About
Cocktails, food, and gardening South of the hill in Bernal Heights, San Francisco.
Q: Who are you?
A: My name is Erik Ellestad and I write this blog.
Q: Is your last name really “Flannestad”?
A: No. Funny story. A million years ago, probably before you were born, I registered a domain name for myself and my wife, “muzack.com”. I thought it was kind of funny, as my wife had been using that sort of nom de plum for her radio show at the time. Sadly, the MUZAK company did not share my amusement and served me with a cease and desist order. Casting about for a new domain for our family, I remembered that we sometimes referred to ourselves by a combination of our last names. FLANN-ESTAD. Fortunately, no large mega corporations had yet claimed that domain or anything similar. Woo! Score!
Q: Why is this blog named, “The Underhill Lounge”?
A: I was trying to think of a name for a Chocolate Bitters and it popped into my head. Then I carried it on when I started the blogspot blog. As near as I can sort out my convoluted instinct at naming, it is a joke/pun. I live South of a large hill in San Francisco called, “Bernal Hill”, so kind of “Under the Hill.” Also a reference to the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Bilbo Baggins’ hobbit hole was in Bag End, Underhill. I’m not a huge fantasy fan these days, but they were important books in my adolescence. Lastly, my father was a Funeral Director, (a.k.a. Undertaker,) so kind of a tribute to him.
Q: Are you making these very Savoy cocktails every night?
A: I usually make about 5 Savoy Cocktails a week and post them every other day. So there is a bit of a temporal disconnect.
Disclosures and Policies
Any substances reviewed or written up on this blog are purchased on my own dime, unless otherwise noted.
Should you choose to send samples or items for review, they will be taken on their own merit and reviewed honestly and forthrightly.
Contact:
Erik Ellestad
706 Anderson Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
email: ellestad(a)gmail.com
Just found your blog through another bar blog link. I too write my own bartender blog. I bartend here in San Francisco. Just got back to bartending three months ago and am keeping tabs in the form of a blog. Feel free to check out at your leisure. Thanks!
I’ve been lurking around your blog for some time now, and I really love it! A few of my friends and I have been inspired by you to try a few of the cocktails here, as well as experiment on our own. I especially enjoy it when you do a little historical digging to try and determine the historical provenance behind what you make. Great!
Thanks for the kind words, Ryan! Appreciate it!
Hi,
I work for a well known spirits company and we would like to send you a sample of a new product that is still in development. Can you forward on a hard mail address where you would be able to receive a package?
Cheers!
Jamie
Greetings from London,
Just found your blog and spent a good hour going over the back catalogue of fine drinks. I am new to all this but have been eagerly digesting as much information as possible. I am in the process of building up my equipment and spirit collection (not to mention hunting down some good crystalware) and was wondering if you have any suggestions as to what liquers and aperitifs I should purchase first. I’d really like to be able to explore the classic London and US style cocktails.
Thanks for you help,
Kejia
Greetings Kejia, and thanks for reading!
One of the kind of fun things about the tag cloud on the right, is it sort of gives you weights for ingredients. The larger the word, the more the tag has been used on the blog.
Absinthe, Curacao, French Vermouth, Italian Vermouth are the largest, so most frequently used.
I would add Apricot Liqueur, Chartreuse, Cherry Liqueur, Cointreau, Maraschino as very important for classic cocktails. Angostura Bitters and Orange Bitters and you are in business, or at least have a very good start.
Hope this helps!
I read about your blog in Imbibe magazine this month. I think what you are doing is incredibly cool and I understand the desire to explore something the way you do. I am currently training to be a a sommelier and mixology is one of the topics I am focusing on. Your blog is going to be a great source of inspiration and ideas for me.
Drink on!
Jason
(i posted the same comment on Foodbuzz as I couldn’t be sure if you were active there. there is a growing group of people who are doing a lot of food and wine and pairing and exploration with cocktails. your experiences are a different dimension)
Thanks for the comment Jason!
Interesting to find a Sommelier who is into cocktails! I know a lot who are quite into drinking, but few who are that serious about cocktails. I look forward to checking out your blog!
I am kind of slack about my foodbuzz participation, I should work on that.
It seems cocktails can be paired well with food and some people prefer them to wine. I thought that might be a nice niche to explore. I also make wine, beer and cider at home so I have lots of oppurtunities to explore flavors and textures.
Jason