Maddie's Speakeasy & Distillery

This edition of The Denver Post went out in November: It's olde-timey! With clues to what's next!

Here is what each matchbook looked like. I ordered customized rubber stamps, and stamped each matchbook:

The inside cover had one of two designs: The "Gin, Casino, Jazz", or the mosaic tile "M"

In the back, it has secret compartments with gift cards to restaurants in Boulder:

Maddie's Speakeasy & Distillery is still under construction, and delayed. Here's the latest news from Instagram:

We almost had a grand opening. Then we got raided by the feds! No worries; Maddie’s Speakeasy & Distillery will be back in operation sooner than later, and here’s how you know you’re in the right place. That’s how we make it look normal that people come and go all hours - as late as 2AM! Password required.

We got raided! Good thing the feds didn’t find our secret plumbing system, so we still have lots of inventory - hehe. But they took the kombucha! That stuff is < 0.5% alcohol, so we’re definitely getting that back. Anyway, look for a grand opening sometime in early 1931. Maybe Valentine’s day or St. Patrick’s.

I was at the soft opening of @maddiesginjoint when they got raided by the feds! Here's a pic just before the drama. Then I had to drink fast! They won't be opening on schedule.

We’re still cleaning up the mess that the feds left behind after the raid. But they didn’t find the secret safe with the ledger - Ha! Look for a grand opening of Maddie’s Speakeasy & Distillery in early 1931. In the meantime, we’re perfecting the cocktail list. It’s gonna have this modern classic: If you’re a veteran bartender, you’ll recognize it instantly.

Maddie's Speakeasy was humming along, getting more and more popular every day. Then the stock market crash of 1929 hit, and everything changed. Right next door to the speakeasy, also in the basement level, was the Empress Theater, a kitchy little community theater that you see above. But the Empress Theater couldn't withstand the downturn from the great depression, and filed for backruptcy. That's when Maddie bought it for pennies on the dollar. It was a simple matter of breaking down the wall between Maddie's speakeasy and the theater, and voila! The speakeasy doubled it's square footage, adding a cabaret theater. But the expansion didn't end there; With the huge increase in business, Maddie needed a better supply of bootlegged liquor. Happily, adjacent to the theater is the Tattered Cover Book Store, which has a large basement warehouse zoned for heavy industrial use - perfect for a distillery! The bookstore also provides the secret entrance to the new Speakeasy. Check out the video guided tour. It's 1080p: Go into full sreen mode to see all the details.

This is the electric control panel for Maddie's Speakeasy. On the right of the panel is a period-accurate fan regulator from 1931.
It controls the ceiling fans in Maddie's Speakeasy. On the left of the panel is a 3-circuit knife switch; When the speakeasy expanded, Maddie had to upgrade the electrical system from 2 circuits to 3.

Here's the info card that shipped with the speakeasy. The keys go to an olde-timey attache case:

Here's the canvas tool bag opened up. It has the tools that you find behind a craft cocktail bar:

And the assemblage of booze. With just 7 bottle of booze, and 4 bottles of bitters / syrups, and items from the grocery store, you can make all 41 drinks on the cocktail menu:

The instructions for how to mix the drinks, plus tips on advanced mixology, are in this handy binder, with all pages conveniently splash-proof:

Here's the cocktail menu, front and back. There are plenty of non-alcoholic drinks for teetotalers:

All the cocktails are winners with a "wow" factor. You, too, can try out these cocktails.
Instructions are here, along with tips on how to become an expert mixologist for shaken gin cocktails:

gin_joint_cocktails.pdf

Be sure to read the novella at the end, "Benny's Dream Job".

It's especially convenient to add this pdf to your iPad. Download this pdf to your desktop. Then install Adobe Acrobat on your iPad. Then in iTunes, select your iPad, then go to File Sharing, then select Acrobat, then click on Add File ..., then select the pdf file from your desktop, and sync. All page cross-references are hyperlinks.

See this kit list for the entire inventory, and where to buy.