Ignatz!

Anybody have a recommendation for a good Jenever Proeflokaal (tasting house) in the Dam?

I recently saw a TV special on Dutch gin tasting houses. Apparently, there are a couple spots that specialise in jenever (a gin-like spirit made from juniper berries) and there's this very Dutch way of drinking it...I thought it would be a good cultural experience while getting blitzed off gin. Too bad I didn't get the name of the establishments they visited on TV!

Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated....
Dank u wel,
~uber

uber,

haven't been to one myself, but here's one...and a free drink too!

http://tinyurl.com/dsvw8

prost!
-paniked

Uber , I am a little surprised it took you after so many so many trips to
Amsterdam a TV special to discover A Dutch and Belgian tradition. Genever comes in many types from
different grains,
as well as fruits. .Coolest place to sample hundreds of types is the proeflokaal Wijnand Fockinkon at Pilsteeg 37.. If you are standing in Dam square looking at the kras ,go through the glass sliding doors on the far right side of hotel where you will pass a ccouple shops and out onto a street stuck in time. Genever spot just on right.http://www.xs4all.nl/~patto1ro/pubs2.htm#fockinck Check it out Ed

If alcohol is what you seek then these are the places to go:

http://www.wynand-fockink.nl/
http://www.indewildeman.nl/indexe.html

Have fun...

A.

I agree 100% with these 2 bars and have been visiting them for many years!

In De Wildeman has arguably the best selection of beers in Amsterdam, usually 18 different draft beers (no Heinekin or Amstel rubbish here!) and about 250 different bottled beers! Not sure which draft beer to try? No problem, talk to the bar staff and they will be delighted to guide you and will also offer you a small taster sample.

Wynand Fockink is something special, located right beside the Old Jansens distillery at the back of the Grand Hotel Kraznapolski, it is a typically small Dutch bar and I guess that most people will walk right past it, if they ever see it because of the lane it is in!!!

The flavoured licqours are poured into small sherry type glasses until only surface tension is holding the licquor in the glass. The only way to drink it is to move everyone out of the way with your bum and bend down over it and slurp some out till you can lift the glass! Don't worry this is accepted practice and makes for interesting conversation with the mostly locals in the bar!

A word of warning though, Wynand is only open between 3pm and 9pm, although if the bar man whose name escapes me is having a good time, he "might" have a lock in!!!

There is also Cafe Belgique http://www.xs4all.nl/~phj/ another excellent small beer bar.

Thank you all for your excellent suggestions...I do believe Wijnand Fockink is the spot that was featured in the program I saw! I'll definitely be giving it a try over the weekend :)

Eddie, that website you provided a link to is extremely cool. I have been researching other good spots through it for a few weeks now, but the Jenever spot passed me by!

Thai, thanks for the Jenever technique lesson. I'll be mistaken for a native Amsterdammer in no-time...

My only question remaining is what variety should I try? But I'll leave it up to the bartender to recommend me something on the spot...hopefully one of the tasty-sounding fruit varieties!

Dank u wel & Tot Ziens!
~uber.

Uber, pleasure to help and Wynand is a gem of a pub, don't tell anyone about it! ;-)

As to what variety to choose, they have a menu in various languages of the more popular concoctions or you can literally design your own! I like "Half and half" but there are so many to choose from and to keep you going between liquors they have a few draft beers as well.

It is a rel fun bar when it is busy - plenty of bum contact when you dip for that all important first slurp!

I spent a very nice evening there in the company of the head distiller from Janssens (next door) when they owned the place and he got me sampling all his latest concoctions (the apply pie was particularly good) all free!!!!

I'm sure you will enjoy it. The easiest way to find it is to stand looking at the front of the Kraznapolski and then walk down the lane between the Kraz and dam Straat. It looks like a dead end but is infact an electronic glass door! Or you can come in from Dam Straat itself, the glass door near the cheese shop, or indeed from the canal side!