Serving

Amber Rose Food

Bar upstairs

Happy Hour here “after party”

Filed Under: Dayton Dining, Food Adventures, The Featured Articles Tagged With: Alicia Soich, Amber Rose, Big Ragu, chef house, Dayton, Food Adventures, ghosts, halloween, haunted, historic, history, hungry jax, Joe Castellano, Kat Powell, ohio, parasense, poltergeists, rhinegeist, Shelly Suittor, valley

If You’re Hoppy and You Know It

August 7, 2014 By Brian Petro Leave a Comment

Yes, they do really glow like that.

Behold humulus lupulus – a plant that grows in very similar climates that grapes do. It is dioecious, which means that the male and female part flower separately. There are a wide variety of them, found all over the world. It is a climbing plant, so when cultivating it you will see rows and rows of upright poles for the plant to grow on. The female flowering cones are the part of the plant we are most familiar with. We refer to them as hops, and they are used mainly as a bittering agent in beer. The bitterness comes from alpha acids that are natural to the plant. They stay with the brew, protecting it from wild bacteria and filtering the beer to make it look clearer. If that is not enough, they add a variety of flavors to the beer (most often herbal, citrusy, or earthy ones), as well as cut down the sweetness of the fermented malt.

Why are hops so important? The first Thursday in August is rapidly being established as International IPA Day, and the most important thing to an IPA is hops. Lots and lots of hops. IPA is the shortening of “India pale ale”, a style of beer that is almost 200 years old. IPAs are most noted for their bitterness and complexity, having enough malt to balance out the hops. Some brewers also add other ingredients to the mix (Three Floyd’s Apocalypse Cow adds milk sugar) to tame the hoppiness. The colors of IPAs usually fall into the golden or amber hues, but some will get dark as the malts are given a deep roast (like 21st Amendment’s Back In Black).

Where it all began…British India.

The history of the IPA is, say it with me, muddy at best. The most common story is this one: Britain was colonizing India in the 18th and 19th centuries. The soldiers out there still wanted a fine beer to drink, and getting fine British ales out to the troops was problematic. Popular British ales had a tendency to spoil on the long trip over, so they needed something that was a little hardier. A gentleman named George Hodgson was the first to crack to code with October beer. It was well hopped and intended to be cellared for up to two years. It was considered “pale ale” because it was lighter than the porters and ales England was used to.  It also traveled much better than normal ales because of the hops’ nature of keeping the beer protected from microbes. While Hodgson was the first to send such pale ales over to India, the breweries in Burton-on-Trent became the most popular. Because of certain impurities in the water there, the beer was a little more bitter than normal. The soldiers (and people of India) fell in love with the ale, and it became a staple. It was popular until nearly the 20th century, when it was replaced with a mix of whiskies, gins, and teas. Mainly teas.

Over the years IPA has evolved into three distinct subcategories. American Style IPAs are more citrusy and herbal than their traditional counterparts, looking to go for big flavors. English Style IPAs are brewed in the traditional style, focusing more on the balance of the malt and English grown hops, and creating a well crafted and consistent beer. Belgian Style IPAs often employ American hops, but are bottle conditioned with Belgian yeast, giving the beer a little more cloudiness. American craft brewers have fallen in love with the style (and substyles) over the last few years, going out of their way to cross breed hops to try new flavors. They have imported hops from New Zealand, as well as emulated classic hops from England. The United States is one of the three largest growers of hops in the world, after Germany and Ethiopia. All of them have their characteristic bitterness, and that bitterness is measured in something called International Bittering Units, or IBUs. It is a scientific, chemical calculation. Sometimes it is listed on the bottle, depending on how proud the brewer is of the hoppiness in the beer. Most American Lagers, like Budweiser and Coors, have an IBU rating between 5 and 17. IPAs tend to range from 40-60, some going higher. Imperial stouts actually have higher IBUs (50-80), but the heavily roasted malt overpowers the bitter hops. Green Flash’s Palate Wrecker is an off the chart 100+ IBU (there is no good measurement for over 100, but their site claims 149 IBUs), and is available at the Van Buren Tap Room if you are looking for a challenge to your mouth, or you just hate your taste buds.

There is even a hashtag! They are serious about this…

Some of you may be unfamiliar with what beers to celebrate with, and that is okay. We also have a Snobby Beer Guy on staff, and I ran into him at the Kegerator. We have perks here at the office. When I asked him what some of the best IPAs are out there, he offered up Fat Head’s Head Hunter IPA and Brew Kettle’s White Raja. Ohio’s own Great Lakes Brewing Company also has a highly recommended IPA, Commodore Perry.  Other highly recommended IPAs I have tried (and read about) include Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch (also banned in Michigan), Sam Adams’ Latitude 48, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, and Stone Brewing’s Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale. Our own local Dayton Beer Company is also brewing an IPA for you to enjoy. With the popularity of IPAs right now, any brew house will have a fine selection on hand. Some places you may look to are Chappy’s Tap Room, South Park

Tavern, and Boston’s Bistro. If you are looking to celebrate at home, you can stop at Belmont Party Supply for all of the beers mentioned above, and a few more that only their staff knows about.

If you have been hiding safely in the realm of lighter, sweeter beers, go out and wake your taste buds up with a few India pale ales. It took months of creativity and dedication to create something this complex, and you should go out and try them at least once. It is International IPA Day, and every beer deserves a chance at a good home. Cheers!

NOTE: This article originally noted that hops added alcohol content. After further research, that turned out to be false. Hops add bitter notes, antiseptic qualities, and balance.

 

This article originally ran in August of 2012 and we find it just as relevant today, only with many more IPA’s to choose from! 

Filed Under: Dayton On Tap, The Featured Articles Tagged With: Ale, Beer, Dayton, Downtown Dayton, history, hops, India, International IPA Day, ipa, local, Oregon District, Things to Do

Behind the Scenes Tours @ National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

February 4, 2014 By Dayton Most Metro Leave a Comment

Air Force MuseumBehind the Scenes Tours are regularly scheduled, free guided tours of the museum’s restoration area. Participants are shuttled to the restoration hangars, located about one mile from the main museum complex. Tours are offered every Friday (some exceptions) at 12:15 p.m. Advance registration is required. Sign up early as tours may fill up quickly! To register for tours through May 2014, submit a registration form or call (937) 656-9436. Additional instructions are included on the form.

Although advance registration may be full for a tour, a limited number of ‘stand-by’ registrations are available on the day of each tour. Please check with the information desk upon your arrival at the museum.

The next tour is happening this Friday February 07, 2014 from 12:15 AM – 12:00 PM.

Next tour dates:

Friday February 07, 2014
Friday February 14, 2014
Friday February 21, 2014
Friday February 28, 2014
Friday March 07, 2014

The National Museum of the United States Air Force collects, researches, conserves, interprets and presents the Air Force’s history, heritage and traditions, as well as today’s mission to fly, fight and win … in Air, Space and Cyberspace to a global audience through engaging exhibits, educational outreach, special programs, and the stewardship of the national historic collection. These statutory duties delegated by the Secretary of the Air Force are accomplished on behalf of the American People. We are the keepers of their stories.

Go out this Friday and experience a behind the scene tour of one of Dayton’s historic gems.

 

 

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: Airplanes, aviation, Dayton, history, Museums, Restoration, Tours, U.S. Air Force Museum

The Beer Can rEvolution

January 24, 2014 By Brian Petro 3 Comments

Pull_Tabs_by_Greencolander

In honor of  Beer Can Appreciation Day- we are rerunning this story from 1/24/13.

When I was a kid, I remember taking a sip of my dad’s beer, right out of the can. I am fairly sure it was the worst thing I have ever tasted. It tasted like a wet bread and metal sandwich. I did not actually drink another beer until I was legal to do so, thinking if all beer tasted like that, I was better off without it. In retrospect, drinking Old Milwaukee out of a can is a poor choice on quite a few levels. And for the most part, people will agree that beer out of a can is about as low as you can get on the beer spectrum. That was not always the case. On January 24, 1935 the first canned beer from the Kreuger Brewing Company hit the market, and the world of beer was transformed forever.

