Velvet is a bar in Neukoelln, Berlin.
Velvet on Ganghoferstrasse in Neukoelln is a hyperseasonal cocktail room from a small team that resets the menu every week around foraged Berlin plants.
Food program: Snacks only
Tip: The menu rewrites weekly so ask the bartender what is on this week, and skip Tuesday (lab day).
Address: Ganghoferstrasse 1, 12043 Berlin
The Curtain Club at the Ritz-Carlton on Potsdamer Platz runs an elegant cocktail room behind heavy drapes off the hotel lobby, the carte built around.
Signature drink: 1920s-era classics with live music
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Hotel bar, smart-casual at minimum. Daily 18:00 to 01:00; the live-music nights pack the room early.
Windhorst on Berlin's Dorotheenstrasse near the Bundestag has run since 1991 with the same bartenders; the martini and the journalist regulars define.
Signature drink: Vodka martini
Food: None
Tip: Smoke-friendly room (rare in Berlin). The Vodka Martini is the canonical order; cash and card accepted.
Beckett's Kopf on Berlin's Pappelallee in Prenzlauer Berg has run a no-menu classic cocktail bar since 2004; the room is named after Samuel Beckett's head.
Signature drink: Classic cocktails (no menu)
Food: None
Tip: No menu. Tell the bartender what you like; the Old Fashioned and the Negroni are the room's defaults.
Lamm Bar on Berlin's Wisbyer Strasse at the northern edge of Prenzlauer Berg runs a craft cocktail bar local mixologists recommend to each other.
Signature drink: Jurke (signature large-format cocktail)
Food: None
Tip: Open Mon-Sat 18:00-00:00 and Sun 17:30-23:30. Reservations for groups up to 15 until 20:00; otherwise walk-up to the bar.
Rum Trader on Fasanenstrasse is the oldest cocktail bar in Berlin, behind an unmarked black door trimmed in gold off Charlottenburg's Fasanenstrasse.
Signature drink: Bespoke rum-based cocktails
Food: No food, drinks only
Tip: Ring the bell, dress up a touch, and let Scholl steer the round. Cash only, closed Sundays and Mondays.
Stagger Lee on Berlin's Nollendorfstrasse in Schoeneberg runs a 1920s American whiskey bar with 200 bourbons, the music is bluegrass and country.
Signature drink: Bourbon Old Fashioned
Food: Snacks
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday. The bourbon tasting flight of three is the order to start.
