Off to Berlin Night Life: These are the 2022 BCB Guest Shifts
© Kink
Top bartenders from the international bar community will be teaming up with Berlin’s hippest clubs. All of this is supported by high-end spirit brands. Below is an overview of this year’s Guest Shifts at BCB:
“Grand Hotel” was the biggest success by writer Vicki Baum. In her novel published in 1929 she portrays living in Berlin in the 1920s, looking at inter-human relations in particular. On Berlin the author remarks: “Berlin was so wonderfully lively, so charged up with a strange electricity.”
100 years later her appraisal still stands, as magnificently demonstrated by Bar Convent Berlin. So when doors close at the trade show, the idea is to immerse ourselves in the delightful hustle and bustle of the German capital rather than taking to the calm of our hotel right away.
Visiting international bartenders will enter the spotlight at some of Berlin’s most famous bars bringing back that cosmopolitan atmosphere to the metropolis that is Berlin and to its popular beverage and spirits trade show. So one thing is for sure: before we head back to our ‘Grand Hotels’ we should definitely check out the bars first. Let’s recommend some of the evening events coming up here:
A touch of the Highlands at ‘Kink’ in Prenzlauer Berg
Admittedly: Berlin’s highlands are anything but impressive and Prenzlauer Berg only rises 58 m on Wasserturmplatz. But the bar community in this pretty old-town district is a real “high-flyer”. It also includes the Kink Bar on its historical brewery premises. This gorgeous restaurant is paired up with a phenomenal bar. Modern mixing culture and inspiring designs meet here and on the Sunday before the trade show opens two Scottish icons will be visiting to shine a spotlight on the pulsating metropolis again. Presented by Glenfiddich Single Malt, Iain McPherson from the charming ‘Panda & Sons’ in Edinburgh will take over the Kink’s bar and lab for a very special evening.
Sunday, 9 October, 8pm
Kink
Schönhauser Allee 176, 10119 Berlin
U-Bahnhof Senefelder Platz
Super Lyan at ‘Wax On’
The London-based bars of Ryan “Mr. Lyan” Chetiyawardana are legendary. Cocktail bars like the Seed Library, Silver Lyan, Cub, Lyaness or White Lyan have caused a stir for years and fulfil the highest mixology expectations. Super Lyan from Amsterdam is the first Lyan concept outside Great Britain. Zana Möhlmann and Angelos Oikonomou will leave Amsterdam and their old 17th century building and visit the austere-cool ‘Wax On Bar’ in Neukölln for one night. Sponsored by Woodford Reserve, the two will bring the Super Lyan’s motto to Berlin: Boom!
Monday, 10 October, 8pm
Wax On
Weserstraße 208, 12047 Berlin-Neukölln
U-Bahnhof Hermannplatz
Chicken at the ‘Green Door Bar’
Time for “Double Chicken Please!” Don’t worry, Berlin-Schöneberg’s iconic bar has not become a chicken grill; but for one evening a team from New York’s Lower East Side will be visiting to cause quite a stir with the Double Chicken Please Bar. With chicken cocktails and drinks inspired by classic Japanese dishes such as cold noodles and sticky mango rice. We can’t wait to see which surprises GN Chan and Ben Yarrow have in store for this evening sponsored by Hendrick’s Gin.
Monday, 10 October, 8pm
Green Door, Winterfeldtstraße 50, 10781 Berlin-Schöneberg
U-Bahnhof Nollendorfplatz
Cat Bite Club at ‘Kink’
Singapore has been on everyone’s lips as a bar metropolis for a number of years now. One bartender, who has been instrumental in this reputation, is Jesse Vida. Especially the wonderful ‘Atlas Bar’ with its irresistible Art Deco style is worth a visit. His latest project is inspired by cat bites: the Cat Bite Club. Here the experienced barman focuses on two product categories for which terroir plays a key role: agave and rice distillates.
At ‘Kink’ Johnnie Walker permits us to look over the should of this beverage visionary for one evening under the heading “Quality Time”.
Monday, 10 October, 8:30pm
Kink
Schönhauser Allee 176, 10119 Berlin
U-Bahnhof Senefelder Platz
Cocktail and food pairing care of ‘Little Red Door’
‘Barra’ is a restaurant tucked away in Neukölln’s Schillerkiez district and it is passionate about high-quality products from committed producers. For two evenings exciting food and drinks will meet when the team from Paris-based ‘Little Red Door’ serves high-class drinks paired with dishes. Alex Francis, Barney O’Kane and Thimotée Pranger will close their mysterious little red door and travel to Berlin. This cocktail pairing on the highest level is presented by Fords Gin.
Tickets: A reservation in advance is necessary and can be made on the Barra website.
Monday, 10 October and Tuesday, 11 October, 6:30pm
Barra
Okerstraße 2, 12049 Berlin
U-Bahnhof Leinestraße
Alchimists from Columbia
Chemistry, art and spirituality are the hallmarks of the ‘Alquímico’ bar in the Columbian city of Cartagena. In their home country Jean Trinh, Irene Diaz and Paola Oviedo Gutierrez invite their guests to a magnificent historic villa spanning three floors. Each floor houses a dedicated drinks concept ranging from classic to tiki. However, greatest attention at ‘Alquímico’ is paid to the regional culture, which is why the trio “map” their home country with drinks inspired by Columbian recipes, ingredients, colours and techniques. They grow numerous ingredients on their own farm. Monkey Shoulder presents insights into a modern bar philosophy from South America.
Tuesday, 11 October, 10pm
Wax On
Weserstraße 208, 12047 Berlin-Neukölln
U-Bahnhof Hermannplatz
Jeffrey Morgenthaler at ‘Fabelei’
Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s reputation goes far beyond his bar home in Portland, Oregon; he is considered a pioneer in barrel-matured cocktails or carbonised bottled drinks. A modern bar professional who not only causes a stir with such bars as the (sadly closed) Clyde Common and Pépé Le Moko but also shares his extensive knowledge in books well worth reading. In summer he opened a new bar project: Pacific Standard. You can put his pooled know-how to the test on Tuesday at the pretty ‘Fabelei Bar’ in Schöneberg. Since Morgenthaler is credited with giving new fame to Amaretto Sour ten years ago, it is only logical for this evening to be presented by DiSaronno – and Buskers Irish Whiskey.
Tuesday, 11 October, 9pm
Fabelei
Kyffhäuserstraße 21, 10781 Berlin
U-Bahnhof Eisenacher Straße