Canned beer snuck into the market in 1935, offered by a little known brewing company looking to make a big name for itself. The writing was on the wall for Prohibition by the late 1920’s; everyone knew the end was near. Especially a company named the American Can Company, who already dominated the canned food industry, and were looking to expand into canned beer. They had been doing some experiments with canned beer on a request from the Olympia Brewing Company in 1909. Their biggest problems were making a can strong enough to hold up to the heat of pasteurization and stress that off gassing would have on the can as well as keeping the beer from absorbing a metallic flavor. This was all put off with the passage of the Volstead Act and the march towards country wide temperance. American Can did not give up. The developed a tin and steel based can which could resist all the pressure it was going to be put under. They also coated the inside with something called brewer’s pitch, which kept the beer from interacting with the metal of the can.

This new can had some big advantages over bottles. Two of the main enemies of beer, light and oxygen, would be kept completely away from the liquid. This Beer_Can_Wall_By_surlygurlensured the product inside would be as fresh as it was when it was first brewed. This extra insurance of freshness would allow brewers to ship their beer further than they currently were. Most beers at the time did not ship much further than the state they were in, maybe an adjacent state if they could. This would allow them to ship beer to be consumed at home all over the country. Bottles often broke while they were being shipped. The ones that finished the journey had to be returned and reused by the brewer. This added extra expense to the beer. Cans would be disposable; no expenses for cleaning, returning, and reusing the bottles. The American Can Co. experimented with cans that were in the shape of traditional bottles, to allow factories already set up for bottles to use the cans without having to invest very heavily into it. Now that they had a working can, all they needed was a brewer to use it.

Prohibition was hard on breweries, and they were not going to jeopardize getting their product back to a thirsty market in an experimental package. After trying the major breweries, the Kreuger Brewing Company out of New Jersey agreed to take American Can up on their offer of paying for all the materials up front. They sent out some samples, and they were a hit. Their test market, Richmond, VA, also bought the cans of beer in such quantities that Kreuger was cutting into the major brewing companies market. Pabst was the first of the major brewers to buy into the use of cans, and started to modify the overall design. They discovered you could ship more cans than bottles if they were shaped like the food cans that were more commonly shipped.  Miller Lite’s punch can idea is not really a new idea; the first beer cans had a flat top, so you had to punch holes into it yourself to get to the delicious liquid inside.  Pabst also made a change to the lining of the can, switching out the brewer’s pitch for a consistent plastic lining called Vinylite. These can were engineering masterpieces, and also very short lived. World War II cut into the steel supply. It was not until 1958, when Coors introduced the aluminum can that the can started to rise again.  The lighter metal made the can easier to open, and the addition of the pull tab by Schlitz in 1963 made the can a solid seller.

Old_Beer_Can_by_andyarthur

By 1968, the can was the beer container of choice. This beer can was not lined, as their older steel counterparts were, and the metal flavor of the can began to heavily leech into the beer. The decline in the quality of the cans matched a decline in beer in general in the United States. The country was shedding breweries at an astounding rate, and by the early 1980’s most of the beer in the country was being provided by only a hand full of brewers. Over 90% of the beer in the country was being provided by Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Pabst, Schlitz, and Coors. Not what most people would call a fine selection of beer. This environment would last until the late 80’s, and the beginning of the microbrewing revolution. Microbreweries would be the engine to get the beer industry back from the brink of being completely obsolete. They made beer interesting again, and people began to come back to drinking, and appreciating, good beer.

Can technology began to improve as well, but with one small drawback: most canning machines were designed for the Budweisers and Millers of the world. It was not until the Canadian company Cask Brewing Systems developed a canning system that was good for small breweries that the smaller craft brewers even had an option to can their beer. Cans had also returned to being lined with a thin, more modern plastic, which meant the beer was no longer in contact with the metal. The Craft Beer in a Can revolution began only ten years ago, with the Oskar Blues Brewery in Colorado. They Craft_Beer_Cansput their first beer, Dale’s Pale Ale, in a can and never looked back. 21st Amendment Brewing Company also puts their beers in cans, and makes some incredibly good beers such as their Back in Black IPA, Allies Win the War, and Hell or High Watermelon. Revolution Brewing Company out of Chicago and Anderson Valley Brewing Company in California also make quite a few canned beers. More and more small breweries with great beers are seeing cans as an economical and environmentally friendly way to get their beers into more markets for more people. According to CraftCans.com, there are currently 740 canned beers made by over 200 different breweries across the country.

If you have not had a can of beer in a while, do yourself a favor and check out the selection of canned beers that are now available. Even if your beer of choice has always been in a can, give that beer another chance. In fact. many of my favorite beers come in cans. What will you find when you crack open a craft cold one on the birthday of the beer can? Cheers!

Filed Under: Dayton On Tap, The Featured Articles Tagged With: Beer, canned beer, Cans, Craft Beer, DaytonDining, history, Things to Do, Things to Drink

Keep the Rum Coming

July 19, 2013 By Brian Petro Leave a Comment

Portrait of George Washington

Yes, I would love to have a glass of rum. Thank you for asking!

George Washington is remembered as being one of the most respected individuals in American history. He was the General of the Army that defeated the British, he was the first President, and he was one of the great provocateurs before the American Revolution. He was a distiller, making his own beer and whiskey. He also knew quite well what spirits the people of colonial America liked to drink. He ordered 28 gallons of a particular spirit to distribute while he was running for the House of Burgess in Virginia. He also demanded it as a ration for his troops during the brutal winter they spent at Valley Forge and made sure that the fighting men got it before the officers did. When the war was over and Washington attended his inauguration, he (illegally) had a barrel of the finest imported. Whiskey was not a major American drink until after the war.  The spirit that Washington, and all colonists were so fond of, was rum.

Rum was rough when it was first made. It was called kill-devil by most, but also referred to by several British slang words like rumbustion or rumbullion, both of which were terms referring to an upheaval. As it started to rise through the gentry, it became more refined with very basic distilling technology. It also became more popular as a drink to take on long voyages. Most ships of the era were outfitted with large supplies of beer and water. Rum did not go bad like the beer eventually did, nor did it suffer the same contamination that water was suspect to. Moreover, it was discovered that the long trips to Britain and America in oak barrels mellowed the rum and made it a much better quality liquor. It became a staple not only in the British navy, but on the pirate ships that were attracted to the Caribbean area for its developing wealth. The British were not prepared for the strength of the new spirit over beer. Rum started to be mixed with water, brown sugar, and lime. This had two effects: it stopped the sailors from being dead drunk and it gave them enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy. This gave the British a distinct advantage in sea combat. It remained a staple until 1970, when having buzzed sailors and modern weapons seemed to be a bad idea.

Barrels of rum stacked on each other

Barrels of rum aging.

America loved it as well. Rhode Island created rum that was as good, if not better, than rums coming from the tropics. The colonies were awash with it. Rum was in punches and any other drink you could ask for while traveling. It was also part of the slave trade, with people selling molasses to the colonies to get money to buy slaves. On average, colonists were drinking about four gallons per person per year. England took note of that, and imposed the Molasses Act in 1733 and Sugar Act in 1764, taxing the ingredients that helped to make rum. In 1775, the American Revolution began, and the rum started to flow out of America. Molasses became harder to come by. Not long after the revolution, as Americans moved west, whiskey started to be made in larger quantities in Ohio and Kentucky. Rum fell out of favor for a very long time, making a brief reappearance during Prohibition, then again after World War Two during the Tiki drink craze that swept the fifties and sixties.

Rum is distilled from one of two sources, either of which must come from sugar: molasses or sugar cane juice. Sugar cane juice is a little rarer (and known as rhum), so the bulk of the rum we all drink is made from molasses. It makes sense; the original rums were distilled from molasses, which was no more than a sticky, hard to dispose of byproduct when people were making sugar. There was just enough sugar left in it, with the help of some yeast, to turn it into something that was drinkable. Since rum was originally distilled among the many islands of the Caribbean, there is no one way for any particular rum to be created. Different yeast strains, stills, and methods are all employed by the various companies, making no two rums alike. It is hard to categorize all of the rum that is available in the market, but these are some common distinctions:

  • Light (silver) rum – They are milder and sweeter in general than most rums. The bulk of silver rum comes from Puerto Rico or Brazil (called cachaca). These are the ones you will find in most cocktails.
  • Gold rum – They usually have been aged in charred oak barrels, which gives them a little more color than the younger silvers. These barrels usually come from bourbon, which adds richness to the flavor.
  • Dark rum – Deep brown or red in color, these are more often used in cooking. They are aged longer, adding richer molasses and caramel tones to them. Dark rums usually come from Jamaica, Haiti, or Martinique.
  • Overproof rum – Gold colored rum with a very high ABV (Alcohol by Volume), usually around 151 proof.
  • Spiced rum – Spices are added, usually to gold rums, to enhance the natural flavor of the rum. They can also be darkened with caramel color.
  • Flavored rum – Usually silver in color and lower in ABV, they make up for it with added flavors. The flavors selected, usually tropical in nature, blend well with the natural sweetness of the rum. They are usually added to a mixer as an enhancement.
Fish House Punch in nice glassware

Fish House Punch, a staple of the Founding Fathers. This may explain some of the government.

