European Bar Review | Beckett’s Kopf Berlin by Melissa Parker

BECKETT’S KOPF – A BERLIN BAR WORTH A DETOUR

Irish Noble laureate Samuel Beckett said – “You’re on Earth. There’s no cure for that.” But had he sipped down one of the extraordinary cocktails or witnessed the theatre behind the bar at his namesake, Beckett’s Kopf in East Berlin’s hip Prenzlauer Berg district, he might have just found it. Tucked away on a street filled with equally cutting edge bars and restaurants, Beckett’s Kopf is dark with a black exterior disrupted only by the lit lined face of Beckett himself which also graces the cover of the cocktail list. This is avant-garde Berlin at its finest. We made a pilgrimage to Beckett’s Kopf when a hospitality local said this was the best bar in Berlin. Owner Oliver Erbert’s mysterious space serves cocktails in a signature style that makes for a unique experience. Behind the small bar, there is no known brands on display but a display of glistening glass bottles with coloured liquids and boutique labels. Part of Erbert’s philosophy is to support local distillers. He tells us he sources all the spirits and liqueurs at Beckett’s Kopf from around Berlin. One particular local spirit that excites him is a quince distillate with flavour that is unmistakably the perfumed essence of the stewed fruit called Steinmann.

When we arrived, one barman was working the whole bar yet his expertise in the art of cocktail making Beckett’s style was mesmerising; a spritz of orange essence (because the quality of fresh orange at this time of year wasn’t up to standard), a spritz of dill essence, a twist of something here, a few drops from a pipette there. He uses tiny spoons to add the smallest additions of liqueurs. It was precision mixology. He moves fast and efficiently like an alchemist with potion artillery; his work punctuated by the rapid, continual dipping of straws, this hand and the other, to taste whether the flavours and mix are to the Beckett’s standard. Even the ice is delivered each day in one huge slab and handsliced into cubes with a Japanese sword so they are the perfect fit for the Beckett’s tumblers; their job to chill only, not to melt fast and dilute the Beckett’s cocktail. This feels like the epicentre of where on-premise trends start. As Beckett once famously asked; “What are we doing here? That is the question.” A night at Beckett’s Kopf will give you the answer. We are drinking Berlin. - Melissa Parker.

BECKETT’S KOPF

Pappalallee 64 Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg