Café Chris on Bloemstraat in the Jordaan has poured Amsterdam beer since 1624, claimant to the city's oldest brown cafe title, the room small enough to know.
Food program: Bar snacks
Address: Bloemstraat 42, 1016 LB Amsterdam
Rosalia's Menagerie at Conservatorium Hotel is the Amsterdam high-end cocktail bar pulled from old Havana, aged-rum lineup and a tropical-leaning seasonal menu.
Signature drink: Aged-rum cocktails, riffs on the daiquiri
Food: Bar snacks
Tales and Spirits on Lijnbaanssteeg is the Amsterdam cocktail boudoir of the old guard, antique cabinets, chandeliers, drinks served in vintage glassware.
Signature drink: Vintage-glass cocktails with house infusions
Food: Snacks and bar plates
Door 74 on Reguliersdwarsstraat is the Amsterdam speakeasy that opened the city's cocktail wave, by reservation only, behind an unmarked door, art-deco-trimmed.
Signature drink: Pre-prohibition classics, seasonal menu
Food: No food
Hiding in Plain Sight on Rapenburg is the Amsterdam American-style cocktail bar, big-windowed despite the speakeasy framing, sharp menu, unfussy room.
Signature drink: Seasonal menu, riffs on the Manhattan
Food: No food
Café Hoppe on Spui has poured Amsterdam jenever and beer since 1670, the brown cafe with the dark-wood interior and the stand-at-the-bar after-work crowd.
Signature drink: Jenever, Dutch pilsner on tap
Food: Bitterballen, cheese, bar snacks
Café 't Smalle on Egelantiersgracht in the Jordaan is the Amsterdam canal-side brown cafe with the postcard terrace, the building going back to a 1780 distillery.
Signature drink: Jenever, Belgian and Dutch ale
Food: Bar snacks
