BREMEN TOUR (part 2)

Bremen tour (part 2)

Germany without Weizen (wheat beer) is non-tolerable!

Welcome to the Bremen part 2 where I discuss a major issue regarding the cocktail/pub culture in Bremen. Not only for fun/hobby but also related to my work (as a bartender) I wanted...no, needed to know how things are run here. During my five day visit (I don't count the sixth since we left so early in the morning) I got to experience a broad selection of different places/quality.

Let's get a few things straight. From a Finn's drinking point of view, Bremen is cheap. When I visited the city in 2009 at my brother's wedding I really didn't have the time (or interest) to make proper observations. Now, five years later I look at the "market" completely different. Keep in mind that price != quality in Bremen. Just because it is located in the middle of the city does not automatically justify "great price great quality". Moreover, the standard measure in 90% places in Bremen is 2 cl instead of the Finnish 4 cl. I find this a good thing; you can try different products with great ease and it doesn't put a hole in your wallet. Of course you can always ask for half a measure if it is listed as 4 cl (as they did with some whiskies/liquors).

Also, it's not just a question of "wow liquor here is so cheap". It's a matter of how society is built there. That matter is completely another story which I will not (in great amounts) address.

That said, I had my notes with me and also another, smaller notebook, for journal keeping and more importantly "reviewing" cocktails/drinks I ordered at different bars/locations. But before we get to the details, let me talk about the general experiences I had while in Bremen. After that I will review a few places I visited during my holiday.

1. Having a drink with someone does not require planning things ahead

This said, meeting a friend in Bremen and deciding where to eat/drink lunch/dinner, it's really not a problem at all. Setting the "suburb" aside (where it is even cheaper), coffee/soda/beer was pretty much priced the same everywhere. Of course you always have those top-tier places with fixed higher prices but even then the difference is around some euros (with drinks). Naturally, if you decide to wine/dine fancy, prepare to pay more. But having like a gazillion coffee/"imbiss" places in downtown, tourists especially can live cheaply.

2. People smoke inside bars

This was really surprising, how smoking was allowed in almost every place! I have to say, this was and still is one of the biggest cons I had to witness. Us being non-smokers, it was not pleasant to stay in a bar for long where everyone smokes. A seriously...I can say, disgusting thing. Even after one drink my clothes smelt like tobacco smoke, which wasn't nice at all.

3. Bremen does not have a proper whisky culture

At least this is the impression that I got. Whiskies (single malts at least) are hard(er) to come by.

4. Tipping in bars

Although tipping is completely voluntary, 10% is considered "normal" but of course if service/quality does not meet, one shouldn't tip. More importantly, it is situation dependent! I had a principle to round up to the next closest euro(s) which gave me a nice sum back. I'm not a fan of super small coins, especially abroad.

5. There are five kinds of places to drink

• Gaststätte or inns
• Restaurants
• Coffee places
• Happy hour bars
• Cocktail bars

Gaststätte

Gaststätte Kleeblatt

Gaststätte, or inns, are rustic, warm, cozy and usually located at smaller streets. These places have a unique feeling to them. This place, Kleeblatt or Four-leaf clover, was the closest one to our hostel we could find. I can never forget the look on their faces (there were about eight people inside when we entered the place) when I opened the door. As if a "I am a tourist!" sign was beeping right on top of our heads! But impression-wise it was very nice. People got interested in us, who/where we were from. In addition, when I ordered for a captain morgan + coke, the barkeep didn't even measure anything; just poured the rum into a class, added one ice cube and filled it up with coke!

Restaurants

Bremen Ratskeller restaurant

There are plenty of restaurants of all sorts of cuisine at one's disposal. Kitchen's from all over the world, it is really a matter of taste/opinion where one wants to eat/drink. The picture above is from the Bremen Ratskeller, where we had a glass of wine/ local eau de vie during our Saturday night bar hopping. These places were high(er) tier (price-wise) when it came to fulfilling one's belly.

Coffee places

Countless amount of coffee shops! Cappucinos, espressos, lattes, you name it! These places also serve wines, liqueurs and from what I saw, alcohol assortments that fit for a cafeteria i.e. sambuca, baileys, brandy, grappa and so forth. Ordering a Sambuca con la mosca without having to explain what it is and actually getting one really warms my heart. These places were very nice in general.

Happy hour

Happy hour. In Bremen. Nice. A lot of these places (at least in my opinion) had customers first during happy hour and after. Why pay 8-9€ for a cocktail when you can get that same for 4.5€! This includes every cocktail in the list. Most places had a comprehensive booklet filled with different cocktails; from the classic ones to variations of different coladas, fruity ones and a massive amount of shots.

These places varied the most in quality. I mean, ordering a beer (Beck's since we're in Bremen) tastes the same but ordering a Manhattan or a Caipirinha, and it always tastes different. And it should. Of course each bar makes their cocktails with their style and recipes differ according to the source/measures but during my Bremen tour I had my best Manhattan ever and my worst Moscow Mule ever. Quality varied, a lot.

