It's Splotter time on the old podcast. We've been spending quite a bit of time organizing and reorganizing our fledgling food empires and we're taking a little coffee break so we can tell you how it's all going. Join us and find out if schlepping drinks and flipping burgers is more fun than you remember.

MENU:

07:47 -- 2015 World Whiskey of the Year: Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye
17:43 -- Neanderthal, et al.
21:10 -- Food Chain Magnate (in-depth review)
77:03 -- Music (Samantha Crain, City and Colour, Joanna Newsom)
85:40 -- The Gallerist Postponed (we need another hour on this one)

And as promised, part two of our Essen games extravaganza; AKA, the good stuff. Nothing more to say than listen in and hold on to your wallets.

INGREDIENTS

01:03 -- The Bloody Inn
08:05 -- Grand Austria Hotel
16:53 -- 504
21:28 -- Shakespeare
31:33 -- Food Chain Magnate
45:42 -- Bretagne
60:55 -- Lignum
80:18 -- Nippon

Despite the prospect of ever orbiting schedules we have somehow collided for a long moment to record another installment of As the Podcast Turns, Essen edition. Yea us! In fact, what we recorded was so long that this will be the first of two concurrent releases today. And yeah, we know you know how to use the pause button, but it actually makes the editing job easier.

Last week we attended a small con in Bellevue that focuses on getting the most recent Essen releases to the table. A couple hundred folks attend and there seems to be at least one copy of each Essen title available to play. Much cheaper and more intimate than a trip to Germany

Between us we put in over 80 hours playing our most anticipated games. We then rushed home through a torrential downpour to tell you about it (or was it to get soaked taking our kids out Halloween night?). Anyway, sit back and enjoy the first half of our Essen game coverage. Maybe grab some strudel while you're at it.