St. George Spirits

Liquor: 4.0
Service 4.5
Food: UNK
Ambiance: 4.0
Price: 3.0
Overall: 4.0
Another unexpected stop. We had planned to go to Hangar 1 Vodka, but they were closed for tasting. So, St. George Spirits it is. Our group did the guided tastings. Each tasting includes a selection of six of thier spirits that are all made onsite. Tastings are offered on the half-​hour starting at noon. On Wednesdays-​Saturdays, the last tasting of the day is at 6pm. On Sundays, the last tasting of the day is at 4pm.
California law limits distillery tasting rooms to pouring a maximum of six ¼-​oz samples per guest per day. So you get to choose three selections from their vodkas and gins and three selections from their brandies, liqueurs, and absinthe.
I tried:
1. Green Chile Vodka — This would perfect in a Bloody Mary
2. California Citrus Vodka — Aromatic and full of fresh citrus flavor
3. Terroir Gin — I’m not a gin fan, but this was good. It was woody with lots of flower tastes.
1. Spiced Pear Liqueur — Smells like heaven’s apple pie. It would great in the Fall and Winter.
2. NOLA Coffee Liqueur — Vanilla, sugar, coffee. Very nice.
3. Absinthe Verte — As thier website says, «Real absinthe. No artificial ingredients, no gimmicks.» Afterwards it feels like your tongue got a shot of Novocaine.
The service was great from when we were met at the door all they was through the guided tasting. The hostess was humorous and explained how everything worked. Our actual tasting guide was knowledgeable about all the liquor and very friendly. I forgot her name. Rose? maybe.
It’s a little pricey, IMO, for 1.5 oz of alcohol for $ 15. However, it’s not something I do often. I did hear from a friend who said St. George Spirits tend to be on the pricey side, but I can not confirm that.
The interior is sleek and clean. The tasting room is not that large and it is all indoors. There might have been 20 people inside and the it was not that loud.
Lastly, it is the same area and other wineries, breweries and distilleries. All within walking distance of one another. You can make a day out of just hoping from place to place. Plus, there is plenty of parking.

Went for a tasting with friend this past Thursday. (Pro tip: you can get very personalized attention if you can manage to go during work hours.) Our bartender, Rose, did an excellent job pouring and guiding us through these premium boozes, some of which are truly remarkable. The most memorable ones for me and the ones I’d say you have to try are the pear vodka (35 pears in every bottle!), the raspberry vodka, and the absinthe. They also had some really excellent gin with rich floral flavors. It’s a tasting, so you won’t get drunk and you probably won’t even get much of a buzz. But for the taste, I’d definitely recommend the experience to anyone interesting in drinking new things.

Been here twice and both times I received great service from Zach. They have spirits that are both really inventive and classic. My favorite is probably the NOLA liqueur and the citrus vodka. Zach did a great job of taking us through the tasting options and telling us the background of each spirit. Would definitely recommend — I think the tasting was $ 10 or $ 15 and well worth it.

This review kinda hurts. I been stopping by here for a few years now but this last trip has really kind of soured me on the St. George brand. When I first started going to their tasting room it was a fairly simple affair combined with a tour. When I would ask some one where the ingredients for some of their spirits were procured they could practically name the farm where the pears or apples or whatever they would be using at the time came from. The tastings were informal and friendly and while u were supposed to get just a ¼ oz taste from a bottle depending on how crowded the place was and who was working you could get a slightly friendlier pour. You could also get suprised with some new stuff they would be experimenting with or if you had some thing special you wanted to try usually they would be more than glad to hook you up. It seemed like a small distillery trying to get into a crowded market and trying to sell you a quality product. Very UNcorporate feeling. Now I go in there and it seems nothing but corporate. They have the ¼ oz pourers on the bottle so basically you get just enough to smell and have the rest evaporate on your tongue, the people working seem more like rote employees and not actually into the job, and asking detailed questions of them you are more likely to get an eye roll and a shrug than an answer. Ask about getting some of their single malt some time and they will tell you about how the Japanese buy it all up. Contrast the atmosphere at St. George with Faction brewing next door and you will see what I mean. See the Faction parking lot with loads of people having fun, a food truck, and the peeps inside pushing their brand with samples and good personality? That USED to be what St. George was like. See how Building 43 winery has a chill spot for socializing as well as pushing their product? St. George was like that once. I am afraid selling off Hanger One has ruined an otherwise decent business, too much money too fast. I would hope the focus at this place would return to the locals and the art of distilling without the corporate feel.