Cocktail bars

How do Cocktail bars differ from Happy hour bars? Quite simply; time and well, no happy hour (at least from what I experienced). Happy hours can sell Caipirinhas costing only 3.7€ (seriously, less than 4€! (4$)) but cocktail bars don't do that. Also, some Happy hour bars have to cut corners to achieve the quantity with selling < 5€ drinks to the customers. Cocktail bars need time and those three places I visited, their range of liqueurs/liquors was huge. I'm not dissing happy hour bars here, but you'll understand what I mean when we get to the review part. Just because I pay 10€ for a Manhattan instead of 4.5€ isn't the whole truth; Both gave me a positive experience and just like in any restaurant you don't just pay for the drink; you pay for the overall experience. I'll get to that too, but later.

REVIEWS

To keep things interesting, I shall instead review cocktail bars in the order I please, keeping the #1 last.

EDITOR'S NOTE

During my (cocktail)time in Bremen, I gave my blog address to some bartenders and told them to visit the site in ~1 week so I could finish these blog posts about Bremen. As a colleague from another country, we all share the passion for good cocktails and customer service. So if you read this Claude, Daniel (it was Daniel, right? Right? :D), Sara and the bartender(in) at Rosso Bar/Cocktailbar Watch, please give me a holla! You did a good job! Networking is great, your drinks were top tier!

When I reviewed these cocktails, my criteria was (order of priority)

• taste (how the cocktail tastes like)
• appearance (how the drink looks like)
• working style (If I could see how the bartender made the cocktail)
• price (is the drink worth the price?)
• other

My system isn't the truth as we know it but my personal experience. And as we all know, taste is a matter of personal preference. Here goes.

B1

Moscow Mule

Behind the Bremen railway station there's a restaurant/bar called B1. But answer me this; would you consider this is a Moscow Mule? Me neither when I first saw it. This pretty much was everything a Moscow Mule isn't. I have to say that in every drink list I looked at different bars too, a Moscow Mule had cucumber in it. I'm not sure what's the deal with cucumber here, but I admit,it gave the drink its desperately needed positive note as overall it didn't taste gingery nor zingy. As a long drink it got mild super fast. Cheap, not good.

Enchilada

Caipirinha

Here we have a classic Happy Hour bar. Located at the Schlachte, this place cuts corners to make many cocktails in quick succession. This Caipirinha only cost 3.7€ (+1€, which I got back when I returned an orange coin-like token at the bar). They had a big machine that, according to my understanding, gave the "juice-mix" for each drink and all the bartenders had to do was to add the alcohol + stir/shake. Quick and easy, just like the two women before me ordered Sex on the Beaches, they got them pretty fast.

I understand the mentality. You're operating at the busiest place next to the river and especially during the warm summer days people don't want to wait for their drinks. Taste-wise, the cachaca was clearly distinguishable, but in the drink there was clearly some non-desirable side taste to it. The cocktail doesn't look really pretty at all but gets the job done. Also, the drink got a bit better towards the end. 

ESPRESSO IL MIO BISTRO RESTAURANT

Zombie

Here we have a coffee/restaurant/cocktail bar located in the middle of the city. We ate lunch here, but you could have different coffees, eat sweet/salty or have cocktails (when happy hour starts). I ordered a Zombie. It's a cocktail that has a lot of rum (white, dark & high-proof), apricot brandy, fruit juices and what-nots. A strong and spicy drink, this cocktail has one big flaw; the high-proof rum they use. The list said "73% rum" and I am 100% sure they use Stroh for this. I recognized the flavor from the Hot Toddy I made some time back. This rum didn't work at all. It overpowered everything else and summa summarum, the Zombie tasted like a Stroh + nectar juice.

Jumbo Caipis during Wednesday from starting at 19:00 à 6.5€. Not bad.

ROSSO BAR

Manhattan

Here's another Happy Hour bar called Rosso Bar. Easy location, cheap prices, good cocktails + a special mention to the bartender for knowing a cocktail out of the list that tasted exactly like supposed. So above is the Manhattan. Visually good looking, the garnish was stunningly executed (and how he rimmed the glass first) and If I'm not mistaken I saw this cocktail being made with Canadian Club. Taste-wise, both the whisky and vermouth were easily spotted + notes of spices, the vermouth did overpower this drink just a little bit too much, though.

Japanese Slipper

Here's an example of the Japanese Slipper; one of my great all-time favorites. This I ordered from the waiter outside and as said earlier, I didn't have to tell them how it's done. If you look my version of it, they're really the same! And boy did this cocktail taste good! Just how I imagined it! It was fresh, sour and strongly melon-flavored.

Eisfee, "Ice fairy"

Here's another example of an awesome cocktail, the Eisfee. I had no idea what it was, I just looked it up from the menu. The main ingredients were sambuca, lemon juice, lime juice and regular sugar. You could see the little heaps of sugar in the bottom of the glass with this one. So how did it taste? Quite exciting, actually. Strongly aniseed and combined with the citrus notes, it worked! For some reason I could always imagine a German candy called Nimm2 when I took a sip of this.

