The Original Pub Tour of Charleston

Inside the Blind Tiger

Today's post will not directly cover any  specific beer for a change. It is aimed at providing the thread for the next few posts, through the description of the tour I took in Charleston, through several pubs in the downtown area, called the Original Pub Tour of Charleston where (you guessed it) I had the chance to drink beer. The beers I drank on the tour will be the subject of the next few posts, but I first wanted to set the background by explaining how I came to take the tour, and describing the tour itself and its structure, as well as the pubs I went to. This will hopefully allow me to center the next posts on the beers with less distractions.

Taking the tour was a rather fortuitous thing, as it was not originally my plan. I had actually been looking at the possibility of visiting one or several breweries in South Carolina. There are at least four breweries operating in South Carolina, Westbrook Brewery, Holy City Brewing, Coast Brewing Company, and Palmetto Brewing. This would have made for a lengthy and interesting tour over several days, something I was pretty stoked about. However, it appears that someone decided at some point that precisely the dates I was in South Carolina were the perfect ones for a national holiday or two, and these breweries decided as a consequence to close on those days. That made it impossible for me to visit any of them.

My girlfriend, nevertheless, conscious as she is of my hobbies and interests, swiftly intervened to find another organized drinking activity, the pub tour.

I had never been on a pub tour, and the premise of mixing drinking, history, and walking around parts of the city while slightly intoxicated, I must confess seemed appealing to me.


The tour is of course a guided tour, walking around downtown Charleston to go to five different types of pubs, while the guide provides you with interesting details about the history of Charleston, pointing out the different buildings as you go along. The amount of people in each group is relatively small (ours was composed of 10 people with the guide), making it easier to get to know the different members of the group. This is done by splitting big groups between several guides, who then visit the pubs in different orders.

Appetizers (included in the price of the tour) were provided at 3 of the pubs, but because of South Carolina law you have to buy your beer yourself. This nonetheless does not pose any major problem, other than having to tell the barman what you want, inevitably slurring words after several drinks (beers or otherwise, since you order yourself you get to choose!), plus you still get a discount which, let´s face it, is what really matters.

You then get to hang out and drink and get to know the different members of the group, while the guide tells you a little about each pub and sets the different facts against the background of each particular moment in the history of Charleston and South Carolina in general. This is done in a very colloquial manner, as the amount of alcohol in each of us rises, so does the participation and interruptions, with the guide and the different members of the group telling jokes. The guide´s jokes being a little more pertinent to the historical facts he explained, the group members a little less but, you know, everything works.

My girlfriend, her brother and I took the tour on Christmas Eve after lunch, and went in this order to the Mad River Bar and Grille, the Blind Tiger, the Griffon,  Cead Mile Failte, and Big John´s Tavern. It is a good thing we did it between lunch and dinner and not after breakfast, because even if you do get served appetizers, it´s still five beers.


The Mad River Bar and Grille is a pretty big bar located in an old chapel and which still has tainted windows reminiscent of its' former use. It has several big screen TVs as well as individual screens for each booth, making it pretty cool I imagine to watch sports there. In keeping with the look, they brought us nachos with cheese. The basket the cheese was in was also made of nachos. A pretty cool place indeed.

The Blind Tiger has a much less imposing facade than the Mad River, going with it's prohibition era name. Apparently, Blind Tigers were establishments people would go to to drink but since selling alcohol was illegal, they would charge you an entrance fee to see a blind tiger, and would give you the alcohol "for free". This place was very nicely decorated and had a great backyard, excellent for the mild temperatures in Charleston. It also had one of the best fried green tomatoes I have ever tasted.

Outdoor terrace of the Blind Tiger

The Griffon is located next to the port, and as such was or is a sailor's bar. This is not some euphemistic way of saying gay bar, I just mean a sailor's bar. It has a bunch of dollar bills hanging from its' walls, pinned there by each sailor so that if he returned broke he would at least be able to have a drink.

Inside of the Griffon

The Cead Mile Failte, in case the name was not revealing enough for you,  is an Irish pub. Now, I have not been to any other pub tours as I have said, but it seems naturally fitting and almost necessary in my view that they would stop in an Irish pub.This particular one was decorated with the theme of the Irish Easter Rising of 1916 and the subsequent events, and greeted us with a cocktail shot, which, you know, was nice but not particularly helpful with the fourth pint.

Finally, Big John's Tavern is your typical corner-street bar. It is dark and has darts, a pool table and the like, and of course its friendly regulars, always willing to strike up a conversation, especially if you're not from around there. It also has a few interesting decorative touches, such as bras hanging from the ceiling.

 Inside Big John's Tavern

I should point out though, it is more about drinking and history than it is about learning about the beers as would be a tour of a brewery. I did get to try a few good beers though, as you will see in the next few posts.

All in all, it was a fun afternoon. The tour was very interesting (I can honestly say I learned a few things), the places were cool and the guide was professional but also a funny guy. I would definitely recommend it.