This was just a really great way to spend a couple of hours. Lovely views from the distillery, interesting products, and a fun tour guide. Walking distance from the ferry as well (though not really a scenic walk). There is even a cool brewery next door that has food trucks so you combine your visit. They aren’t allowed to give you big samples so it really is just a tasting, but the tour guide was super enthusiastic and fun.
I’m not a big drinker and had no clue about the process. I found it really interesting.

We went in a group of three for a tour and initially felt really out of place since nearly all employees were of the hipster style. We whispered to each other, «I didn’t realize it was going to be this scene.» We felt a bit self conscious since we were the only minorities in there.
Once the tour started, it was a little hard to get into it because the guide’s energy level was extremely high and it didn’t match that of the tour group. Once it went on, it was very very interesting and a nice experience after all. I think that if you can get over the ‘I’m so cool vegan local only small batches blah blah’ vibe, the actual information is quite informative.

What do you do when you have a hiking date planned with your best friend and it starts to rain? Head to St. George Spirits for an amazing tour and tasting!
Andi, who was so funny, greeted us in the reception/​tasting area prior to our tour. Sam was our very knowledgeable host-​she really made the tour interesting and had a great sense of humor.
We got to taste three vodkas, three gins, two brandies (pear and raspberry), three liqueurs (pear, raspberry, and coffee), and finished with absinthe.
Andi and Sam made the day a memorable one-​I would definitely recommend visiting St. George Spirits!

This review is on the tour and tasting
Tour — I appreciated the information provided but be warned it is a lot of standing in one spot. We stayed in the front for 40 mins and finally went around the corner for the remaining 20 mins.
Tasting — You taste a total of 6 alcohols that you get to pick. If you have 2 people you can try all 12 if you’d like. They provide water for in between the tastings. No snacks and I’m unsure on other «chasers» such as sprite. we didn’t ask.
Price — $ 20 for both the tour and tasting.
In my opinion $ 20 was not worth it unless you’re very into vodka, gin, and brandy. The view outside of the distillery is very beautiful.

Such a disappointment on all fronts.
1. The tasting is hard to swallow. Literally. You have to taste liquors at room temperature without mixers. Yuck!
2. The tour… IS NOT A TOUR. It is a lecture. You stand in one spot and listen to a man speak. No walking. No touring. No exploring. Nothing! 40 minutes in, we decided we had to leave. We couldn’t handle the idea of finishing the tour. It was unbearable. Nevermind the fact that you are stuck standing in one place on a hard cement floor… no mats, no chairs. VERY uncomfortable.
Anyway. Bottom line. Don’t come here. Horrible.

With some very good friends in from out of town, I thought this might be a fun prelude to dinner and a bit off the beaten tourist track… it was a hit in all respects.
You can reserve a spot for the tour on their website, which includes a tasting, for $ 20, a more than reasonable price given the fun we had and the 6 samples of their decidedly delicious offerings.
Our tour guide was fun, cheerful, and very knowledgeable about the entire product line and the distillation process. She was full of fun facts (takes thirty pounds of ripe bartlett pears to make one bottle of their pear brandy. No, absinthe wasn’t banned in this country because of wormwood, but because there were no regulations and much of the imported stuff was adulterated with a variety of bad, toxic things). I have been a fan of their Gin and more recent Vodka offerings, and was glad to learn they have several other products.
The tasting was fun, you get to choose two each from three different product groupings, and the commentary about each was interesting.
Combined with a great view of the San Francisco skyline from an angle you don’t usually see, it was something that I will keep on my list for future visitors.