Some places still offer gunpowder rum (exactly as it sound: run mixed with gunpowder), and there are many fine sipping rums as well that are made in pot stills and very small batches.

Rum is starting to make a comeback from a very long hiatus. The craft cocktail movement, with its love of the classics, has brought this spirit back. The first cocktails were made of rum, littering the early years of America with recipes. Fish House Punch, flips, shrubs, and daiquiris (who have their own day on July 19th) all are cocktails that have a strong rum base. Mojitos are a wonderful summer cocktail, and the mai tai is considered a classic of the tiki era. Everything about rum invites fresh and tropical, perfect summer sipping. The complexity of rum offers an excellent base for cocktails.

From pirates to presidents, rum has been a spirit that has stayed close to the hands of people who enjoy a cocktail or two. Bourbon is considered the “spirit of America”, but the people who built America were fonder of their rum than whiskey of any sort. In recognition of the spirit and the day, find a restaurant with a patio that will make you a classic daiquiri. Summer is only going to last for so long, so enjoy!

Filed Under: Dayton Dining, Happy Hour, The Featured Articles Tagged With: cocktail, cocktails, daiquiri, Dayton, Dayton Ohio, DaytonDining, Downtown Dayton, fish house punch, flip, George Washington, history, liquor, mojito, pirates, rum, shrub, spirits, Things to Do

Lovely Day for a Guinness!

March 15, 2013 By Brian Petro Leave a Comment

The gates to the glory that is…Guinness!

Until the discovery of germs and bacteria, water was unsafe to drink. Europe had it the worst, with so many people and so much industry located near bodies of water that people also drank out of. People were turning to spirits in droves, since it was much safer to drink then the water. Gin was the popular choice; it was cheap, it had some flavor, and brandy had been banned because of England’s on again/off again love affair with France. It was getting so cheap that people were abusing it. At the height of the Gin Craze, the British were drinking an average 2.2 gallons of gin a year. The population was so drunk on such a constant basis that society and the economy were beginning to slip. Beer was being brewed offered by monks and the church as a way to have a drink safer than water and not as harsh and debilitating as gin.

Arthur Guinness, founder of the beer that bears his name, was a good and humble man. His godfather was the Archbishop of Cashel in Ireland, and he was very faithful to the Irish church. So faithful, in fact, he began the first Sunday Schools on the island, and spent a great deal of his time and money helping the poor. He inherited some money, 100 £ to be exact, and used it to lease the brewery at St. James Gate. In 1759, the lease was signed for 9000 years for a price of 45 £ a year. He saw that he could play a part in stemming the flood of gin that was destroying Britain, and began brewing immediately. By 1769 he was able to start shipping his beer to England. Guinness himself passed away in 1803, but his son took up the family business. Not only did he take up the business, he took up the giving philosophy and helping of his fellow man.

The 19th century was good to the brewers at Guinness. It continued to grow despite doing nothing that other breweries were doing to promote their beer. They did not advertise or give discounts, relying mainly on word of mouth to spread the word about their product. They also did not own any public houses, which many breweries at the time did to promote their own beers. Beer was booming in Britain. It was seen as a “healthier” alternative to gin, and so it was not as strictly regulated as gin was. This allowed for thousands of public houses to be opened through the country. By the beginning of World War I, Guinness accounted for about 10% of the beer in Britain. While business was booming for the company, they were also giving their workers benefits that were almost unheard of at the time. They even pioneered quality control techniques that helped them put out a better, safer product. It was adopted by other industries, and is now known as the t-test. The quirkiness of the company also touched a little on its religious heritage; until 1939, if a Guinness brewer wanted to marry a Catholic, he would have to resign.

Guinness advertisement with toucans

How grand to be a Toucan!

The 1930’s started off by seeing Guinness as the seventh largest company in the world, and falling steadily towards the end of the decade. The company started looking for a new ad campaign as sales started to slide. They wanted to maintain their wholesome image and still promote the “healthy” benefits of their beer. S.H.Benson was the advertising company tasked with the project, and accomplished artist John Gilroy was the man they gave the job to. The combination of health, wholesomeness, and avoiding the typical beer advertisement led them to…zoo animals. The Zoo ads were incredibly successful for Guinness, incorporating a seal balancing a pint, an ostrich swallowing one whole, and the most enduring image, the toucan with two pints. The advertising campaign went strong for decades, until the early 1980’s when they decided it was dated and retired it. It has been showing up again more recently, making its presence felt again as one of the lone animal survivors of the campaign. The ads helped for a while, but Guinness continued to struggle against the lighter colored lagers.

In the 1970’s the company, who had up until this point been making porters and stouts, stopped experimenting with porters and stuck strictly to stouts. Ever the contrarians to popular sentiment, they began to market their beer as something to be enjoyed by people who desire something a little different, seeking to attain a cult status in the face of their declining sales. They embraced the unique look the beer had when it was poured; a sharp white cap of bubbles on a deep, dark base. It was successful, stopping Guinness’ sales slide and spreading its popularity. The 1980’s brought another distinction to Guinness as well: the can with the widget. Guinness tried to keep as much carbon dioxide as possible out of their beer, preferring nitrogen to add and carbonation to the brew. The bubbles are smaller, helping to not only create a smoother mouthfeel, but it is important in creating the distinct look of a well poured draught. Guinness had been doing canned been since the 1970’s, but did not sell it internationally because is needed an additional piece to inject the nitrogen/carbon dioxide mix. The widget solved that by injecting the gasses into the can when the can is opened; the change in pressure activates it. The widget was a thing of engineering beauty; it even won the Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement. Guinness, through clever advertising and its outsider status has maintained its cult status nicely over the last few decades.

Guinness coaster

I cannot agree with this coaster enough.

A cult status is good to maintain a little bit of mystery. That mystery has lead to some interesting rumors, everything from rats in kegs to making you stronger. The facts are not as sultry, but here they are: Guinness is made of dark roasted barley, hops, water, and yeast. The roast gives it a flavor that ranges from dark chocolate to coffee, and balances out the hops. It weighs in at a very light 4.3% ABV and a respectable 125 calories per 12 ounces. It is not even physically heavy; it is the beer sitting on top in a Black and Tan and its many variants. If you are a strict vegetarian, it is made with a byproduct of dead fish, isinglass. The isinglass is used to separate solids out of the brew, so it very rarely hits the bottle. Some studies have shown it could possibly maybe sort of be a little healthy for you, but not actually that much healthier than other beers. Pouring a pint of Guinness properly, the “Perfect Pint”, takes 119 seconds and two pours at about 45 degrees F. However, with modern technology, that has time has been cut down to four seconds.

On St. Patrick’s Day, put away the green beer and embrace something that has always been a little different from the norm.  If you are looking for somewhere to celebrate, head on over to our Events page to see everything that Dayton has to offer on March 17. It is fitting that a God-fearing man created a beer that is a big part of a holiday the Irish use to celebrate a saint. Even as sales for it decline in other parts of the world, the Emerald Isle still loves its native stout. The craft beer revolution may have opened up our palate to other stouts, but Guinness is still the one people think of. And if for no other reason, do it for the toucans.

Filed Under: Dayton Dining, Dayton On Tap, Happy Hour Tagged With: Beer, Dayton, Dayton Ohio, DaytonDining, Downtown Dayton, Events, facts, Guinness, history, irish dry stout, Pints, Stout, Things to Do, toucans, trivia

Seven Years in Mexico – The Kahlua Story

February 27, 2013 By Brian Petro Leave a Comment

Kahlua Bottles

Ready and waiting for National Kahlua Day.

