Friedrichshain’s eerily silent Müggelstraße feels gloomy at night – until you pass the brightly lit windows of Sic – Pferde Saft, a riot of reds, blues and purples behind Indian-patterned sheets. Inside, the first thing you take in is the walls, painstakingly painted with dizzyingly intricate psychedelic frescoes.
Despite having no artistic background, owners Isa and Mika, two twentysomethings from Paris, did almost all of it by themselves. Indeed, for all their pot-scented aura of nonchalance, the two have a knack for getting things done: after just three months, they’ve already lined up a full programme of concerts, from acoustic jam sessions to sitar improvisations, attended by a crowd of punks, tourists and artists.
They’re still perfecting their signature cocktail, the aptly named Pferdesaft (€6). Though no animal was harmed in the making of this “horse juice” (the name hit them like a lightning bolt during a stoned brainstorm), it does have an intense red colour – of strawberry juice.
Other ingredients include rum, ginger, mint, and “a natural plant with relaxing properties, but probably not chamomile”.
