The Boilerman Bar Highballs and Rum at the Old Port Authority

The Boilerman Bar lures landlubbers and stranded people to the "Alte Hafenamt", being the Port Authority, in the Hafencity with its infamous highballs. This chic bar is a great place to sink into the cosy heavy leather armchairs or to chat with people from all over the world at the long bar.

The Boilerman is a good address for rum lovers and creative, lean drinks without umbrella gimmicks. The signature drink is the Gin Basil Smash. The bar is located next to NENI Hamburg, which is part of the 25 Hours Hotel Altes Hafenamt. The location, a former map room, combines listed brick walls with modern brass lights.

The bar counter forms the centrepiece, with an illuminated pyramid of bottles and a large mirror. Large armchairs invite you to linger. Watching over everything, with smoking pipe and quiet amusement, is the old harbour master, a mural by the artist Thomas Koch. The aim was to create a harbour pub bar that doesn't take "classy" too seriously, as the creators of the design company Dreimeta themselves describe their work.

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The bar concept was developed with two of Hamburg's gastronomic greats: Jörg Meyer and Rainer Wendt. They already run the famous cocktail bar Le Lion, the Berliner Bahnhof and the Boilerman Bar in Eppendorf. Incidentally, Meyer is also the creator of the drink Gin Basil Smash, a cocktail made of gin, basil and lemon, which has since achieved international fame.

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While the Boilerman Bar in Eppendorf is known for its whiskey, in the HafenCity it's all about rum. A constantly growing selection of exceptional rums, special highballs and tastings with guests make the bar in the Altes Hafenamt a rum hotspot.

The star and namesake of the bar are the highballs: uncomplicated drinks with spirits and fillers, such as lemonade or soda, served in small, frozen glasses with two ice balls. Because of the size, several can be tasted in one evening. If you take a seat at the bar, you can watch bar manager Nico Grote and his team precisely measure out the ingredients and artfully juggle the bottles.

Incidentally, the term "highball" comes from American train travel. A white ball was mounted on a pole next to a railway track. When the ball was at the top, it signalled to the train driver that his train was allowed to travel at full speed. Then, when it was time to really step on the gas, the "boilerman" was the one who fired up the boiler. In the Boilerman Bar, the bar staff heat up the guests with their drinks and take them along for the ride. We wish you a good trip!