An Amsterdam Speakeasy

 

lemon + vodka

Per request of my dad, last night I made a visit with two friends to Door 74, a sort of modern speakeasy here in Amsterdam. Modern-day speakeasies are cocktail bars that have an air of mystery about them to recall the speakeasies that existed during the prohibition era in the U.S.

 

 To get in, you have to call a number and leave a message to make reservations the day of, and then someone calls you back later in the day to confirm. The outside of the bar is completely inconspicuous: a regular, black Amsterdam apartment facade with some graffiti splashed on. When we arrived, we rang the doorbell. Before letting us in, the bar man quickly opened a small window (I think a sort of speakeasy regular practice), secretly covered by a dingy "no bike parking" sign. We slipped inside the sleek black interior of the small bar, sat down in some comfy leather chairs and looked at the interesting cocktail menu. In the end, the choices were so varied that we each told the bar man flavors we liked and he mixed something up for each of us.

 
 My cocktail had gin, raspberry syrup, and lemon, among other things. Eren's was a gin and lemon mixture, and was a bit bitter. Arash asked for a drink reminiscent of an amazing lemon martini he had once had in Dubai. What the bar man made was excellent! Someone recently told me that good vodka tastes like water, which at the time I thought sounded kind of odd. But trying the lemon-vodka cocktail last night, I could very much see that. It tasted.... smooth or something, and almost watery- not the nasty "regular" vodka taste at all.

Eren's gin and lemon drink.

 Some of you may be surprised at the alcohol report, but besides enjoying the occasional tasty cocktail, I mainly wanted to check out Door 74 as a favor to my dad. As many of you know, one of his recent hobbies is cocktail mixing and finding out about interesting or unique bars. After we each had one cocktail and enjoyed some good conversation, we headed home. We all agreed that Door 74 was an interesting bar with a nice atmosphere.

My cocktail. Too frou-frou looking... but tasty nonetheless.