Cape Town - If you visit to The House of Machines you can get a wonderful selection of premium imported whiskies, whiskeys and bourbons.
Whiskey (the US spelling) and bourbon are actually more or less the same thing; bourbon gets its name from Bourbon County in Kentucky where it originated.
It tends to be amber coloured, and a little sweeter and heavier in texture than other whiskeys. Then there is the famous Jack Daniel’s Tennessee sour mash whiskey, sometimes incorrectly referred to as bourbon.
At House of Machines, only the single-barrel kind is served.
There are also several American craft beers, so this is by no means a cheap night out if you’re drinking the good stuff. Last week bartender Brian Mutizwa, upon hearing I was in the market for an interesting whiskey, recommended the Chestnut Farms Kentucky bourbon. Apparently it’s a good entry-level bourbon, and at R80 a carefully measured shot, I made it last. It was smooth and easy to drink.
House of Machines is a multi-faceted venue.
By day you can eat food and drink coffee – 100 percent certified organic Arabica beans, grown in Honduras and roasted in Spain – which goes by the name Evil Twin. That is appropriate since one of House of Machines’ owners is designer Paul van der Spuy, who is half of a set of twins. Neither of them is evil – they’re both really nice guys.
Van der Spuy’s range of shirts and workwear under the THOM label are sold in the venue’s shop area, along with a range of desirable man stuff like hip flasks, classy notebooks and pens, pocket knives, gorgeous books and posters, and fine grooming products.
Then there is the serious business of motorcycle building. La Macchina Speed Shop is a glass-enclosed bike workshop at the back of the store, which, through various collaborations with US-based bike builders, offers once-off, custom-made café racers, street trackers, and bobbers.
There’s more. Thursdays to Saturdays House of Machines becomes the Prohibition Bar. On Friday nights there are month-long live music residencies. During June you can hear the marvellous Mean Black Mamba. James van Minnen is one of the most skilful percussionists I know, and his partner in swampy blues is the superb Guy Collins on guitar and vocals. Thursdays and Saturdays feature an interesting and eclectic line-up of DJs or once-off live music performances. There is no cover charge. - Weekend Argis
* House of Machines, 84 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town, telephone 021 426 1400. Open Mondays to Wednesdays 7am-4pm, Thursdays and Fridays 7am-midnight, Saturdays 9am-midnight.