What were you doing in 2006? It was not an incredibly memorable year overall, but some major events happened. It started off with the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Italy had a big year that year, also beating France in the World Cup 5-3. The St. Louis Cardinals, Miami Heat, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Carolina Hurricanes all took the championships in their respective sports. The Oscar that year went to Crash and the Grammy for Album of the Year was U2’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. The population of the United States hit 300 million in population that year as well. It was not all fun and games that year, though. Poor Pluto lost its planetary status that year, and Western Union sent its last telegram. YouTube played its last video independently that year, as it was bought by Google. James Brown, Steve Irwin, Don Knotts, Lou Rawls, and Coretta Scott King all passed away that year as well. But to end it on a good note, gas prices were only $2.59 on average for the whole year.

Why do events that happened seven years ago matter in a column that is about cocktails and liquor? Seven years ago some coffee beans and sugar cane, growing side by side, began a journey that would lead them to become a bottle of coffee liqueur better known of Kahlua. The coffee plant is what takes the longest time to grow, taking up to seven years for the Arabica coffee plant to reach maturity and produce coffee cherries. After the coffee is harvested, the beans are removed from the cherry and dried for at least six months before roasting, to get the proper flavor. While the coffee is being prepared, the neighboring sugar cane (which matures much faster) is being crushed so the juice can be collected and fermented; similar to how rum is created.  When coffee is roasted and the sugar cane juice is fermented, the two are blended together with some caramel and vanilla flavors to create the second most distinct liquor to come out of Mexico.

The company celebrated its Mexican heritage all through its growth. The flirting began in Veracruz, in the south of Mexico on the Gulf. In 1930 the Alvarez brothers offered their premium coffee to a local man experimenting with making spirits. Things became serious in 1936, when the spirit was created and started to be sold. Its popularity blossomed  over the next few decades, the final marriage of all the ingredients coming to fruition in 1962 before taking off in the United States through the mid 1960’s.The explosive growth in North America spawned multiple pretenders to the throne including lower quality versions like  Kapali, Kamora, Copa De Oro, and deKuyper’s Crème de Café. Some well known coffee brands, like Starbucks and illy, also tried to get into the coffee liqueur game. Patron makes their XO Café, which is a blend of tequila and coffee. It is made in the same manner as Kahlua, but the tequila changes the flavor profile a bit. As many imitators as there are, there ain’t nothing like the real thing.

Espresso Martinis

Rich and delicious, espresso martinis are a nice after dinner cocktail.

Kahlua (meaning “House of the Acolhua people” in Nahuatl) has maintained its 20% ABV and slight caffeine content (about 1/10th of what a cup of coffee has) throughout its history. It has branched out into new flavors as the years have passed. They offer the original coffee flavor, as well as a more intense (and higher proof) Especial. On top of the Especial, they also have a 35% ABV Midnight, the strongest liqueur they have in their line. Staying close to the coffee flavor theme, they also offer Mocha, adding a hint of chocolate to the coffee, and a special holiday Peppermint Mocha. To round out their flavor offerings they have Hazelnut, French Vanilla, and Cinnamon Spice. Kahlua, and all of its many flavors, are sipped nicely on the rocks. So nicely, in fact, that one of the first mainstream cocktails made with Kahlua was the Black Russian, using two parts of vodka with the Kahlua over ice. A simple addition of cream or milk will make a White Russian, made famous in The Big Lebowski. It is also a key ingredient in any version of the Espresso Martini. It is prominently featured in shots like the Baby Guinness and B-52. Of course, it also goes very well in a nice cup of coffee.

February 27th is National Kahlua Day, and the coffee that was planted in 2006 is now sitting in bottles, waiting to be enjoyed. There are plenty of cocktails you can try with this sweet coffee liqueur, or just enjoy it on the rocks. As an Ohioan you get an added benefit: Kahlua can be sold on our great state at 21.5%, slightly higher than the rest of the world. Just another thing to celebrate today! Cheers!

Filed Under: Dayton Dining, Happy Hour Tagged With: black russian, cocktails, coffee, Dayton, Dayton Ohio, DaytonDining, history, Kahlúa, liqueur, Mexico, Things to Do, white russian

Tasting the Stars in Champagne

February 14, 2013 By Brian Petro 18,068 Comments

“I only drink champagne when I’m happy, and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.” ~Madame Lily Bollinger

Champagne coupe

Originally, champagne was served in glasses that looked like this.

Madame Bollinger would know the best time to drink champagne. As one of the greatest women to work in the champagne industry in the house whose name she bears, Mme. Bollinger brought champagne through the Great Depression and World War Two. She promoted a style of champagne that changed the industry, moving it from the sweeter side of the spectrum to the dry the British always seem to favor. She was the face of the Bollinger brand, an unusual position for a woman in 1941, and through her efforts, helped the city of Ay, after the war, while earning several honors from both Great Britain and France. She continued the tradition of providing the royalty of England with champagne for all of their events, but more importantly creating champagne so iconic that even James Bond drinks it.

Champagne is a drink of celebration, and is there a better time to be celebrating than on Valentine’s Day? Love is in the air, chocolates and flowers are roaming through offices and homes around the world, so why not bring out that bottle of champagne you were saving for a special occasion? And while you are enjoying your wine, enjoy some interesting facts, trivia, and quotes about this bubbly beauty.

  • Dom Perignon, considered the father of champagne, was not trying to create a sparkling drink. He was trying to demi_sec
    prevent it. The bubbles in champagne were a flaw caused by secondary fermentation. Cold stops the fermentation process, and can leave some sugar in the bottle. When spring comes back and the weather warms up, the fermentation starts up, and creates the fizz. Dom Perignon was the father of blending grapes before pressing them.
  • The grapes blended to make champagne in the modern era are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier.
  • Modern champagne tastes were determined by the British. Champagne was first deliberately created by a man named Christopher Merret in the mid 17th century. They liked the carbonation in their wine, though it was the French king that Louis XIV made it popular with the nobility. It was much sweeter at the time. It was the British again that demanded drier and drier champagne, giving us the general range of sweetness we enjoy today.
  • Uncorking a bottle of champagne is serious business. Before the glass was strong enough, the secondary fermentation caused bottles to explode. All of that gas with no outlet builds up pressure. It can be up to 90 PSI, just under three times what is recommended in a car tire. Plenty of pressure and a little neck, when put together, create a weapon that can shoot the cork at speeds of up to 50 MPH. That could put your eye out. Ain’t nobody got time for that on Valentine’s Day.
  • If you are going for distance, not speed, you are going to have to shoot your cork over 178 feet to break the world record, set by an American in 1988.
  • Champagne_bubblesThe bubbles are crucial to the enjoyment of the champagne. There is an estimated 49 million bubbles in a bottle. Moet and Chandon, in tandem with Heineken, spent $7 million dollars on special photography that revealed 250 million bubbles were contained in each bottle. To get the most bubbles in your bubbly, cool the bottle to about 45 degrees F. With the bottle at a 45 degree angle, put the bottom of the bottle against your hip or thigh. The first thing you will need to do is remove the foil, then the cage on the cork. Be careful; sometimes the cork is loose, and removing the cage will cause the cork to pop. Take a towel and wrap it around the neck, making sure you cover the cork. Holding tight to the cork, twist it gently until it comes out. The less noise you make, the more bubbles you get to enjoy in your glass.
  • Champagne only comes from France by international law. Champagne is part of the larger group of sparkling wines you can find anywhere in the world. If you get it in Italy, it is prosecco , which is becoming very popular. Spain has cava, Germany has sekt, and Portugal has espumante.

    Bottle of Cava

    The Spanish sparkling wine cava, made mainly in the Catalona region.

