#33 | Flisak '76, Gdansk, Poland
Last Visit: Spring 2024
It wasn’t so long ago that Gdańsk, on Poland’s northern shores, was considered to be the quite literally, haven for all things drinking. Especially for those who liked rare Whiskies, and Rum a lot first found its way into the country through here. The city was also hosting the Better Bar convention that is now happening in Kraków.
All the more interesting for me to finally explore and get to know an entirely new cocktail culture, that is as much inspired by the sea, as it is by young creatives and the tourists.
I visited a total of 7 bars, and the one that I would place at the top is unexpectedly also one of the oldest: Flisak 76.
Long before the mixology hype of the 2000s, long before Poland was even part of the EU, in times when the workers of the Gdańsk shipyard were rising up against the soviet-backed government, Flisak was already a bar. The ‘76 in its name refer to its opening. Of course, back then it was not a cocktail bar as we might think of today, it was the meeting spot for artists and curious people to have a beer or wine. All the more fascinating, that over the course of five decades it has earned its place on, for example, the World’s 50 Discovery List and is now on the forefront of the best bars in the country.
The architecture of Gdańsk townhouses in the center has two parts, one space up the stairs from the street level and cellar spaces down smaller doors in between the buildings, and Flisak is one of those cellar pubs. In the summer they also have small tables outside, but everyone should at least once go down the staircase into the cellar, simply for the atmosphere. The interior is playful, but not overdone, a more subtle and authentic version of something like Bellboy with vintage decor. That fairy tale theme is also represented in the current menu.
Snow White:
| Gordon's Gin
| Bols Butterscotch Liqueur
| Brown Butter
| Sour Apple
| Cream
Good and trusted company confirmed that this was one of the best drinks she had ever had. A rich, smooth and balanced tale of fats and acids which reframes apple, one of my personal favorite ingredients, in a new way. 4cl of Gin meet 1,5cl of liqueur, but it is likely that the Gin is infused as there are almost no herbal notes.
If you ever had Polish szarlotka, that is apple pie, this is a great liquid version, and it is served with a tiny candied apple at the side.
Ugly Duckling:
| El Jimador Riposado Tequila
| Amaro Montenegro
| Nepalese Pepper
| Lemon
| Buckwheat Honey
My favorite drink in the city. For some maybe already on the sweeter side as it is only 4cl of Tequila and 1cl of Amaro paired with intense dark honey, but the contrast of flavors was wonderful and as you will see with the last drink, they can do stronger, stirred cocktails too.
The Tequila is infused with pepper, which works to enhance the spicier Amaro notes and gives the drink the volume it needs. Like a smooth black tea, the drink has intensity, with just a bit of lemon to go with it.
Custom Old Fashioned
| Toki Whisky
| Sake
| Rice Syrup
| Angostura Bitters
After already five drinks tested from the menu, it only made sense to see how they would approach a custom order, and I believe they nailed it. I only specified an Old Fashioned style cocktail, leaving the base spirit up to them. Usually an Old Fashioned based on a mid-range or budget-range Japanese Whisky is tough to do as they lack the power to really come through and can quickly be too light and floral (doesn't help that I am not the biggest fan of Speyside style Whiskies either).
Here however the liveliness and freshness worked wonderfully with the slightly sweet notes of the Sake and rice syrup, and it also showed the quality of the ice, which diluted on point. Unfortunately, ice was a major letdown in most other bars in the city.
(click to enlarge)
The menu at the time of our visit, inspired by fairytales, had not been changed for three years. That by itself might not be uncommon, for a lot of bars changing the entire menu is an enormous task and often easier said than done. But this is Poland and the industry has been moving at such a rapid pace in the last years (when in doubt, I recommend the reviews of all the other Polish bars, most of which have opened within or close to those three years). I asked them if they changed the drinks and simply kept the menu as it was, but they denied that. So the fact that these drinks have been served already at that time is remarkable and worth praise. In addition to the themed Signatures, I also recommend checking out other parts of the menu. They offer cocktails with homemade pickled garnishes and when in season there is a small menu with herbal ingredients from their own garden.
Then a few more words about the other drinks we tried, including the “Little Red Riding Hood” and the “Snow Queen”. Both were also clearly concept drinks, Little Red Riding Hood liquid jam and the Snow Queen like a cough drop. Not exactly my taste and my favorites, but it makes sense if you like and expect exactly these ideas. Only the choice of the jam jar is a bit too much of a concept, as it is not easy to drink from it.
Each menu is handmade as a pop-up book. Of course this also means that they easily wear and after three years the countless customers have left their mark on the pages. In other places they would simply re-order the print, but since they were all cut and glued by hand, Flisak mostly left them as they were.
At the time of the visit, in Spring of 2024, they were just about to change for a new menu, based on the circus, with the same kind of personal, handcrafted look to it.
Cheers
/jf
