Cool summer cocktails at Berlin’s Lutèce Bar
Summer has well and truly arrived in Berlin, and no matter how hot and sticky the office, U-Bahn or early morning workout gets, we’re not complaining. This week I visited the Lutèce Bar at the Hotel Concorde Berlin in search of the best cocktails to help cool down, unwind and make the most of the summer. Head bartender Nico talked me through the the cocktail list, which includes classics such as Martini, Mojito or Piña Colada, and whole pages dedicated to tea infusion cocktails or champagne cocktails, for example, along with a selection of unique creations dreamed up by the Lutèce mixologists.
Nico and team are also happy to cater to individual tastes: ”Some guests like to invent their own cocktails by combining all their favourite ingredients,” Nico says, “and we’re always happy to offer advice.” For Nico, experimentation and innovation are important, but he insists that you should be able to “taste every ingredient” in a cocktail.
The current Lutèce Bar cocktail recommendation is the Mandarin Sour, a summer cocktail that manages to be deliciously fruity and alcoholic without being sickly. The cocktail contains Mandarine Napoléon liqueur, orange juice, lemon juice and a dash of Angostura Bitter – this lends the drink a refreshing, almost herbal note and helps it stand out as not just another fruity summer cocktail.
Enjoy a homemade Flammkuchen (a delicious specialty from Alsace, similar to a pizza but twice as delicious) and a Mandarin Sour on the Hotel Concorde Berlin’s tranquil terrace, just a stone’s throw from the hustle and bustle of the Kurfürstendamm boulevard.
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