  • How sweet do you want your champagne? Brut Nature  is the driest of the dry, with no sugar, or very little, added to the wine. Extra Brut has some sugar added, but it still very dry. Brut is the most commonly purchased champagne, and is still a little on the dry side. Extra sec has a little more sweetness than Brut, and a little more sugar added. Demi Sec is dessert-level sweet, with quite a bit more sugar added. Sec is a very sweet champagne, definitely served after a meal as a dessert.
  • We prefer to drink champagne in a flute, but if you watch older films, you can see them drinking champagne out of a wider glass known as a coupé. It does not hold the bubbles as well, but was the traditional way of drinking champagne. It is also said to be molded from the breast of Marie Antoinette. Let them eat cake indeed…
  • Beautiful women have always been linked to champagne. One of the most beautiful women of all time, Marilyn Monroe, is rumored to have taken a bath in over 350 bottles of champagne.
  • The tallest champagne flute was revealed at a festival in Italy. It stands seven feet tall and can hold twenty two bottles of champagne. The largest bottle of champagne currently made is called Midas, holding forty regular sized bottles of premium bubbly. Only six were made, at a cost of $100,000 a bottle.

While Valentine’s Day is a special day and calls for a special celebratory beverage, champagne is something that can be enjoyed every day. The season of champagne tastings is usually in December for New Years or Christmas, but many restaurants will sell certain champagnes by the glass if you are looking to try some out. The staff here will let you know when the next tastings or events are.  Spend today surrounded by friends and loved ones, and celebrate with a drink that has a little more sparkle.

Filed Under: Dayton Dining, Happy Hour, The Featured Articles, Wine Tagged With: cava, champagne, Dayton, Dayton Ohio, DaytonDining, facts, France, fun, history, prosecco, trivia, Valentine's Day

Sipping your Chocolate

February 8, 2013 By Brian Petro Leave a Comment

Cocoa_seeds_by_lolayValentine’s Day is a day of hearts, flowers, wines, romance, and boxes and boxes of chocolates. Chocolates are among the most popular gifts to give on Valentine’s Day, making local favorites like Esther Price, Winans and Signature Confections very happy.  We like our chocolates as truffles, bars, bons bons, dips, and any number of creative ways. The people that discovered chocolate, the early Mayans and Aztecs, would be completely baffled by how we use chocolate. Xocolatl, or “bitter water” in Nahuatl (Aztec), was fermented and drank, usually by the upper classes. They would also thicken up the drink on occasion with corn and chilies, turning it into porridge. The Spanish were the first to add milk and sugar to it to sweeten it and turn it into the chocolate that we know and love. They were still drinking it until the 17th century, when the chocolate candy craze hit Paris. For a thousand years, chocolate was a beverage. And in this modern era of craft beers, flavored spirits, and experimentation, you can make it a drink for your Valentine’s Day celebration.

WINE

Pairing wine and chocolate is something that people have built whole festivals around. Godiva has even wisely added a page to their website to help you start off, and give you tips on what to look for when you pair it yourself. Putting the two together into one drink is something that is fairly new to the drinking scene. ChocoVine came out of the gate strong in 2009 with high ratings, and it has maintained them since. The people I know that have tried it have had nothing but good things to say about this blend of red wine (they use Cabernet grapes) and Dutch chocolate. In the same category is ChocolatRouge, another blend of chocolate and red wine, this time using California red wines. These are fairly inexpensive bottles, and their richness great to use as a dessert or treat. Their websites also suggest you can use them in cocktails.

messagepart-5BEER

The craft beer movement has encouraged experimentation with a full range of flavors, from savory to sweet, fruity to earthy. The chocolate end of the spectrum is full with delicious porters and stouts, using the already deep flavor of a well-roasted malt to enhance the chocolate added to the brew. The first one, and still one of the better ones, is Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. Southern Tier makes and utterly delightful stout, Choklat, that is a must taste for the chocolate lover. Stouts are a great winter warmer, which has the Brooklyn Brewing company bringing out their Black Chocolate Stout at this time of year. One of the richer chocolate beers is Samuel Smith’s Organic Chocolate Stout, which has a very strong and smooth chocolate taste. In 2001 Rouge Ales released their Chocolate Stout around Valentine’s Day and have not looked back. They followed up this award winning beer with a Double Chocolate Stout, which ramped up the chocolate flavor to satisfy the sweetest tooth.  This is a very small sampling of some amazing chocolate beers in the area.

LIQUOR

For a very long time, if you wanted to add chocolate to a cocktail, you were reaching for the crème de cacao. It comes in two varieties, white and dark, and is base liquor infused with chocolate, sometimes a hint of vanilla. It is not something that is the star of the show in a cocktail, more of a supporting actor to the other flavor that is going on. It was not until the explosion of the craft cocktail movement that the options for how to add that chocolate flavor grew.

Godiva Chocolate Liqueur is the most popular of the new wave of chocolate liqueurs. Creamy and thick, it is more reminiscent of Irish cream and holds a great deal of flavor. It comes in White Chocolate and Original Chocolate, depending on what you are in messagepart-8the mood for. One (very appropriate) cocktail you can make with the liqueur:

Aphrodisiac

2 oz. vodka (chocolate, if you prefer)
1 oz. espresso
1 oz. Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
1 oz. coffee liqueur

Chill a martini glass. Pour all of the ingredients into a mixing glass with ice, and shake it until it is foamy. Strain the ingredients into the chilled cocktail glass. You can add chocolate syrup inside of the glass as a decorative element, or rim the glass with cocoa powder.

While you are looking for good chocolate liquor to use, you may want to take a look in the vodka aisle. Since Absolut kicked off the messagepart-9flavored vodka party in 1986, there has been an explosion of flavored vodka. That explosion had not fully made it to chocolate, as there are very few pure chocolate vodkas on the market. Pinnacle has a Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Whip Cream flavors, but they are not true chocolate. For true chocolate, you have three options. If you are someone who is very particular about your vodka and the environment it comes from, 360 offers a Double Chocolate flavor. Three Olives makes some innovative flavors, but kept it simple and sweet for their chocolate vodka. Three Olives will also be the one that is easiest to find. It is a great brand. Van Gogh, while their Rich Dark Chocolate vodka has some great flavors and a darker color, it is harder to find in the stores. It is also the most expensive of the three.  That chocolate martini you are making will benefit from any of these fine vodka selections, and either kick off or end the night in fine fashion.

messagepart-7Boxes of sweets are not the only way to being chocolate into the holiday. Beer, wine and cocktail lovers can also drink in some chocolaty goodness to celebrate being with a loved one. Belmont Party Supply can help you select a few beers to enjoy the evening with, and Arrow Wine has the full selection of chocolate infused liquors mentioned. They also have Piece of Cake’s Chocolate Cake liqueur, and chocolate infused whip cream for a garnish to your drinks.  If you are looking to try chocolate in the way the ancient Mayans and Aztecs enjoyed it, Dogfish Head has it taken care of. Using flavors taken from samples discovered in 1200 year old pottery, Theobroma has a unique chocolate and chili flavor to it. It is very difficult to find, but if you can, it is a treat. There are plenty of great Valentine’s Day festivities for you to enjoy in the Dayton area, and a wide variety of ways to get your chocolate fix at any of them. Enjoy the day…and your chocolate!

 

Filed Under: Dayton Dining, The Featured Articles Tagged With: Beer, chocolate, cocktails, Craft Beer, Dayton, DaytonDining, history, liqueur, liquor, Things to Do, Valentine's Day, vodka, wine

Perking Up for National Gourmet Coffee Day

January 18, 2013 By Brian Petro Leave a Comment

messagepart-3Jules Winnifield is not a coffee connoisseur. While hiding a dead body in his friend Jimmie Dimmick’s garage in the groundbreaking 1994 Tarantino movie “Pulp Fiction”, Jules was offered a cup of coffee and was astonished at how good the quality was. “Mmmm! Goddamn, Jimmie! This is some serious gourmet s***! Usually, me and Vince would be happy with some freeze-dried Taster’s Choice right, but he springs this serious GOURMET s*** on us! What flavor is this?” Jimmie, being concerned about the contents of his garage, was not amused. “I don’t need you to tell me how good my coffee is, okay? I’m the one who buys it. I know how good it is. When Bonnie goes shopping she buys S***. I buy the gourmet expensive stuff because when I drink it I want to taste it. But you know what’s on my mind right now? It AIN’T the coffee in my kitchen.” His pressing concerns are not our pressing concerns, but one thing may have stuck out: how did he get gourmet coffee in a non-Starbucks cup? We celebrate National Gourmet Coffee Day on January 18 by exploring the evolution of the gourmet coffee scene.

