The Salut! Classic Bar in Berlin is celebrating an important anniversary. Our author, who has known the bar since day one, looks back in conversation with its owner. There is a glimpse of the future, too! A bar whose development has also reflected the renaissance of cocktail culture.

How quickly a decade passes. Bar owner Dejan Spasovski suddenly realised this too, as his Salut! Classic Bar developed from an unusual daytime bar ten years ago into a respected destination for cocktail culture and, above all, a distinguished temple to the night and its revellers. Who is this Macedonian mentor of mixology, the friendly rogue with the undersized hat? MIXOLOGY caught up with the owner in the middle of preparations for the big anniversary party to find out more.

Berlin, 2007. Bar 25 is the talk of the town, and visiting the many beach bars between Jannowitzbrücke and Osthafen is simply part of life. Tagesspiegel’s “Drinking Man” complains about poor drinks at The Curtain Club, and many guests consider seven euros for a cocktail outrageously expensive. Yet Berlin already has some outstanding cocktail destinations. For example, Becketts Kopf, Victoria Bar, Saphire Bar, Reingold, Rum Trader and Windhorst.

BETWEEN BIOCHEMISTRY, EIERSCHALE AND KARMA

But it was not these places of intoxication that inspired Dejan Spasovski to enter the field himself. The likeable bearded man had always been involved in hospitality, working as a waiter alongside his studies. Around 1998, the legendary Eierschale in Dahlem was where he balanced his trays. He began studying biochemistry in 1997. Spasovski recalls an internship at Schering, then a pharmaceutical company in Wedding, and grins broadly: “I think that gave me a feel and a knack for liquids, measurements and powders. Knowledge that would later prove very useful behind the bar.”

Gradually, the world of food and drink outweighed that of seminars and lecturers. In 2003, he became head of beverages at Zollpackhof (then still called “Menardie”, right beside the huge construction site for the new central station). The following year, he became a junior partner at Restaurant Brachvogel in Kreuzberg, where he stayed for three years until starting his own bar project in 2007.

For Dejan, however, the journey into cocktail culture had begun at two earlier student jobs: “At Restaurant Wasserwerk in Wilmersdorf and at Kula Karma in Mitte [now closed; editor’s note], I first encountered bartenders using premium branded spirits and fresh juices. That was still unusual in hospitality at the time, and I was impressed. I knew some of the cocktails, but suddenly everything tasted completely different,” he explains. “I was impressed by two hours of preparation before a shift. Somehow, it was a time of change for the bar world as a whole.”

SALUT! BAR BERLIN: MUESLI IS A COCKTAIL TOO

At the time, Dejan was not quite ready to commit Salut! entirely to a pure bar concept. Together with his partner at the time, and soon afterwards bartender Stefan Ketterer, he initially introduced an all-day concept. “From 9 am we served small breakfasts with eggs in a glass,” the owner recalls, “as well as light meals, homemade baguettes, smoothies and really delicious muesli. In the evenings, we served aperitifs, wine, long drinks and cocktails.” The mixed drinks were very well received in Schöneberg’s Akazien neighbourhood, which did not yet have a particularly high concentration of bars.

This attractive art deco bar simply exudes character. It’s a handsome and atmospheric space, a neighbourhood gem that reflects its surroundings, a collision of urban edge and bourgeoisie sheen; the décor is wonderfully eclectic, low lit and bare-bricked, peppered with vintage trinkets, oil paintings, Tiffany lamps and leather Chesterfield sofas. The retro ambiance is completed by old black and white film clips projected onto the back wall, flickering away at you as you relax with your drinks. Because, as convivial as the bar is, it’s the drinks here that really shine. The menu consists of both classic and modern cocktails and the bar tenders know their trade well, and drinks are priced about as you’d expect for Berlin. The Louis de Finesse is a delicious, complex mix of cognac and blackberry liqueur tinged with rosemary sugar; or why not try the splendidly named, rum-based Capone’s Bequest? We’d also be tempted by the refreshing Raspberry Ginger Collins, perfect on a warm night. They also serve coffees, snacks and a selection of bio wines. The place is open from early evening until well into the morning, and the relaxed vibe makes it a great place to wind down your night (though be warned, if you get into one of those Chesterfields at the start of the evening, you may not want to move on). The crowd is generally friendly, if slightly on the hip side, drawn by the quirky atmosphere and quality, affordable drinks. There’s also outdoor seating out front if you want to sit on the street and watch the world go by.

