"Lounge Bar" in Berlin
The Limonadier cocktail bar in the Bergmannkiez neighbourhood feels like you've been transported back to the Roaring Twenties. The menu features exciting and original creations, reinterpreted classic cocktails and homemade lemonades. Many of the ingredients used are produced by the bar team themselves.
Kreuzberg was definitely missing a cool Slavic bar. Since October 2024, the St Petersburg sisters Vika and Sasha have been running the cocktail bar, which also offers young artists from Eastern Europe a venue for exhibitions and concerts. They also mix impressive signature drinks such as "Work hard, play hard".
Ambitious bar with equally ambitious drinks made to its own recipes. Only a few handwritten cocktail recommendations can be found on the blackboard next to the bar. Otherwise, guests are asked about their preferences when ordering and then the dedicated crew turns them into real liquid surprises.
Tasty drinks are served at the long bar or in the cosy seating areas in the Hildegard Bar. The so-called "Poetry Drinks", which are inspired by personalities, are particularly fine, such as the "Bellini Fellini", a tribute to Federico Fellini made from port wine, peach puree and crémant.
Concrete meets contemporary furniture and modern art: Bar Peter's on the former Tacheles site in Mitte is a neighbourhood meeting place for fans of upmarket drinks culture. The menu includes classic cocktails such as the Pornstar Martini or Negroni, all prepared with a twist.
Legendary in the 90s and almost forgotten 20 years later - but now bar professional Dominik Galander has breathed new life into the Haifischbar since 2017. In the quieter corner of the popular neighbourhood, cocktail fans can now find a top bar with a stylish ambience, good-humoured bar staff and excellent drinks.
The kitchen is the centre of every convivial evening. That's why Nina Zilvar dispenses with the unnecessary distance between guest and bartender in her cosy restaurant Küche in Kreuzberg and mixes the drinks at the kitchen block. The cocktail creations are excellent and fine bar food is also provided.
This tasteful gem of Berlin bar culture is located in a quiet side street in Mitte: a long, simple bar, green walls with golden Art Deco elements and the huge portrait of Jane Birkin are just as impressive as the great drinks, fine bar food and fantastic music.
The German-American-Korean bar showcases a variety of influences. The cocktail menu is creative and stands out from the usual bar menu. You must try the bar's own "Michelada", a Mexican beer cocktail served with tomato and kimchi ice cream on a stick.
You can sample over 300 different cocktails at the Saphire Bar in Prenzlauer Berg, around 50 of which are bar manager Roland Hoppenheit's own creations. Drinks such as the "Pyramid of Knowledge" or "Dance of the Galactic Aliens" can be savoured on the white leather couch or at the long bar.
Bar Basta is the perfect place for people-watching in Mitte. The trendy all-day eatery serves delicious food at any time of day. In the evening, the cocktail menu impresses with special editions such as Mimosa and Bloody Mary Pitcher, Negroni Sbagliato or newly interpreted cocktail classics.
The concept of the summer rooftop bar in the legendary Tacheles building combines coolness and creativity. It is a gold painted homage to the chaotic squatter culture with wacky but successful cocktails such as the "Melondrama" based on watermelon and mescal with a hint of mirin, sumac and goat's cheese.
Luca Simon and Dustin Franke have turned the furnished estate of the cult Romantica café into a casual bar that not only serves imaginative spritz variations and fine cocktails with Italian snacks, but also a place where the oft spurned Lambrusco is given a new lease of life.
Over 1400 spirits - from absinthe to Swiss stone pine schnapps - are available in the Beavis.bar and end up in perfect cocktails. Owner Jon Cooper has created this mecca for barflies to vivid the diversity of manufacturers and distilleries and their products from all over the world in an appropriate setting.
It should look like a cool Frankenstein laboratory in which mysterious concoctions steam away: that was the idea of Tom Zyankali, who opened the Kreuzberg bar in the 1990s. The ingredients and liquids are mostly produced in-house and the drinks are impressive, especially the absinthe-based cocktails.
Just like its parent company in Tel Aviv, the former Hilton restaurant is as lively as the Swinging Twenties. A highly professional team provides party-loving guests with serious drinks such as the boozy "Boulevardier" or virgin "Island Highballs". Bar food of fine dining quality is also served.
It is rarely more difficult to decide on a gin and tonic than here, because with over 600 different bottles of gin from all over the world, it can be overwhelming. Personalised advice from the friendly bar staff and regular gin tastings help with the decision.
Visually it's a typical "green hell", with green tiles and plants, for which the Wedding pub culture was once famous. In terms of flavour it's a fantastic excursion into cocktail history with homemade botanicals and creative recipes that make this watering hole in this little explored working-class district a destination.
You might expect this hybrid of café and bar to be located in hip Mitte, but the Charlottenburg crowd is also chic. At after-work time, the place transforms into a cool meeting place where, in addition to sensible aperitifs, seasoned cocktails are served and DJs play at a later hour.
The lockdown is to blame for the fact that Höschen has developed from a nice neighbourhood pub into a serious bar. Owner Jeroen van Hofwegen used the time to experiment, and today he and his team conjure up fantastic cocktails such as "Miso Butter Old Fashioned" and other unusual concoctions. You have to try it!