Gourmet coffee in the United States is still relatively young. The first gourmet coffee store was Peet’s Coffee and Tea, started in 1966 by Alfred Peet in Berkely, Ca. He was an immigrant from the Netherlands, and was used to having good coffee available to him. European coffee was rich and crafted, with depth and flavor that Peet did not get out of American coffee. Peet’s set the table for other gourmet coffee shops in the United States. Coffee in America had been in a state of decline since the end of World War II. People had become used to an inferior brand of coffee through rationing. It carried on for a few decades until the 1970’s and the growth of Peet’s and the birth of another giant in the industry, Starbucks. These two companies began their growth as gourmet coffee roasters; it was not until the late 80’s when Howard Schultz bought the company and began to expand from Vancouver to New York.

It was the national growth of Starbucks that created a demand for espresso and other European-style coffees across the country. Gourmet coffee messagepart-6went from something only immigrants enjoyed in their own homes, and possibly some shops in local ethnic neighborhoods, to something everyone wanted. It became a very affordable luxury, and the demand was huge. The espresso machine was originally created to take the gallons of coffee that had to be brewed and reheated for each patron and turn them into individual cups of freshly made coffee. The coffee was delicately roasted and finely ground to make a delicious, dark coffee that would fit in a small cup. The espresso machine had an added benefit; not only did it make water piping hot in a rapid manner; it could also be used to make milk hot. Espresso became the base for a core group of coffee drinks: the café latte (hot milk is added to the espresso in a taller glass), café au lait (foamed or steamed milk poured over a shot of espresso in a shorter glass), the cappuccino (espresso, hot milk, and steamed foam layered on top), and the macchiato (espresso is added to warm milk, the coffee leaving a mark on the milk). The Americano was also created, which is a shot of espresso with hot water, for American soldiers that could not handle the richness of the espresso. These drinks became the base for the First Gourmet Coffee Movement. Looking closely at the menu of most gourmet coffees shops, those drinks are the base for all of the other drinks they created.

messagepart-7Like any good movement, people kept moving forward and discovered something else. Coffee could stand on its own in terms of flavor. It did not need to be something fancy, including multiple flavors and a long list of instructions to make. Coffee could be simple, just water and beans, possibly some cream and sugar. The information age has allowed us to really dig into where the coffee you drink comes from, down to the farmer. People have become fully invested in the whole process, from growing to roasting to brewing to tasting. Experts choose and roast the beans according to where they are from and what flavors they are looking to bring out. They are focusing more on the underlying tastes of coffee, from the berry and citrus flavors that emerge from Ethiopian coffee to chocolaty and sweet coffees from Central America. Classic brewing techniques have become more familiar, with French presses and vacuum pots coming back into vogue for their brewing qualities. Special coffees are selected to be prepared with certain dishes, similar to what you would expect from a wine tasting. Coffee shops and private individuals are conscious of the full range of flavor they can get out of the dark beverage, and the focus is now on the basics, enticing the natural essences of the beans out.

We are very lucky to have so many great coffee shops in Dayton to help us with this process. Winans Fine Chocolates and Coffees has been open since the 1961, serving chocolates with their coffees (which they have been brewing for about fifteen years). Boston Stoker was soon to follow, roasting beans and offering gourmet coffee since the early 70’s. The Ohio Coffee Co. has been doing a brisk trade in the coffee business as well, keeping downtown awake since 2009.  The great places to get coffee downtown continue to open and offer incredibly well crafted coffees and foods. Ghostlight Coffee, Press, and Eclipse have all opened within the last two years, adding some great environments as well as some interesting coffee options.

Check out ALL of the best coffee shops across the region in our new Dayton Dining Guide!messagepart-8

From its beginning in the mid sixties, gourmet coffee has explored a wide range of meaning to a wide range of people. Some people look at it from a classic standpoint, embracing the espresso and its kin as what is gourmet. Almost as a reaction to the complexity Starbucks injected into upscale coffee, there has been a movement towards just embracing coffee as it is, enjoying the roast, the bean, and the process of enjoying a fine cup. If you have a favorite coffee shop we have not mentioned, feel free to add it in the comments. And if you need anything else, just chill out, enjoy a nice cup of coffee on National Gourmet Coffee Day, and The Wolf will be coming directly. Cheers!

 

Filed Under: Dayton Dining, The Featured Articles Tagged With: Boston Stoker, cappuccino, coffee, cream, Dayton Ohio, Downtown Dayton, DyatonDining, Eclipse Coffee and Tea, espresso, ghostlight coffee, history, latte, macchiato, milk, Press, Starbucks, The Ohio Coffee Co., Things to Do, Things to do in Dayton, Winans Fine Chocolates & Coffees

A Spot of Tea to Warm the Soul

January 11, 2013 By Brian Petro Leave a Comment

Hot ToddyThere is something absolutely thrilling to people about looking at fossils in a museum. Staring up at the skeletons of huge, ancient lizards allows your imagination to wander. What did they really look like? What sort of coloration did they have? You can stand there and look at the artists renderings of them, what the scientists tell you they should look like based on what they know about modern lizards and how they might have changed over the years. However, you can also look at them and imagine what you think they might have looked like. Add some spines, or smoother skin, or different colors, absolutely anything to suit your fancy. A simple structure to allow your imagination to play and an ancient history are also part of cocktail culture. January 11th is a day where we celebrate one of those cocktail dinosaurs; something that is more of a skeletal idea than a fully evolved, finished recipe. It is the hot toddy, and January 11th is National Hot Toddy Day.

The toddy palm is common in India, and that is where the first bones of the cocktail can be found. The locals would tap the trees to get the sap and they allow the sap to ferment in the warm sun, creating a palm wine. If you take the wine and distill it, you get brandy; if you take palm wine and distill it, it becomes arrack.  India is a very hot country, and the British were not used to that sort of heat. The colonists would drink anything to cool off and get away from the heat. Fortunately the natives already had something ready for the overheated British; a drink called “panch”, which is Indian for “five”, supposedly the number of ingredients contained in the beverage.  It had water, some spices, lemon, sugar, and the arrack. It watered everything down, was refreshing, and made the days a little more bearable. It was so good they brought this panch back to Britain with them, but used the name of the tree that it originally came from. The drink became known as a toddy. A cold toddy.

The toddy continued to evolve once it made it north. Britain is a chilly, damp place. Cool and refreshing drinks do not go over as well there, since the messagepart-2environment is chilly more often than not. They are trying to figure out ways to warm up, not cool down.  Water, spices, sugar…sounds like a good hot cup of tea to me. They were now roughly five thousand miles away from the arrack that was used in the original recipe. Being British, they kept calm and carried on, substituting the arrack for whiskey and gin. Some stories say that this mixture of sugar, water, and lemon was used to soften the overly peaty and strong Scotch whiskeys in the 18th century, making them more favorable to women. England loves their gin, and the juniper in the gin went well with some spices that are found in tea. Yes, tea had also become an element to add to this loose recipe, mixed more to the taste of the drinker and a general idea than any specific recipe. The bones of the recipe were still there, but the flavors and the details adapted themselves to the environment.

When the British travelled to America, the evolution continued. Scotch was not as easily available, but there was no shortage of liquors ready to take its place. Traditional liquors like gin and brandy were still very popular in the colonies, but newcomers like rum, bourbon, and rye whiskey were growing in popularity. There was also more access to sweeteners like honey and molasses, not just the sugar that was more traditional in Great Britain. In colonial times, sugar was not granular; it was brought in blocks and you had chip off and crush what you needed for the drink. The stick that was used (in some of the tales) was called a toddy stick, another possibility for where the name came from. Tea was still readily available to mix all of the ingredients in. The one major thing the colonies added was a standardization of the size. It went from something that could be made in a mug, a quart, a punch bowl, or any large container for multiple servings. By the end of the 19th century, famous bartender Jerry Thomas had compressed the cocktail into a cup. Everything had also start to become a little more codified. The revolving carousel of liquors finally stopped at whiskey (though rum and gin was still found to be more popular in New England), the sweetener became sugar, and the tea went away for a while in favor of hot water (though now tea or spice is considered part of the drink).

messagepart-5What kept such a simple, erratic cocktail so popular over such a long period of time? While the flexibility of the drink helped keep it popular for a wide range of palates and environments, the biggest reason was the supposed medicinal purposes. People would drink it when they were under the weather, which made them feel a little better for a while. It was hot, which helps loosens up mucous and helps you breathe a little easier; if you use tea, you also get the benefits tea brings. The acid in the lemon adds some vitamin C, and using honey helps to coat your throat as well as the other medical benefits honey has. Alcohol has been used for years either as a medicine (as vodka was in Poland and Russia) or as a big part of medicine (like it was at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century). The problem of using alcohol as medicine too often is that the cure can be worse than the disease. Yes, the alcohol makes you feel a little better for a short time, but it is dehydrating. It may leave you feeling a little worse than before you drank it. Drinking too many will give you a hangover. A small dose before bed, however, can help you sleep a little better while the rest of the ingredients go to work. A hot toddy will help to relieve some of the symptoms of a cold or flu, but it is not a cure. You should still use medicine for that.