Ever since trying their gin and falling in love with its herbaceous quality, I’ve been meaning to make it to St. George’s distillery. From Berkeley, I would recommend finding someone to drive as the public transit situation would have taken quite a while and a few transfers. Your friend doesn’t even necessarily have to abstain from the tasting portion of the tour (more on that in a second!)
The tour was really well done although a bit dry in the beginning. The most interesting part for me was the story about absinthe at the end. The smear campaign against it/​wormwood really worked as both my friend and I were misinformed about what exactly associated absinthe with «going crazy.» Curious? Take the tour to find out more!
The tasting portion was perfect – we learned exactly how to taste spirits and were poured just enough so that we got the flavor but weren’t soaked in booze. Also the raspberry brandy smells like nori (toasted seaweed) for real! So cool.
The cherry on the cake was the view of SF, unobstructed and directly across the bay. It was gorgeous as the sun was setting right when we started our tour and the light jazz that played in the background while the lights came out in the city made the tastings just that much more elegant.
In the end, the tastings added up to maybe a shot of alcohol and so my friend was fine to drive. Just to be on the safe side, though, we drove just a few miles to the In-​n-​Out nearby to grab a burger and fries. Pretty perfect afternoon/​evening in the Bay.

They don’t tell you that they make u stand there while one of their tour guides that loves the sound of their voice stand their and yappidy yap yap about technical spirit making bullshit for literally 45 mins. At least let people sip on some of those spirits your yapping about while you unforgivingly, and relentlessly take swift kicks to our balls with boredom… just saying.
Why does Unilocal force me to keep typing just to make this an actual review… can’t anything be short sweet and to the point anymore? Yappidy yap yaapppayapadooo yap yap yap yapping away. I can’t keep these thumbs rolling much further Unilocal.Cruelty to thumbs cruelty to thumbs hooooomes.
The second star is only for the view of SF that’s pristine. Enough said!

St. George.
Proudly independent. Proudly American.
If the last nationalistic thing you did for your country was singing the national anthem at a Giants game, duuuude. It’s time to wake up and smell the juniper in bottle form at St. George Spirits.
A $ 20 bill buys you a 1.5 hour snapshot of the distillery’s history, its processes, product tasting and most of all, KNOWLEDGE of what goes into your glass. With California’s bountiful agricultural land, the geniuses at St. George took what was nature’s best and just made it better for you. We had a gregarious presenter who enthusiastically gave the tour and peppered the experience with her vast understanding of the matter. She even fielded and answered every single question, no matter how technical (that know it all who was asking about boiling point, etc, COME ON!) with panache and grace. This makes the scientist nerd in me very happy but in the end, my main purpose is to get drunk. I mean, TASTE the exquisite offerings at St. George.
California law let us sample six ¼ oz. pours of their spirits. I had the St. George Green Chile vodka, California Citrus vodka, Terrior and Botanivore Gins, Raspberry liquer and Absinthe. Each one is unique in its own way and lets you mix creative cocktails. Bf bought a small bottle of their raspberry liquer as soon as he heard it was a great topping for cheesecake, I on the other hand, am far from being a drinker at home so I didn’t purchase a bottle. I did spy 4505 Chicharron bags for purchase at the gift shop so guess who brought bags of that? ;)
To Jorg Rupf, thank you for being the visionary that you are. All the alkies salute you.

St. George is a must if you haven’t been. I have yet to do a tour, but have done the tasting, which is $ 5. And of course, you can purchase their bottles. The Raspberry Liqueur is one of my favorites. And the great thing about this location, is that there are several wineries and breweries in the area that you can just make a day of drinking.

