Sunday, October 31, 2010

Cask Artisan Liquor in San Francisco

I'm not a big hard liquor drinker, leaning more toward a nice glass of red wine on most evenings. But sometimes the "Mad Men" mystique grabs me and I want a real man's man drink. And to me, that usually means whisky.

Sometimes, a nice glass of whisky or Scotch (did you know they're the same thing?) after dinner is a nice way to help you digest your food. Maybe it's that burn going through the stomach? :)

Looking for a nice starter bottle, I dropped by the Cask liquor store in SOMA near the Financial District. I didn't think of finding a store like this in this area of town, but it's like a super fancy corner liquor store.

Cask was opened by the people behind the popular Bourbon & Branch and Rickhouse because customers kept asking them where they got their unique liquor. And that's the feel you get when you walk into this tiny shop. Everything looked special and boutique-like. The wall is filled with beautiful bottles of hard liquor.

One thing about whisky is that I totally love the amber color. It's just visually pleasing, and I admit I buy the liquor based on the color. I ended up picking up a nice highland bottle of Scotch that I've been drinking after dinner for a few days. With Scotch, a little goes a long way.

Cask is definitely a place for bartender wannabes and people who love all the ingredients of a really good drink.

Cask, 17 Third St. (at Market), San Francisco. PH: 415.424.4844. www.caskstore.com

5 comments:

foodhoe said...

I do love the way the light shines through the glass bottles, but my filtration system totally cannot handle any distilled spirits... Looks like a very nice liquor cabinet though!

Kim said...

I thought that place was a wine bar. Darn.

Anonymous said...

Whisky and Scotch are NOT the same thing!

Single Guy Ben said...

That's what I thought, but the saleswoman at Cask said it's the same. I'm not an expert so just going with what she told me.

Mike Shingleton said...

It depends on what you mean by the same thing. Scotch is a type of whisky. Actually it is the original as the Scots invented it. The Irish also make Whisky. So Scotch is whisky, but there are other types including Irish, Japanese and Bourbon.