the danes are the happiest
people in the
world, according to a recent survey from
the UN. Really? We’d struggle to keep
smiling if the cost of a cocktail left us
counting our krone in desperation.
Indisputably cool, yet painfully costly, the hefty price tag
on the high life there can make folk reluctant to drink.
But for those visiting, fear not. We found a new and
growing scene catering specifically for the cash-strapped.
Vesterbrø is home to CPH’s so-called creative class, and
you’ll find café-bars there with that same hip, home-made
aesthetic that’s prevalent in Berlin – with similarly
reasonable prices. There are tons of these spots around
Enghave Plads, including Bang & Jenson
(blog.
bangogjensen.dk)
, where Ingeborg’s Cocktail Salon takes
over on Saturday nights, with cocktails at 60DKK (€8).
They won’t blow your mind, but they won’t blow your
budget either. As bartender Sebastian Dueholm
tells us: “Over the past five years, there’s been a
movement to lower prices, with bars cutting
up to 40%. The gamble is paying off,
keeping the young people and artists
coming in.”
The same is happening in multicultural Nørrebro, with
cafés, including Lyst
(+45 8230 0339)
and LOS
(22
Guldbergsgade),
turning into bars by night and offering
lower-priced drinks. A glass of red wine in LOS costs a
remarkable-for-Denmark 35DKK (€4.70).
After the bars shut, head to the only spot open midweek
in Vesterbrø after 3am: Café Sommersted
(+45 3321 0160)
is
an old-school bodega (Danish pub), where local workers
have propped up the bar for decades, cheese toasties are
served until 5am and beer is 25DKK (€3.35). While some
bodegas remain unchanged, others are hipster havens.
Take McKluud
(mckluud.dk)
, where the Ramones are on
the jukebox and people play billiards while drinking
Odense pilsner; Café Guldregn
(cafe-guldregn.dk)
, with its
erotic art, or Nørrehus Café
(+45 3539 2380)
. Many offer
even cheaper drinks during the day.
Which brings us to our final tip for CPH drinking:
know your happy hours. The Union
(theunionbar.
dk)
, for instance, is known as the best (if
priciest) bar in town, but from 6-8pm,
certain cocktails for what they call the
‘enthusiastic drinker’ cost a mere 75DKK
(€10). We’re pretty happy about that.
B A R C H I C K
C O P E N H A G E N
“There’s been a
movement to lower
prices, with
bars cutting up to 40%”
ILLUSTRATION
DAVID SPARSHOTT
“Cocktails for the cash strapped”
Merrymaking on the cheap in Denmark – not possible, you say? Our secret drinks
columnist ventured to Copenhagen to prove otherwise
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V I E W P O I N T S