St. George Spirits had the distinct honor of being this wine junkie’s first experience with spirits tasting, and I loved every second and every sip! I visited with friends as a birthday treat, and with our tasting reservation made in advance, we were able to walk right in and belly up. For $ 15 you get 6 samples of their spirits, 2 each of vodkas, gins, and liqueurs. Our pourer Ryan was an absolute badass, incredibly nice and so knowledgable. He shared so much information with us about each spirit as we went along in the tasting, and he clearly was not reciting from memory, he was speaking from a place of genuine passion — as it should be!
As their stellar view of the bay greeted us across the bar, Ryan led us through 3 rounds. We start with vodka — I opted for the citrus and the green chile. The citrus vodka is really special, and yes if you enjoy a cocktail you’ve had a citrusy vodka before, but this is a product properly derived from fresh fruit and not a standard vodka tarted up with fruity flavoring. Savor the difference! This was extra apparent with the green chile vodka, like nothing you’ve ever tasted — like a cool burn, bright and powerful. That one won’t be magic to all palates, but the adventurous absolutely must give that one a shot.
Next we moved into gin, not particularly my happy place — Ryan was very gracious to allow a couple of us to stick with one gin tasting and save an extra sample for the liqueur portion. I sipped their Botanivore gin, an incredible spice rack of bright herby flavors. A very sophisticated and surprising spirit!
Finally, the fun stuff — liqueurs, fabulously desserty drinks! With 3 tastes to enjoy, after hearing Ryan’s incredible descriptions I opted for the spiced pear liqueur and coffee liqueur, and of course — oh my oh my! — I simply had to finish my tasting with absinthe, my first dance with the green fairy! The spiced pear was as wondrous as described, like a fall dessert swimming in your mouth. The coffee was pleasantly sweet and deliciously intense, and I could practicallly feel the warmth of the fireplace needed to properly sit alongside and sip this delight. Finally the absinthe — the visual experience of it alone is dazzling, as it is served with ice to cut the alcohol content down a bit and help bring out the nuanced flavors. We were encouraged to swirl the ice around, and it changed the absinthe from clear to cloudy, a divine sorcery. I’m not a huge lover of black licorice, but it still had a wonderful intensity and glamour about it, and it was effortless to taste the craft of the spirit. Truly everything I tasted was better than the last, what a grand experience it was!
St. George is a wonderful local outing, best experienced by those who will appreciate it — lovers of the craft of spirits will fare far better here than someone thinking this is an easy way to get sloshed outside of a bar. Keep it classy, bring your likeminded kin, and enjoy this journey into the Spirit world!

I came here for a birthday party with 28 other people. When we arrived, St. George was prepared and had everyone’s glasses waiting.
This was my first time spirits tasting and I actually had a really fun time. Tasting straight vodka and gin isn’t usually at the top of my list, but the knowledgeable staff taught us techniques for tasting the spirits without cringing and actually recognizing/​appreciating the flavors.
I loved the last set of tastings which were the liqueurs. I tried the Spiced Pear Liqueur and Coffee Liqueur — both were delicious.
Overall, it was a really great experience and something I would definitely do again.

If you haven’t been to St. George Spirits… you ain’t East Bay enough.
This place is amazing.
Highlights:
— Shell out a little extra on the tour. It’s informative, funny, and makes you want to be a distiller or sommelier of some sort
— The tasting is amazing. The flavors are unique, they’ve got tons of information they share with you before each pour and the quality is exceptional
— The views of the city are amazing. I love seeing the bay from the east side. You’ll love it.

I did the tour which included the tasting. Together they took about 1.5 hours. I enjoyed learning about their process of making the alcohol and I love that the tour guide was very passionate it. He was a great speaker and made it entertaining. You can tell how much he believes in their stuff! However, I do wish there was more walking involved. The tour was just standing for an hour in 3 different spots. It was hot inside and kind of tiring to stand for an hour listening to essentially a lecture. That’s why I deducted 1 star.
I loved the tasting! You get to try 6 ¼oz samples. Their vodka and gin were incredibly smooth and delicious!!! And this is coming from someone who regularly needs a chaser! I tasted:
–Citrus vodka (lots of great orange aroma)
–Chile vodka (different peppers, cilantro etc. Didn’t think I would like it since I don’t usually care for spicy alc but I enjoyed it!)
–Botanivore gin
–Dry rye gin (didn’t like this at all. Too much juniper for my liking)
–Raspberry brandy (great sweet and tart flavors with lots of raspberry)
–My favorite was their Spiced Pear Liqueur! It tasted like an apple pie, just as they described. Incredible!