Rosso Spritz

From all of the cocktails I had at the Rosso Bar, this worked the least for me. Made with aperol, cranberry juice, prosecco and mint, it was not only a tad too bitter for my taste (fair enough, this is meant to be drunk as an aperatif), but visually the least appealing. It seemed as if the drink was only half-finished for some reason. With only one small bundle of mint in the glass it looked very lonesome. In its essence, this kind of spritz just wasn't my thing after all.

COCKTAILBAR WATCH

White Russian

Here's a cocktail bar located I believe I'm not totally wrong if I say near or next or at a hotel close-by the main railway station. This place had a real cocktail bar atmosphere to it and the list was comprehensive. I ordered the White Russian and just look at this cocktail! Not only did it look better than any White Russians I've ever had, it tasted just like one! The glass makes it even better. I can easily applause to this piece of work!

French Martini

This is a cocktail I spotted from the little advertising add you can see right behind this drink. Made with chambord, vodka and pineapple juice, this cocktail hit the spot. With a dark rosé color and a mild-ish pineapple nose to it, the pineapple did dominate this drink a little. The raspberry flavors were rather "hidden" in the background. Also, this cocktail didn't taste strong, which did only well. I have to give this a special mention too, because of the fresh berry garnish! The redcurrants on the side of the glass gave this cocktail its well deserved extra! Another great innovation!

BLAUER FASAN

"Blue Pheasant"

A cocktail bar at the end of the Schlachte and well renowned for their cocktails, this place I had as one of the bars I wanted to visit. Actually at the next bar I will soon introduce you to, they suggested I'd visit this place as well. The bar itself was rather small, a big oval-shaped counter with bottles everywhere. People were around it very casually and while I was ordering a drink for me, my brother and a juice for my wife, they went outside (it was rather stuffy inside) and I had a little chat with a guy on the counter.

A Manhattan, the bar can be seen in the background right

Yes, I love my Manhattans! Ordered one from here. As I put in my order the bartender asked whether I wanted the orange or cherry as a garnish. I opted for the cherry. Perfectly smooth and balanced, this drink had some berry-notes to it. The aftertaste was nice and overall it was a great Manhattan. But...not the best in Bremen.

It was funny drinking on the other side of the street. Figures though, inside wasn't too pleasant and right outside people were smoking. :D

Daquiri

Here's a Daquiri I ordered and I wanted to made as per Jeffrey's Method. My choice of rum was the Angostura 1919. I can only remember this being pretty much as desired, full of taste with a great combination of sweet & sour with notes of vanilla.

And finally, the very best cocktail bar I visited while in Bremen. There's a funny story to it as well. Actually two. First, I had the address to this cocktail bar. I got to the place just to see an Italian-style restaurant and people eating outside. I didn't want to disturb the customers so I walked by them a little dumbstruck. Eh? I walked to the next intersection and turned into the smaller streets in hopes for seeing someone I could ask about this bar. Another intersection and on my right I now see a place that looks like the back"yard" area of a movie restaurant (you know, those places people get beaten up?). But there was one waiter-looking dude sitting on the curb. As I approached him I saw a big sign of this bar and right at the man I asked "You know where this place is?" He replied and told me just to head up the stairs as much as possible. After the first steps I saw the restaurant terrace in front of me! Apparently the place is rather "well-hidden", so to speak, but let's not keep you waiting...

THE LEMON LOUNGE

Picture taken by my brother (as we left)

Guess which cocktail? Yup, the Manhattan!

These guys knew their s#&t. I ordered a Manhattan, the asked which kind. Classic (traditional), made with rye. Here I had the best Manhattan. Not too strong, perfectly smooth and a properly (read: from the freezer) chilled cocktail glass, this drink made me say the following:

Absolutely perfect.

Oh, by the way back to the "funny stories" I mentioned earlier. So as I sat there with the Manhattan in front of me, I pulled out my notebook. The bartender asked me about it and when I said "Yeah I'm a colleague from Finland", the barkeep chuckled, acknowledged it and another worker sitting in the corner actually said "I could tell by the looks." Around my second cocktail my brother called me (he was still "home") and asked me where to meet up. He said "Yeah a few friends of mine actually know a good cocktail bar, have you heard of the Lemon Lounge?" I replied: "I'm there right now." The situation was overly funny :)

Sidecar

Here's another cocktail I prefer, the Sidecar. The barkeep asked whether I wanted brandy or cognac in it and I chose the brandy. A dark peachy color, semi-bitter (it got stuck in the palate) and the taste of brandy was noticeable (not so smooth). I have to say this cocktail would've needed a double strain, the little ice shard particles were floating on top of this drink making the drink look sloppy. Not their finest work.

An Old Fashioned

Here we have an Old Fashioned, a drink I enjoy thoroughly. The bartender did a kick-ass job. A good bourbon (Maker's Mark), a lovely scent of orange, full of aromas and for some reason I spotted notes of cocoa...? Anyhow, this was the cocktail. Drunk from a sturdy glass with mass, I could only tip my imaginary hat at the barkeep. Bravo!

My brother & I 

Well, this...was it then. As you can (hopefully) see, quality varied a lot in different places. I had an amazing time in Bremen and I'm sure I'll visit it again and a big thanks to the new people I've met!