Hot Toddy6a0105354fa49a970c0120a69b2b10970c-800wi

1.5 oz. whiskey
.5 oz. lemon juice
.75 oz. simple syrup
4-6 oz. of hot water
Tea bag or other spices (cinnamon or nutmeg are traditional)(optional)

Brew the cup of tea to your taste. In a cup, stir together the whiskey, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Add the tea, and then stir the mixture a few more times. You can garnish it with a lemon wedge or cinnamon stick. You can also substitute hot water or cider for the tea, and rum or brandy for the whiskey.

As this mysterious cocmessagepart-6ktail passed from continent to continent, it changed and adapted to the needs of the environment it was in. With all of the changes it made, from a cooling drink in India to a warming drink in America, the basics never changed. The skeleton of a drink was created that maintained a certain simplicity while emphasizing a world of possibilities. You can usually order one at a bar (can you imagine the whiskeys you can choose from at The Century Bar for this one?), but why? Wrap yourself in your warmest blanket, find a great book, and settle in with this steaming cup of goodness next time you feel a little under the weather. What you put in it is all in your imagination, as long as you stick to the basic structure. Happy National Hot Toddy Day!

Filed Under: Happy Hour, The Featured Articles Tagged With: brandy, cocktails, Dayton, Dayton Ohio, DaytonDining, history, honey, hot tea, hot toddy, India, rum, tea, The Century Bar, Things to Do, Things to do in Dayton

Waiter, There is Champagne in my Cocktail…

December 28, 2012 By Brian Petro 1 Comment

bellinibar
Champagne is a beverage that we bring out only at special celebrations. It was the French royalty at the beginning of the 18th century that popularized the trend of drinking this sparkling beverage. It became perceived (with marketing help from the grape growers in the Champagne region of France) as a drink of the affluent, so the people of the middle and working classes only would drink it for special occasions.  Even though champagne and other sparkling wines have become fairly easy to find and purchase at a modest price, it is still something we associate with infrequent celebrations and special events. We see it when sports teams win championships, when couples get married, maybe when someone smashes a bottle of it to christen a boat, and of course, New Year’s Eve. People sip it straight out of a flute or a coupe if they are feeling a little more vintage vibe. What you do not see much of is people mixing it into a cocktail.

A mimosa at breakfast is typically the extent of people’s experience with a champagne based cocktail. Possibly a bellini for brunch or a light lunch drink. There are so many more cocktails you can make with champagne as the base, playing off the general sweetness and effervescence of it. The one thing you always want to keep in mind: champagne is very carbonated. Take care when you are mixing the ingredients together. Also, champagne is a sparkling wine specific to the Champagne region of France. It belongs to the larger category of sparkling white wines where you will find cava (Spain), prosecco (Italy), and sekt (Germany). For the purposes of the recipes, I am going to use what the original source calls for. You can use other sparkling wines, but the taste will vary accordingly.

Champagne Cocktails 101

Here are a few cocktails you can make with champagne and common liquors, or other mixers you may have at your party.

BelliniBellini by quinn.anya

1.5 oz. peach schnapps
4-6 oz. prosecco

Pour the peach schnapps into a flute, and then add champagne. Stir gently, and garnish with a peach slice.

Before all of you bartenders and other cocktail experts leap upon me, a traditional bellini is made with white peach puree, not peach schnapps. If you can find the ripe peaches in the store, or premade peach puree, substitute that for the peach schnapps.  I have even
seen this recipe called a Dirty Bellini.

Mimosa by Dinner SeriesMimosa

2 oz. orange juice
.25 oz orange liqueur (triple sec, Grand Marnier, etc.)
4-6 oz. champagne

Pour the orange juice into the flute, and then add champagne. The orange liqueur is added last, as a float, and is optional if you do not have it available. It will also not be bad to have on New Year’s Day.

Black Velvetimage_79111

Stout (Guinness is the traditional choice)
Champagne

Add equal parts stout and champagne into a pilsner glass. It is a bigger trick that you might think. I will usually put the champagne in first, and then add the stout VERY slowly, keeping a close eye on the bubbling of the champagne. When Prince Albert passed away, the whole country went into mourning with Queen Victoria. Even the champagne, with the help from Guinness, was black with sorrow.

Champagne Cocktails 201

Very popular, you may need to purchase a few specialty ingredients, or make a few extra preparations for these cocktails.

Kir Royale

.5 oz Crème de cassis
6 oz. champagne

Pour a standard pour of champagne in a flute and add the crème de cassis. Crème de cassis is a black currant flavored liqueur. A kir can also be made in a similar fashion, substituting a dry white wine for the champagne.

Champagne Cocktail

Sugar cube soaked in Angostura bitters (2 dashes of bitters should do)
6 oz. champagne
Splash of cognac (optional)

Place the sugar cube in the bottom of the flute. Pour the champagne over the cube, allowing the sugar and bitters to dissolve. The cognac float at the end is more popular in England than it is here. This is another notable vintage cocktail, something you will see mentioned in more than a few black and white movies. Talkies, as the kids call them.

PoinsettiaRed-Champagne-Cocktails-small-300x300

3 oz. cranberry juice
1 oz. orange liqueur
3 oz. champagne

Pour the cranberry juice and orange liqueur into a flute and stir together. Add the champagne and enjoy. It is seasonal, festive, and delicious.

Champagne Cocktails 301

These are going to take liqueurs that are a little more obscure or expensive, and much more preparation.
They may be a little less known generally, but have a place in cocktail history.

Death in the Afternoon

1 oz. absinthe or Pernod
5 oz. champagne

Pour the absinthe into a flute, and then add champagne. Absinthe balances out the sweet champagne with a hint of wormwood and licorice flavors. Ernest Hemmingway, who is credited with the creation of the drink, also suggests in the recipe to enjoy three to five in the afternoon. This probably explains quite a bit about his work.

French 75french75

1 oz. gin
.5 oz. lemon juice
1.5 tsp. simple syrup
4 oz. champagne

In a mixing glass, combine the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Shake it, and strain the contents into a Collins glass over ice. Top it off with the champagne and gently stir it. Garnish with a cherry and an orange slice. If you are not a fan of gin, you can substitute it with cognac. This cocktail got its name because it was said it felt like you were hit with a French 75mm field gun, a staple of the French army during World War I and the first piece of modern artillery. Boom.

Seelbach Cocktail

1.5 oz. bourbon
.5 oz. orange liqueur
7 dashes Angostura bitters
7 dashes Peychaud bitters
4 oz. champagne

Mix the bourbon, bitters, and orange liqueur briefly over ice, and strain into a flute. Top off the mixture with champagne. It was created at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville just before Prohibition hit, and the original recipe for this cocktail was lost. It was found recently and brought back to life, with a shocking amount of bitters that offer some balance to the sweetness of the champagne, bourbon, and orange.

Champagne Flutes via bifishadowYou know champagne is going to be in the mix on December 31st. With a little more planning and a few more purchases, you can have a wide range of cocktails available that can be made with that single ingredient. Of course, there is nothing wrong with just enjoying it as it comes out of the bottle. If you enjoy a little too much of it (since you will not be driving, right?), we have a few remedies for the hangover on January 1st.

Have a wonderful and safe New Year’s Eve, and a prosperous 2013.

Cheers!

 

Filed Under: The Featured Articles, Wine Tagged With: champagne, cocktails, Dayton, Dayton Ohio, DaytonDining, entertaining, history, Holiday, new year's eve, Things to Do, Things to do in Dayton

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Grab some friends and join us every Wednesday night at the brewery for a pint of your favorite ALEMATIC brew...