What a great place for a food adventure!
Reserved a tour for 5:30pm on a Friday. Arrived early and since there early was plenty of easy parking we killed some time by pregaming at Faction Brewing next door. So you literally have a distillery, next door to a brewery, next door to a winery?!? So convenient!
The distierlly was previously a naval air hangar so the space is huge with an open and industrial feel. Sam, our guide, was funny, informative, animated, and brought good energy.
It’s cool knowing that it takes something like 30 pounds of pears to make a bottle of their signature pear brandy.
The tour ($ 20) lasts about an hour and concludes with sampling in their tasting room which has gorgeous views of SF. You could possibly share a tasting for a $ 15.
Here’s what I sipped.
VODKA
— All purpose vodka — clean, goes with anything
— California citrus — fragrant, reminded me of Absolut citron but more flavorful.
— Green chili vodka — so aromatic and packs a wallop! I could imagine a killer bloody mary with this.
GIN
— Botanivore — clean, little juniper
— Terrior — It’s like your tongue went hiking up Mt Tam. Woodsy, twiggy, mmmm… camping.
— Dry rye — potent
BRANDY/​OTHER
— Spiced Pear liqueur — like Fall warm apple pie.
— Raspberry liqueur — like a raspberry syrup, drizzle it over vanilla ice cream
— Pear brandy — it takes something like 30 pounds of pears to make one bottle of their flagship
— Absinthe — it’s cool seeing them add ice and having your drink turn milky, licorice-​y.
You can do a tasting only for $ 15, but I thought it was worth the extra $ 5 for the tour. You can also stop by the store, a fifth of their signature vodkas was like $ 30. Artisanal, beautiful views, fun thing to do, recommended. (
)

This place is a well oiled machine. They produce a ton of booze as well as provide insightful tours and tastings. This is not a bar. You can do 1 tasting and 1 tasting only.
My friend won a tour and tasting and invited me to go along for the ride and of course any chance to drink free booze in Alameda is ok by me. If you don’t have a friend that hooks up the free tour and tasting, it’d cost you $ 20. Final thoughts: That’s kind of a lot.
The tour guide was wonderful and really livened up what ended up being kind of a boring tour. If you have ever been on a beer or wine tour and know how alcohol is made, you’ve been to them all. I did learn some new booze knowledge (always a good thing), but the production facility is small, so most of this tour is just listening.
St. George’s makes a great product. No doubt about that. They source local ingredients and it’s all produced on the island. Love. Most of the booze I tasted was unique, original and went down smooth, no doubts about that. Booze ranges from vodkas, gins, scotch, rum to even absinthe (the first producer in the USA since made legal)!
The tasting is pretty strict and I get it, it’s regulated. You choose from a menu: 2 vodkas, 2 gins, 1 brandy/​liqueur and 1 liqueur/​absinthe. Go ahead, visit and try. A nice assortment and they go over the flavor profiles once again incase you forgot or didn’t do the tour.
In the end, I’m not quite sure I’d drop the $ 20 for it. The tastings without the tour is $ 15 and although I still find that to be a tad bit pricy for what comes out to be less than a shot worth of booze, it does get ya tipsy and it’s the good stuff. You’re paying for the ambiance and the setting and sometimes ya just need to feel fancy.

Fun place with some great alcohol. We did a 15 $ tasting and a 10 $ tasting each which had a certain number of liquor pours. Honestly they were all pretty good. Some of my favorites include the botanical gin and the green chili vodka. They are on the pricey side but you can tell its great quality. There is also a tour available for those who want it. Not sure how much that is! Great view of the San Francisco skyline as well!

I gotta give it up to this place. Very nice and clean and the staff was very friendly and attentive.
The person who did our tasting was very knowledgeable of all of the bottles she poured. She kept the tasting fun and entertaining. She even gave us suggestions on what to pair the bottles with. I wish I could remember her name… I will definitely be back when they get their whiskey back in.

