Bar Review: Liquid Garden, Hamburg, Germany — Liquid Thoughts

Last Visit: Summer 2024

As I sat down and opened my laptop to write another article, the question arose: which bar from Hamburg do we want to discuss next? Because we actually like to alternate absolute highlights with simply “quite nice” bars, let alone the rare actual failures. Spoiler: We'll make an exception here. Given that you don't hear so much about Hamburg internationally and that Germany still seems to consist of Berlin + X for the global community, we were extremely impressed by some bars. I chose one of our favorites, in addition to bars like Ba Nomu or The Local: Liquid Garden in particular was a crowning finale just before the trip back. But perhaps you can already see from the list why Hamburg's fame may simply need a little more time: All of those mentioned have opened in the last 3 years.

Copyright: Rolling Pin

In any case, we were enthusiastic enough that we ended up having 5 drinks, even though we had to keep checking our watches to make sure we got our train. Whenever “Then we'll just have 2 more drinks at the last bar” turns into more than double that, it speaks for itself.

The design of the Liquid Garden definitely has something unique about it in the bar world, rather bright, yet quite well-designed, for John almost too well-designed. I think it works out really well, somewhere between a fancy fashion concept store, a small, modern design hotel and an instagrammable craft café. Especially the focus on individual, very precise but at the same time not too many design elements enhances the aesthetic vibe, such as the green tiled wall to the right of the bar and, above all, the ingenious wall lamps, which could also be found in a brutalist church or alternatively in Dark Souls (a video game, dear non-gamers).

What immediately caught my eye was the positive energy with which everything was going on here. We arrived just 30–40 minutes after opening, and there were already a few people sitting on the 6 to 8 small spots outside. Inside, there was still a bit of preparation to be done in the kitchen, but it was purely positive, busy stress, as you immediately noticed in comparison to some other examples (cough Clumsies cough).

Even if there was theoretically always something to do, someone immediately took the time to calmly and enthusiastically talk about the technique, production, or idea behind drink XY every single time. Especially when it comes to service and atmosphere, these are some of the most important details that subconsciously make a guest want to come back.

On their website, they clearly communicate the idea behind their concept: “We mix the gardens of the world”. A nice theme, but I was a little disappointed when it came to the QR code after asking for the menu. Menus on my cell phone, my eternal nemesis. But then I was doubly surprised positively, because on the one hand the menu online is at least very nicely designed. Nothing worse than the QR menus that end up being designed using standard templates in what are actually high-quality bars. The second plus point was above all: it's a hybrid, so to speak. You are still served a small map of the world, simply to convey the theme aesthetically and to locate the respective “gardens” more clearly. I have to admit, if it has to be a QR code menu, then this is the way to go.

The menu includes 7–8 drinks from those gardens, one per garden and, depending on the theme, a “Special Garden” bonus drink. But that is by no means the end, there's also the “Bartender's Backyard”, where they share another 4 drinks outside the garden themes and some twisted classics, as well as another 4 highballs and a final 4 non-alcoholic cocktails. The latter categories are not as elaborately conceptualized as the garden drinks, but they shouldn't be underestimated either. The garden cocktails are also changed every 6 months, but the overall theme remains the same. There are also a handful of small snacks, such as a cold apéritif platter, as well as great bread from a local craft bakery, with special home-made spiced butter that changes from time to time.

Coffána

| Flor de Cana 12yo
| Nikka Coffey Malt
| Banana
| Coffee Kombucha

The idea behind the Coffána was to create a mostly sustainable drink. The coffee comes in the form of kombucha, made with leftover coffee grounds. The banana, in turn, is added to the drink via a banana oleo saccharum, also made from leftovers. Together with the great spirits, this results in a super smooth, almost zen-like coffee drink in which the coffee shares the stage with the banana in a very well-balanced way. Often in these combinations, one of the notes dominates the other a little too much, but not here. The sweetness of the Coffey Malt plays well with the rather dry rum, plus a fantastic, timeless, modern presentation using a banana leaf and one of the aesthetically most pleasing, clearest and most perfectly cut ice cubes I've ever seen.

/rds

Bad Bunny

An — as you can guess — Latin American-inspired cocktail that has a nice spicy tang to it, which of course makes me happy straight away. The texture was also spot on. As with the ice cube above, you can tell that everything has been handcrafted and planned precisely. Personally, I would perhaps have liked a little more character from the base spirit, a mezcal or another, stronger tequila, perhaps as an “upgrade” in a different price range? However, as in the menu, the drink also works as a “lower” ABV base and the tequila used can also surely be used to create future “South America Garden” drinks. Carrot has become one of my favorite ingredients in recent years anyway and here, too, it provides the right amount of mass-market sweetness plus culinary earthiness.

/jf

Anatolian Apple

Here we have another Oleo Saccharum, this time with Granny Smith apples, plus a chrysanthemum apple tea worked into a cordial. The result is a kind of Gimlet, especially concerning the wonderfully silky, fruity mouthfeel. To be honest, it took 2–3 sips to really get me excited. Rose water is always a special ingredient that often evokes a bit of soapy associations at first and also makes the rest of the drink seem sweeter than it actually is. But as soon as the crisp fruitiness of the apple and the delicate tea notes came more into focus, I couldn't put it down. A beautiful combination and unique, as the rose and the tea go really well with the thematic name.

/rds

Green Supreme

Another drink that can be described as a crowd pleaser, and that is meant as a compliment, because here as well the presentation and drinking experience are spot on. The team describes the Green Supreme, which was on the “Special Garden” menu as a temporary special drink, as a kind of “Fritz Limo Melon” (a German lemonade brand, that has found fans all over Europe by now), only instead of a Fizz style cocktail, it's of course more of a sour. The fact that the base spirit is once again not the focus of the drink is not a big problem. Especially as it is vodka, which serves more as a canvas for the culinary impressions. It makes you think of Japanese sweets, mochi, with a wonderfully fresh citrus finish.

/jf

For me, the Liquid Garden is a prototype of modern, high-quality bars in the most positive sense. The design is very well-thought-out and of course looks great in photos, the bar menu is a modern compromise with its mixture of QR code and enclosed paper world map. The drinks are timeless and presented in a modern, elegant style, as is their social media. The atmosphere is fantastic, positive, and yet authentic and not artificial. You really get an experience where the guest lacks virtually nothing. It is not without reason that the bar has made it into my personal Top 10 for Germany.

If I could choose something, aka if “money was no issue”, it would of course be an unnecessarily expensive and elaborately produced tangible, multipage menu with more of a “wow effect” (I'm a menu fetishist, no kink-shaming please). As well as 2-3 matching, somewhat more exciting snacks to go with the very international/transcontinental and modern drinks. A sandwich/burger with jackfruit to go with Southeast Asia, something Arabic to go with the respective garden. Not with all of them, of course, but here and there. You can dream, of course, as a guest without any idea of the actual cost/benefit factor.

/rds

Parts of the menu during our visit (click for original size):

Copyright: Liquid Garden

#57 | Liquid Garden, Hamburg, Germany

#56 | Bar am Wasser, Zurich, Switzerland