Of late, Berlin has become a favorite destination for the rich and famous. This place has all the expensive yet exhilarating adventures, the exquisite cuisine, and the glitzy hotels that only the well-heeled class gallantly splurge for.
It is thus not surprising that the luxurious Ritz Carlton Hotel in Berlin did not flinch a bit about charging 19 US Dollars (USD) a cocktail at its newly opened concept bar called Fragrances. They most certainly trust that their loyal guests will not mind the price if they are offered a one-of-a-kind, first class cocktail drink conceptualized by the master of mixed solutions and perfumes – Arnd Heissen.
Fragrances opened at the Ritz Carlton Hotel’s lobby to a curious crowd of cocktail lovers who were looking for a unique blend that’s never been made or tasted. What Heissen achieved is to satisfy not only the sense of taste but the sense of smell as well.
As its name suggests, the bar offers cocktails that combine the aroma of exclusive perfumes and the taste of a well-mixed drink. Heissen’s concoctions replicate the smell of renowned perfume brands by Giorgio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent, and Guerlain. The bar’s tagline is ‘Follow Your Senses’, and true enough, when you walk inside the Ritz Carlton, you will most likely be captivated by the smell, which will then lead you to the Fragrances bar.
While some may find drinking perfume-smelling beverages a bit strange, cocktail-doyens think it’s amusing, exciting even. It’s a guessing game, where you need to use your sense of smell to know if you will find pleasure in drinking it. It also helps that Heissen did not keep the ingredients of each drink to himself and allowed guests to ask what the cocktails are made of.
Fragrances bar is viewed as a bold move for Ritz Carlton at a time when lavishness in this inauspicious time in Europe rarely escapes the public eye. But then, art knows no limits, and neither the economy nor the borders of imagination can stop people like Heissen to share their art, especially in a place like Berlin.
The Brandenburg Gate is modelled on the Propylaeum of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. It has six Doric columns that support an 11 meter-deep traverse beam. The gate took three years to finish, from 1788 to 1791. Since the ‘collapse’ of the Berlin Wall, the gate has become a symbol of German unity. The gate used to be open to all travelers going from east to west and back, until the year 2002 when the German Senate decided to close it for traffic, including buses and taxis.
Heather is a writer, photographer and explorer of the world with bylines in Archaeology Magazine, Porthole Cruise Magazine, Taste & Travel, amongst others. She is addicted to pen, paper, hotels, organisation and hippos. In addition to Travel Gluttons, you can find her over at Cloggie Central. 