Took my dad here for Father’s Day a few months ago and their liquors are so good that they turned a Jack Daniels drinker (my dad) into a vodka one.
We did the alcohol sampler. At first I thought $ 15 was a bit much for half shots (what can I say, I’m cheap) but it was definitely worth it. Since there was 3 of us we were able to sample each of the liquors they offered which was everything from flavored vodkas, to gin, brandy, absinthe, liquors and more.
We needed up buying a bottle of the orange vodka as it was our favorite. Doesn’t taste like the cheap sugary ciroq crap; just good ol’ vodka with a hint of orange.
I would have given this place 5 stars if they had snacks; kind of hard to sample a bunch of hard liquor without anything to munch on. But it’s worth the visit. Make sure you grab a DD, we left a lil tipsy :)

St. George makes one of my favorite (if not favorite) gins. Personal favorites are the botanivoire (blue label) and the terroir (green label). Since trying their gin, it leaked our interest to try their citrus and green chili vodkas, which we became obsessed with. One of the best vodka and gin producers around!
It peaked our interest to shelp to Oakland to try a tasting of their products. Al I can say is — WOW! As expected, we loved everything we tried. Well, minus their rum, which tastes like FEET to us. Not a flavor we like — however, I’m sure it’s amazing for others who go for that taste profile! It’s smooth and you can tell its quality — but man, not a fan of the flavor!
Anyway, back to the good — our favorites are the following:
1) Botanivoire and Terroir are favorites for gin — but we were pleasantly surprised that we also liked the dry gin. Will have all three in stock :)
2) Green chili, citrus, and original vodka. The best vodka I’ve ever tasted. I know, I know — you think «vodka — ewwww»! But no no no — give this a chance. It’s soooo good, smooth, and quality stuff. Such complexity, such great flavor. My husband HATES vodka, and loves this stuff.
3) Coffee liqueur — shut up, this stuff is just stupid. Perfect after dinner drink. Can see having as a little something with chocolate/​dessert after dinner. Umm, or really any time of day — I love you…

St. George Spirits is an incredibly distillery housed in a former US Navy hangar. I was entertained and educated the entire tour and enjoyed the spirits I tasted!
Getting here — If you drive, there’s a sizable lot to park in located in the back (which is where you enter). If you don’t want to deal with driving, you can take either the #31 bus from the 12^th Street Oakland BART station or Über. It’s a 40 minute bus ride. If you’re going with at least 2 other people, it’s a better idea to Über from that same location, because it’s a 15 min ride and costs the same as taking the bus. The area looks progressively more abandoned the closer you get to the distillery, but fear not! Head to the back, and you will find civilization.
Tour — I highly recommend doing the tour! This also includes the tasting, which occurs after the tour. Make a reservation online (for $ 20 + tax), especially if you’re going on the weekend. Arrive a few minutes before your scheduled time and allot 1.5 hours for the tour and tasting combo. We had a fantastic «spirit guide» who told us about the process of making spirits, what constitutes as a gin versus a vodka and so on, the history of the alcohols and the distillery. You can take as many pictures as you want during the tour.
Tasting — If you do it on its own, it’s $ 15 + tax. The current tasting consists of ¼ oz samples of 3 vodkas, 1 gin, 1 brandy or rum, and either a liqueur or absinthe. Check out the website to get an idea of what you’ll get to choose from. Get different drinks from the other people in your party so you can try more of the options.
Etc — They have a store conveniently located in the distillery to buy their alcohols. Faction Brewery, located next door, is a great next stop to continue the imbibing. There is no food in the immediate vicinity, so good luck holding off the hunger, especially after trying St. George’s delicious Green Chile Vodka.

I’ve been on quite a few brewery and distillery tours in my time, and St. George has been the best one yet! Our guide was fantastic; she was knowledgeable, funny, and entertaining. By the end I wanted to take the tour again, just to hear more of her stories. The tour is really well organized, and I really learned a lot without ever getting bored. I didn’t realize how many products they produced, and each spirit had its own unique story. Their warehouse is really something to see, and I felt like we really got to see/​experience each part of the process.
The tasting portion of the tour was also great; we got to try so many different spirits, it was a really generous tasting. There were four of us, so thankfully we got to try everything that they offered. I learned a lot about what good spirits should taste like (who knew you could sip vodka??). My only semi-​criticism would be the aloof bartender during the tasting; he didn’t seem super receptive to our questions, but I’m sure pouring for 20 people at a time is not easy.
I would definitely go again and highly recommend the tour for anyone looking to do something different (and adventure over to Alameda)!