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4:00 pm - 7:00 pm Recurring

Lebanon Farmers Market

July 3 @ 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm Recurring

Lebanon Farmers Market

The Lebanon Farmers Market is open 4 pm to 7 pm every Thursday mid-May through mid-October.  We are located in...

5:00 pm

3rd Annual Crab Rangoon Eating Contest

July 3 @ 5:00 pm

3rd Annual Crab Rangoon Eating Contest

It’s back—and bigger than ever. Join us for the 3rd Annual Crab Rangoon Eating Contest at Loose Ends Brewing. Last...

$15
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm Recurring

Grapes & Groves

July 3 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm Recurring

Grapes & Groves

Join us every Thursday to Taste Wine at your own pace. Each Thursday we will have one of our highly...

5:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Middletown July 3rd Fireworks + Festival

July 3 @ 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Middletown July 3rd Fireworks + Festival

5-10 PM: Free Kids Zone, including face painting and inflatables 6-7:30 PM: Live Music 7:30-8 PM: National Anthem Flag Jump...

5:00 pm - 10:30 pm

Centerville Americana Festival

July 3 @ 5:00 pm - 10:30 pm

Centerville Americana Festival

The Americana Festival Committee is excited to bring the Centerville – Washington Township community together once again for what promises...

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm Recurring

Member’s Group Crit Night

July 3 @ 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm Recurring

Member’s Group Crit Night

Thursdays / 5:30-7 p / Jun 12 / Jul 3 / Aug 7 Exclusive for Co Members / Become a...

6:00 pm Recurring

Matilda: The Musical

July 3 @ 6:00 pm Recurring

Matilda: The Musical

Winner of 47 International Awards! Matilda is a little girl with astonishing wit, intelligence, and special powers. She's unloved by...

$39 – $79
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Recurring

Open Collage Night

July 3 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Recurring

Open Collage Night

Admission is $10 per person at the door / Free for Co Members / Become a Member at codayton.org/membership Join...

$10
+ 4 More
8:00 am - 9:00 am

West Milton Red, White & Run 5k

July 4 @ 8:00 am - 9:00 am

West Milton Red, White & Run 5k

Description The Red, White, and Run 5k in West Milton will be held on July 4th!  This fun and enjoyable...

$30
4:00 pm - 10:00 pm Recurring

Cruise In at the Roadhouse

July 4 @ 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm Recurring

Cruise In at the Roadhouse

Cruise In at the Roadhouse is taking place at Rip Rap Roadhouse, which is located at 6024 Rip Rap Rd. in Huber Heights....

4:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Kevin Sonnycalb Memorial Fireworks Festival

July 4 @ 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Kevin Sonnycalb Memorial Fireworks Festival

The Kevin Sonnycalb Memorial Fireworks Festival is Xenia’s signature Independence Day celebration, held at Shawnee Park. This event is hosted alongside the Red, White &...

4:00 pm - 10:00 pm

What The Taco?!

July 4 @ 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm

What The Taco?!

Chipotle Chicken Taco GRILLED CHICKEN, SHREDDED LETTUCE, PICO DE GALLO, CILANTRO SOUR CREAM & MONTEREY JACK $10.00 Ground Beef Taco...

5:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Wheel Fresh Pizza

July 4 @ 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Wheel Fresh Pizza

Pepperoni Pizza Classic pepperoni, mozzarella, provolone and fresh-made sauce $17.00 Cheese Pizza Mozzarella/Provolone blend, and fresh-made pizza sauce $16.00 Sausage...

6:00 pm Recurring

Matilda: The Musical

July 4 @ 6:00 pm Recurring

Matilda: The Musical

Winner of 47 International Awards! Matilda is a little girl with astonishing wit, intelligence, and special powers. She's unloved by...

$39 – $79
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm Recurring

LIVE TRIVIA with Trivia Shark

July 4 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm Recurring

LIVE TRIVIA with Trivia Shark

Join us every Friday night at 6pm for Dayton's Best LIVE TRIVIA with Trivia Shark at Miami Valley Sports Bar!...

6:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Kettering Go Fourth!

July 4 @ 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Kettering Go Fourth!

Go Fourth! is Kettering’s premier Independence Day celebration, featuring live entertainment, food trucks, bounce houses, and a spectacular fireworks and drone show. Hosted...

+ 5 More
8:00 am - 11:00 am

Cars and Coffee

July 5 @ 8:00 am - 11:00 am

Cars and Coffee

Join SW Ohio's most passionate car enthusiasts with this nationally recognized gathering. As the largest Cars and Coffee gathering in...

Free
8:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Yellow Springs Farmers Market

July 5 @ 8:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Yellow Springs Farmers Market

For over 20 years this market has been made up of a hardworking group of men, women and children, dedicated...

8:30 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Downtown Franklin Farmers Market

July 5 @ 8:30 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Downtown Franklin Farmers Market

Join us every Saturday through Sept 13, 8.30 a.m. - 12 p.m. for local products including fresh produce, honey/jams, and...

9:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Oakwood Farmers Market

July 5 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Oakwood Farmers Market

The 2025 Oakwood Farmers’ Market will be held Saturdays, June 7th thru October 11th, from 9 am until 12pm. The...

9:00 am - 1:00 pm Recurring

Greene County Farmers Market

July 5 @ 9:00 am - 1:00 pm Recurring

Greene County Farmers Market

The outdoor Farmers Market on Indian Ripple Rd. in Beavercreek runs Saturdays, 9-1 even during the winter months. Check out...

9:00 am - 2:00 pm Recurring

Shiloh Farmers Market

July 5 @ 9:00 am - 2:00 pm Recurring

Shiloh Farmers Market

The farmers’ market is located on the corner of Main St. & Philadelphia Dr, in the parking lot of Shiloh...

10:00 am - 12:00 pm

The Buzz about Bees

July 5 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

The Buzz about Bees

Dive into the fascinating world of bumblebees and bees as we explore the vital roles and ecosystem services that these...

$3
10:00 am - 2:00 pm Recurring

Farmers Market at The Heights

July 5 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Recurring

Farmers Market at The Heights

Join us for the Farmers Market at The Heights Saturdays 10a-2pm. All products are either homemade or homegrown or support...

+ 9 More
9:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Downtown Troy Farmers’ Market

July 6 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Recurring

Downtown Troy Farmers’ Market

Downtown Troy Farmers' Market will run Saturday mornings 9:00 am to 12:00 pm from June 22nd, 2013 through September 21st,...

11:30 am - 5:00 pm

Filled Pasta Class

July 6 @ 11:30 am - 5:00 pm

Filled Pasta Class

Join Chef Casey in a hands-on culinary adventure and learn what makes our pasta so delicious! You'll try your hand...

$128
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Recurring

Mozzarella & Mimosas

July 6 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Recurring

Mozzarella & Mimosas

$30
12:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Montgomery County Fair – Red White & Bloom

July 6 @ 12:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Montgomery County Fair – Red White & Bloom

Summer's biggest celebration is just around the corner!  This year's theme, "Red, White & Bloom," promises a week-long celebration of community,...

6:00 pm Recurring

Matilda: The Musical

July 6 @ 6:00 pm Recurring

Matilda: The Musical

Winner of 47 International Awards! Matilda is a little girl with astonishing wit, intelligence, and special powers. She's unloved by...

$39 – $79
7:00 pm

24K Magic: #1 Tribute to Bruno Mars

July 6 @ 7:00 pm

24K Magic: #1 Tribute to Bruno Mars

All concerts are free. Food trucks and beer sales will be available for guests to enjoy. Friday night Party in the...

Free
7:30 pm Recurring

Dayton Poetry Slam

July 6 @ 7:30 pm Recurring

Dayton Poetry Slam

Dayton's longest running poetry show is celebrating it's 24th year.  Open mics, competitions, and featured poets await you twice a...

$3
7:30 pm - 11:30 pm Recurring

Becca’s LOTD Dart Tournament

July 6 @ 7:30 pm - 11:30 pm Recurring

Becca’s LOTD Dart Tournament

Every Sunday night at Miami Valley Sports Bar -- a Luck of the Draw Dart Tournament hosted by Becca. $10...

$10.00
+ 3 More
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