Whisky & Cigar /Bar: A Sip of Style on Sophienstraße
Nightlife around Hackesche Höfe is getting livelier. Since spring 2026, the “Whisky & Cigars” shop has also been home to a bar, inviting guests to savour the finer things in life – just a few steps from the rear entrance to Hackesche Höfe on Sophienstraße.
Assisted Drinking
Getting tipsy is getting a bad name these days. One report after another about alcohol’s harmful effects on our health seems determined to spoil the fun. Eva and Vera Sichelschmidt are undeterred. Mother and daughter have now added a bar to a specialist whisky and cigar shop established in 1997. “Whisky & Cigars” has become “Whisky & Cigar /Bar”. One letter was lost along the way: as Eva Sichelschmidt puts it, for everything you get in life, you have to give something in return. An “s” in exchange for an entire bar – a good trade. The shop, which has evolved over nearly three decades, and the expertise of the people behind it are here to stay.
Five Steps Above It All
It is early evening in summer. Sophienstraße is still bathed in sunshine. Five steps up, and the bustle of everyday life falls away. Eva Sichelschmidt is waiting for me, accompanied by Tilly the terrier. Her black dress and bomber-style jacket reveal an eye for style: elegance with a relaxed Berlin attitude.
The interior, too, has been thoughtfully and tastefully designed: bright, open and, with its abundance of glass and mirrors, just a little labyrinthine. Bottles of spirits gleam gold on backlit shelves. Both the original design and the recent transformation are the work of interior designer Stefan Sell. The renovation took place while the shop remained open. Business continued throughout – a challenge for customers and staff alike.
From Pleasure to Business
It all began in 1997 with a spirited idea. After the fall of the Wall, Berlin-Mitte had become one vast adventure playground, constantly reinventing itself, Eva Sichelschmidt recalls. New art initiatives, illegal or semi-legal bars and clubs kept springing up – and often vanished just as quickly.
Against the still decidedly rough-around-the-edges backdrop of Mitte, Eva Sichelschmidt and her best friend turned heads with an extravagant pastime: playing chess while drinking whisky and smoking cigars. Neither indulgence was available in the former eastern part of the city. The women spotted a gap in the market – and jumped straight in.
Eva grew up in the Ruhr region and moved to Berlin in the summer of 1989, just months before the Wall came down. A trained dressmaker, she had run an eveningwear studio before moving into costume design for film and opera. When she became a mother, the irregular working hours in the creative industries became a problem – another reason to set up shop.
Eventually, the tremendous creative energy of 1990s Berlin-Mitte fell victim to commercialisation and gentrification. Sales of spirits and cigars, however, did not suffer. In the years after the turn of the millennium, business was booming. Rum and gin joined the whisky selection, and the growing range needed more space. The shop, by then run by Sichelschmidt alone, moved across the street into two shop units joined together – a move still reflected in its address: Sophienstraße 8–9.
The Next Generation
Crises are bad for business. Customers who buy premium spirits and cigars are generally not short of money. But in uncertain times, even those not directly affected tend to tighten their purse strings. The financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, the wars in Ukraine and Iran – Eva Sichelschmidt felt the effects immediately. Perhaps that was one reason to branch out and put the business on a firmer footing. The other was her daughter, Vera. She was keen to open a bar. And her enthusiasm goes beyond planning the necessary renovations and developing the drinks menu with long-standing manager Eugen Kasparek. Vera and her friends also work behind the bar in the evenings.
The younger team attracts customers of their own age, who mingle with the shop’s long-standing regulars – much to Eva Sichelschmidt’s delight.
Something for Every Taste
Strictly speaking, there are two bars: one serves whiskies, the other cocktails. There is also a selection of Champagnes to enjoy on their own or in cocktails. And guests who prefer not to drink alcohol are equally well catered for: the alcohol-free drinks are not an afterthought, but an integral part of the menu. I am served a delicious cocktail made with almond milk: velvety, slightly bitter, intense. As you sip, you forget what is not in it.
Anyone who takes a particular liking to a rum, gin or whisky can also buy a whole bottle to take home.
There is not enough space to cook. Nevertheless, Eugen Kasparek and Vera Sichelschmidt have created a short menu of six or seven bar snacks, including wafer-thin slices of Tyrolean dry-cured ham with horseradish and mildly spicy trout fillets on brioche. Both the food and the drinks change with the seasons.
Keeping Cigar Culture Alive
At a time when smoking has all but disappeared from public spaces, the cigar is still cherished here as a cultural tradition. The humidor holds treasures from Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. None of them is lit indoors, though. For that, there are two options. Guests wishing to smoke out on the street, or watch the world go by over a drink, need not stand around: they can settle into window recesses lined with cushions, with small folding tables for drinks and snacks. A small terrace in the courtyard offers more cosy seating in the open air.
A visit to Whisky & Cigar /Bar pairs perfectly with an outing to Hackesche Höfe. As the shops in the courtyards close for the day, the bar opens. It is also a stylish spot to round off an evening at the cinema or the Chamäleon Theatre. Or you can simply pick up some whisky and cigars to enjoy at home.
Eva Sichelschmidt is a writer. She co-wrote Vom Locken der Federn, the autobiography of Berlin milliner Fiona Bennett, published in 2013. Her debut novel, Die Ruhe weg (2017), portrays the midlife crisis of a woman living in Prenzlauer Berg. Bis wieder einer weint (2020), the story of a West German business family and its decline, was nominated for the German Book Prize. Transitmaus (2023) follows a girl from the Ruhr region through the dazzling world of 1980s West Berlin.
Whisky & Cigar /Bar Sophienstraße 8–9, 10178 Berlin
Bar: Wed–Sat 17–23 h
Shop: Mo–Fr 11–19 Uhr, Sa 11–18 h