I came with a group of friends for a tour and tasting, and it was wonderful. This is located in Alameda on what used to be a military base, and the warehouse is huge and spacious. My personal favorite part of the tour was getting to the absinthe station and hearing the tour guide’s story on the history of absinthe, and how St George was the first one to be able to release absinthe for distribution in the U.S. when it became legal in 2007.
Of course, the best part is the tasting that followed after the tour. Here’s what I had:
1) ALL PURPOSE VODKA
Standard vodka.
2) CALIFORNIA CITRUS VODKA
Lovely citrusy smell and taste!
3) Green Chile Vodka
I could really smell the chile in this glass. Just smelling and drinking this incited my friends and me to go straight for Mexican food for dinner after the tour. Not kidding.
4) Raspberry Brandy
I could really smell and taste the nori in this.
5) Terroir Gin
The tour guide wasn’t kidding. It smelled like a Christmas tree AND tasted like a Christmas tree! This is glorious.
6) Absinthe Verte
Yum! Absinthe on the rocks. Delicious and beautiful.
BONUS: Raspberry Liqueur
Wonderful brandy! It really tasted like a delicious berry pie!
My friends and I had a great time here, and I’ve always wanted to come here for the absinthe. We were all very pleased.

Yummy!!!
This was part of our Super-​Fun-​Saturday-​of-​New-​Things day… Where we explored things we have never done in the Bay Area (even though we have lived here for 8+ years!).
St. Georges Spirits did not disappoint! We were able to get a last minute spirit guide tour and it was really fun to learn about the history of their spirits, and taste a variety of spirits they make.
When we were there for the tour, they didn’t have any Dry Rye Reposado Gin, as that’s a limited release and well, it wasn’t in season. They have since released this year’s allotment and we were lucky enough to get our hands on two bottles. It’s very floral/​herbal… I think I’ll stick with my whiskys most nights, but it’s definitely a nice twist on the traditional sipping night cap.

Review of the Terrior gin only. I have not visited the distillery, but Ive had the Terrior Gin on occasion. I do have a soft spot for Hendricks, and this is a very different type of gin flavor. Its made from toasted coriander seeds, which are then mixed with the fir and sage. Then laurel and juniper get added. And then even more botanicals go in. So its a very aromatic and flavorful gin. I will say I have it around the Holidays more than other times, as its got a faint «Christmas» scent. But its good year round.
While some may use this as an «everyday» gin I think of it more as a special occasion one. Its unique. Should be savored.

Awesome place. Everything about experiencing St. George Spirits is high end, fun, lively, and totally hipster. All of those things come together and make this place incredible.
Definitely cool that you can get a front row tour of where the magic is made, learning all about the distilling process, history of the company, and what it takes to make it in the alcohol business. The Distillery tour took a full hour and was loaded with information. At only $ 20 for the tour, you get far beyond your money’s worth– along with a small tasting at the end. I would have liked to have tried more of their offers but was pleased with the selection of 5 we received.
Best parts:
+ Customer service — top notch, great attitudes, incredibly friendly, definitely knowledgeable
+ Tasting — decently priced ($ 15 for tasting without tour), delicious and well-​made alcohols
+ Price — again, very decently priced for tastings/​tour and each bottle is high enough quality to be worth what they charge (appox $ 35ish a bottle)
+ Options — constantly changing for what they have in season but the NOLA Coffee Liqueur, Spiced Pear Liqueur, 3 different Gins — WOW. Seriously good spirits
+ Tour — tons of info, tasting at the end, worth every penny
+ Atmosphere — great warehouse they have. Very hipster inside
+ Beautiful setting — the St. George Spirits warehouse is located on an old navel or army base and looks off into the distance toward the San Francisco skyline. One of the most beautiful sunsets around
Not so best parts:
+ Too far from me ;)
+ Located out in the middle of nowhere (still cool to drive out there)
As you can see, the BEST parts outweight the not so best ones.
Visit this place now. …it’s 5 o’clock somewhere…