(www.worldsbestbars.com)

Berlin drinking culture: spirits with a history

Gin, vodka, Korn, liqueurs – for around ten years, the number and variety of spirits produced in Berlin have been growing. A young generation of distillers is making Berlin what it once was: a city with a pronounced fondness for drinking. There are said to have been more than 300 distilleries around 1900. And Berlin in the 1920s was particularly thirsty: in its dance halls, bars and revue theatres, people drank, celebrated and danced through the night just as exuberantly as in Paris, London and New York.

Unusual and classic cocktails in the atmosphere of turn-of-the-century American bars: Berlin’s Salut! Bar is a hidden gem.

HISTORY IN A GLASS

What sets a good bar apart from a great one? “The atmosphere that connects people, and bartenders who act as perfect hosts,” says the website of Berlin’s Salut! Bar.

Retro style and a hip vibe come together here. With gold decoration, oil paintings, heavy leather sofas and cosy, subdued lighting, this neighbourhood bar in Schöneberg takes you back to the early days of cocktails in the USA.

Head bartender Filip and his team focus on quality and craftsmanship, making their own syrups, infusions, liqueurs and extracts. The cocktail menu ranges from modern to classic, including the timelessly elegant “Classic Champagne Cocktail” with champagne, cognac, sugar and herbal extracts, or “Albahaca y Miel” (rum, basil ’n’ honey, lemon, soda).

But do not worry if nothing catches your eye straight away: simply ask your bartender. “That is how tailored cocktails and new creations every day come about,” promises owner Dejan Spasovski.

A must-try right now: the summer menu!

CONCEPT

Classic and contemporary cocktail culture in Berlin Schöneberg, with a retro-chic Art Deco interior. Smoking bar.

DRINKS

Currently leading the way is the summer menu, with cocktails such as “Cherry Cobbler” (white wine, cherry, apple, aromatic herbs) for nine euros, or “Bamboo” (sherry, dry and sweet vermouth, essences) for ten euros.

(rolling pin / 09.06.2016)

This is a short story about the “Hanky Panky” at Salut Bar. Its ingredients are allowed to spend some time together in a barrel. This little affair – hanky-panky, as it is called in English – produces a passionate blend. The drink becomes smoother and the herbal notes less bitter than when freshly stirred. The Tangueray gin, Carpano Classico and Fernet Branca had five weeks to get used to one another. The blend was tasted regularly, and when the right moment arrived, the contents were transferred from barrel to bottle.

 The result is a “Barrel Aged Hanky Panky”. Simple, but with a dash of individuality.

This version tastes delicate, bitter and slightly sweet. Before serving, it is stirred cold, seasoned with a dash of Angostura and finished with the oils from an orange zest. The drink itself is very much a matter of taste, though. My companion tried it and said: “It tastes too brown and too grown-up for me.” Its colour is dark, and the recipe is around a hundred years old. Ada Coleman created the Hanky Panky in the twenties at the American Bar of London’s Savoy Hotel at the request of its famous guest Charles Hawtrey. His comment gave the drink its name: “By Jove. That is the real Hanky Panky!”

As we sipped our drinks on this warm summer evening, I watched the homemade falernum being prepared. I have tried Frankfurt-made versions here before, as well as commercially bought ones. Somehow, I had forgotten about the product, but the bartender kindly reminded me of it with a “Royal Bermuda Yacht Club” to finish. There is plenty of homemade produce here, and it is well worth discovering. Salut, until next time!