The Best Cocktail Bars In Copenhagen

Take two parts new-age bar, one part restaurant, add a dash of co-working space and sprinkle some impeccable event planning: the result is one of Copenhagen’s most distinctive cocktail bars. Located at the famous Meatpacking District in Vesterbro, Noho offers all of the above and more. Founded on the belief that there should be a perfect balance between personal and professional life, Noho combines spacious offices with elaborate cocktails and extraordinary conference rooms with delicious meals.

Don’t let the name fool you. A visit to Curfew, in Vesterbro, will leave you thinking about anything but your curfew. It served as a hangout spot for German officers during the 1940s and was a favourite hideout for gangsters and contrabandistas in the 1950s. It was also recognised as a treasured speakeasy for locals around the same era, making this place more of a historical waypost rather than a regular bar. Nowadays, it operates under the watchful eye of internationally acclaimed bartender Humberto Marques and serves meticulous cocktails that will satisfy even the most demanding liquor devotees. Its flawless drinks combined with the vintage decor and mellow milieu definitely make it a not-to-miss.

If dressing up on your night out just to walk up to a bar and order a glass of cheap whiskey is a faux pas in your book, Lidkoeb might just be the place for you. Housed in a three-storey building in Vesterbro that used to be a pharmacy for over a century, Lidkoeb holds the tradition alive by serving wayward travellers and locals alike with medicine in the form of sophisticated and original cocktails. As for the whiskey connoisseurs, you might want to head up to the third floor where the magic happens. After getting seated, you will be able to browse through a vast selection of the finest labels in the world and consult with the in-house experts to finally get the drink you deserve.

Running under the same ownership, Ruby, Lidkoeb’s older sibling, is located at the very heart of the city close to Nyhavn and the historic Slotsholmen island. Ruby opened in 2007, which makes it one of the first cocktail bars to open in Copenhagen. Many claim it formed the city’s bar scene to how we know it today. The menu changes four times a year, always surprising its habitués with new exotic flavours. The building that nowadays houses the stylish cocktail bar has its very own reputation as it once was home to a part of the ministry of culture and is the place where around two centuries ago, three Danish men were founding the Danish Spirit Company (Det Danske Spiritus Kompagni).

In September 2016, the people behind Ruby and Lidkoeb found another exquisite place suitable to house their great collection of expensive bottles of liquor and passion for style. Brønnum has six separate rooms, a private dining room, a cute courtyard and outdoor seating area ideal for warm sunny days. The very same rooms that nowadays brim with Copenhageners sipping on a glass of champagne or an ice-chilled cocktail were once a favourite hangout for H. C. Andersen and other Danish intellectuals two centuries ago.

Fashionable guests in their 30s and experienced bartenders doing their magic behind a square bar are the first things visitors will see when entering 1105. The popular cocktail bar is well known for its excellent service, the laid-back atmosphere and their Cucumber Yum-Yum cocktail that’s perhaps the most ordered drink in the place.

Long before cocktails became a trend in Copenhagen and the city was flooded with stylish cocktails bars, GILT was welcoming guests who were already familiar with mixing drinks with fruits. The cosy and casual bar has been standing in the Nørrebro neighbourhood since 2003 and even though it remains loyal to its original style, it always manages to impress its guests. Inspired by the New Nordic cuisine movement, the bar’s menu has a collection of Nordic-influenced cocktails for those who want to taste Scandinavia in a glass.

If you want your cocktail accompanied by upbeat music while surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd always eager to perform their upbeat dancing moves on the dance floor, then Brass Monkey is the place for you. The colourful cocktail bar brings a bit of the South Pacific’s sunshine and light-hearted mood in the centre of Vesterbro. Like every tiki bar that respects itself, Brass Monkey has a great collection of high-quality rums, which when mixed with the bartenders’ secret ingredients make some of the city’s best cocktails.