I had no idea this place existed! We’ve been to Rock Wall, came to check out Faction and there was St. George Spirits right next door! Although we had already had a few drinks at Faction we wanted to check out St. George. Since there were 4 of us and we arrived about an hour before closing we bought 2 tastings ($ 15 each) and shared. (It was nice they allowed us to do that.)
I was impressed with our guide and how knowledgeable she was about each of the spirits. She was very descriptive and everything we tried tasted EXACTLY as she described it. The quality of the alcohol and flavors are remarkable. Everything is true to scent and flavor. Personally I liked the vodkas, not a huge fan of gins or whiskeys, loved the liqueurs.
A few notes:
The Botanivore– Taste like garden. LOL. I don’t know how else to describe it.
California Citrus Vodka– Made with 3 oranges. Delicious.
Green Chile Vodka– Awesome if you’re into spicy vodka… its a kicker!
My BFF and I loved the St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur. Hubby and my cousin liked the NOLA coffee Liqueur. After a short debate my cousin took home a bottle of the NOLA but we got the Spiced Pear. I won. Both were really good.
If you head to this newly developed area, pay St. George a visit. The views are nice, building is pretty, service is great and spirits are awesome. For $ 15 you’re guaranteed to learn something and leave with a buzz.

As distilleries go they happen to specialize in my least favorite alcohols: Gin, Brandy, Absinthe, and Rum. This tour was a gift from a friend, so we went in with open eyes. The tour lasts about 45 minutes, with tasting afterwards. Our guide was cool and down to earth, and I felt it was the right mix of educational and entertaining (without feeling strained). They also have a giant shark! After the tour even I was interested in gin which is going some.
The tasting was nice– people complain that the pours are not as big as wine pours but if they were I doubt anyone would be able to drive out of there! Also there’s more alcohol by volume in spirits so a little goes a long way. I told our guide I was not fond of gin so he let me substitute with the coffee liqueur, which was by far my favorite (followed by raspberry).
Environment was friendly and relaxed. No pressure to buy anything. They’re right next to faction brewery as well. We popped our heads in there but the line was too long :/​Faction seems to have bbq on the weekends in case you get a little tipsy on your tours.

What can I say about an actual spirit distillery right smack in the middle of the bay on Alameda Point? Located in a former airplane hangar in the old Alameda Naval Air Station, a friend and I were enjoying Happy Hour along Park Street on the other side of the island when we decided to make an impromptu trip out to the old Naval Air Base for a distillery tour. Thankfully they have tours weekdays at 5:30pm and every hour on the weekends. So it’s perfect for an early evening/​after work treat. In fact my friend and I went on our tour with a group of workers who came from San Francisco, so this place isn’t just for the East Bay crowd it’s clearly the place for team building for companies throughout the Bay Area!
You enter and greeted nicely by an employee standing ready to go by the cash register/​counter, it helps to make a quick reservation for the tour via phone but I’m sure if they’re not filled up with reservations for the one tour they give on the weekdays they will accept walk-​ins. Then a tour guide takes you and your group as you walk maybe thirty feet tops around St. George’s fermentation tanks and other spirit making contraptions as they explain how they make everything from gin to bourbon to liqueurs to absinthe. It’s all here and the tour was fascinating and fun as lead by our guide Sam.
After about a half an hour our tour was over, and then we advanced back to the tasting room where everything was set up for our group to have a small tasting of up to six kinds of spirits. We tasted a nice variety in this order: pear liqueur, terroir gin, dry rye gin, coffee liqueur, a choice of fruit liqueur or rum and finally the signature drink, the absinthe verte. The pours were small, not too much but what were you expecting for 15 dollars? Obviously at lot of this is a ploy to get straight to the gift shop to buy your own bottle of absinthe, but hey you’re all the way out in the middle of the bay so why shouldn’t they?
All in all if you or a friend loves their gins, rums, whiskeys or absinthe then St. George is the place to get to while in the Bay Area. A fun and worthwhile venture was had by all. I’d definitely go back for another round!