Wax On

Wax On opened in 2021 at Weserstraße 208 in Neukölln's Reuterkiez, run by Sam Orrock, previously of Scout in London, with Damien Guichard and Rose-Manon Baux. The trophy shelf since then reads absurd for a neighborhood room: No. 29 on The World's 50 Best Bars in 2023, No. 57 in 2025, and Germany's Bar of the Year in 2024, with Guichard named Bartender of the Year.

It suits drinkers who want laboratory technique without laboratory prices or attitude. It will frustrate planners; the bar takes no reservations and Time Out Berlin warns the room fills fast.

The Room

Handmade wooden furniture, two toned walls, moody downlighting, and a working fireplace that The Infatuation singles out as the seat to fight for. The space stays casual despite the awards, closer to a living room than a temple. Service is the quiet star; The Berliner notes drinks get kept cold if you step away.

The Drinks

The list is short, classic shaped, and built with rotary evaporators and centrifuges behind the scenes, with cocktails around 11 euros, a price The Infatuation calls shockingly fair for the level. The Old Fashioned runs peanut butter and strawberry, the Gimlet goes mezcal with lemon verbena and vetiver, and the house sour uses soy yoghurt. Tap beer, natural wines, and three serious non alcoholic builds round it out.

The Crowd

Neukölln locals who got there before the lists did, traveling bartenders on pilgrimage, and dates trading the fireplace seats. The room shifts from quiet tasting to full hum by 22:00 on weekends. Tuesday and Wednesday keep the original neighborhood register.

The Neighborhood

Weserstraße is Berlin's densest bar street, a short walk from Hermannplatz on the U7 and U8. Continue the cocktail thread at Schwarze Traube in Kreuzberg, or go classic speakeasy at Green Door in Schöneberg.

When to Go

Doors open at 19:00 Tuesday through Saturday, and the first hour is the only guaranteed seat on weekends. Midweek visits get the fireplace, the full menu talk, and the room as designed.

What Regulars Say

• Arrive at opening on Friday or Saturday; the no reservations policy is absolute, per Time Out Berlin.
• The 11 euro pricing is repeatedly called the best value in German cocktails.
• Regulars on r/berlin push first timers toward the house sour before anything else.
• The non alcoholic list earns specific praise rather than polite mention.

Who It Is For

• The cocktail obsessive auditing the World's 50 Best list
• A Weserstrasse crawl that needs one serious anchor
• Avoid if you need a booked table at 21:00 on Saturday

Berlin rarely lets a bar be both decorated and unpretentious. Wax On manages it, and at 11 euros a drink it underprices half the rooms it outranks.

Explore more cocktail bars in Berlin, or read our full ranking of the best cocktail bars in Berlin.