Isn’t it funny how as kids we spent all our time building and hiding in dens? For a few of us, some things never change.
For those of you not aware of the brilliance of Berry & Rye, we don’t blame you as it is literally one of Liverpool’s most hidden gems and best cocktail bars. Very soon they’ll be celebrating their seventh birthday so we thought we’d write a little love letter to them. Along Berry Street, amid the already quite wonderful offerings, is a completely blacked out building that looks derelict from the outside. Thousands walk past the unassuming facade without realising they’re just one knock away from one of Liverpool’s best kept secrets.
The bar effuses an eclectic mix of whiskey, Blues & Jazz. It’s an intimate space that brings a touch of the Deep South to the North West. Ultimately though it’s the nostalgic, bluesy atmosphere and clandestine, underground feel that keeps the people coming back. An old-fashioned bar that specialises in that very drink. Over the years there has been a trend to shroud your venue in mystery and secrecy but Berry & Rye were doing it before it was cool and unintentionally set the benchmark for a whole city.
Upon sitting down you’ll be greeted with a smile, a glass of water and a cocktail menu inside a bible. We may have entered Berry & Rye atheist but we were believers by the time we left. And we’re not the only ones. Dim lights, a collection of whiskey Don Draper would be happy with and a killer prohibition playlist – it’s the kind of place where an innocent drink turns into an evening. And where the lines between strangers and friends is blurred – might be the fact it’s pretty intimate, it might be the whiskey. Either way you’re making a new best friend. Drinks are brought to your table meaning you can just sit down, relax and get merry. The way life intended.
Address: somewhere on Berry Street