Gamsei Artesian Cocktail Bar

Bundles of white ceramic bottles drape down from the ceilings of Gamsei, a new artesian drinking establishment in Munich. Gamsei is the brainchild of Matthew Bax, an Australian artist and founder of Melbourne’s celebrated cocktail bar Der Raum. For his first Munich venture, Bax has said he was inspired by ‘Bavarian culture and their closeness to nature’. Gamsei’s cocktails – with fanciful names such as Lavender Drunk Bee and Mid-Life Crisis – contain herbs and berries foraged in the wild by Gamsei staff or sourced from artisan farmers.

The hyper-local philosophy brilliantly extends to its interiors, which were designed by architects Fabian A. Wagner of Buero Wagner and Andreas Kreft. The clean, warm lines of the space, crafted using locally sourced steel and oak, reflect the same ethos.

The ambiance of a typical Bavarian beer hall has been applied to the 500 square foot interior through amphitheater-style benches against opposing walls thus eliminating the common separation of bartender and guest, here interaction is key and everybody has a first row seat: from either tribune guests enjoy a view onto the two centrally placed bars and follow how Bax and his team mix, shake and stir up the cocktails.

At Gamsei, ingredients for cocktails like Lavender Drunk Bee, Mid-Life Crisis and Frühlingserwachen, are either wildly foraged by Bax and his team or grown by local artesian farmers, thus reestablishing a connection with local products, region and culture and offering something that is unique in its kind.

Why drink the very same cocktail in every bar you go to in the world? Why not experience the excitement of the new when sipping a cocktail?

Photography by S. Schels

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