World Baijiu Day: Where to Celebrate Today's Festivities in Beijing

The inaugural World Baijiu Day won’t be your gege’s ganbei party. In fact, today's event, which has over 24 venues in 17 cities signed up, has the informal theme of “beyond ganbei.” There’s a simple reason for this: most people dislike pounding shot after shot of 110-proof spirits at room temperature on a hot summer day. Shocker, right?

Expect a different bill than the endless barrage of bottoms ups one typically gets in Beijing. Here are five happenings in our fair city:

Jing-A Brewing in Sanlitun South will feature a craft beer that in lieu of brewer’s yeast uses qu, the brick of grain, yeast, bacteria, and mold crucial to the baijiu-making process. Owners Kristian Li and Alex Acker created such a “qu brew” last year and found it akin to a Belgian farmhouse ale. This time, the crew is using a different brick and aiming for something that captures the essence of baijiu while weighing in at 10 percent alcohol. Jing-A will open at 11am on August 8.

Just a few meters away, Pop-Up Beijing will have a pop-up baijiu bar from 5-8pm. The focus will be on tipples that are harder to come by, including from Baoding in Hebei, from Wuhu in Anhui, and – highly appropriate given creative director Glenn Schuitman is a Kiwi – from Christchurch in New Zealand. As Pop-Up will also host exhibitions of Korean posters and Beijing graffiti on August 8, the baijius will be served side-by-side with several sojus. Read more about what will be available here.

Gung Ho! Pizza is also (literally) getting into the spirit, making 'baijiu pizzas" throughout the day. They'll be using a vodka sauce, but swapping in some baijiu, and topping it with drunken shrimp – you can guess the booze on which they wasted. Those will be at Pop-Up at 7 PM and at Jing-A sometime during the day as well although the times aren't certain yet.

Meanwhile, baijiu bar Capital Spirits in Daju Hutong will take its wide range of spirits and match them with meats and cheeses. Order a flight of baijiu and get free nibbles for a DIY pairing. Manager David Putney says the flight of sauce aroma baijius, most associated with Moutai, will see its funk matched to goat, blue, and gorgonzola cheeses. Other flights will go with lighter cheeses, with ham and salami, and with smoked Hubei sausages courtesy of Jonathan Alpart.

Further out, Dustin Merrett, chef at Windy City Ballroom near Yongtaizhuang Station, is ready to feature the deep-fried baijiu recipe he started working on three months ago and which I covered here. Merrett has also created a cocktail called Chasing the Dragon that packs a punch with baijiu, white rum, apricot brandy, and more. Get your baijiu either deep-fried or in a drink for RMB 25, or both for RMB 40, from 11am to 9.30pm.

The Schoolhouse at Mutianyu near the Great Wall will serve tasters of its five baijiu-based liqueurs at The Brickyard from 7-9pm. The flavors include apricot, hawthorn, and five spice, plus a coffee version that co-owner Jim Spear says some of the overnight guests enjoy as a substitute for Bailey’s in their morning cup of joe.

Of course, no one’s stopping anyone from some ganbei action, but the focus of the day is to explore the diversity and versatility of baijiu, whether via the events in Beijing or those in cities that span London to Los Angeles and Shanghai to Sydney. From baijiu ice cream to creative cocktails to pairings with traditional snacks, the venues are giving plenty of ideas a shot.

That effort includes numerous members of the Beijing food and beverage trade diaspora. Adam Goodman, who previously worked for Culinary Capers here, says all four of the Two Chefs restaurants he runs in Phuket will participate, with customers getting a pair of baijiu cocktails to judge.

Alisha Bailey, former co-owner at oyster joint Starfish, has been instrumental in bringing on board Taipei bars R&D and Ounce, where gaoliang, the sorghum-based Taiwan specialty, is sure to feature.

And Paul Mathew, who consulted on drinks for Flamme, TAPS, Q-Mex, and others during his more than four years in Beijing, will serve baijiu samples and create several new cocktails for The Hide, the bar he co-owns in London. Mathew says he plans to use British and Chinese ingredients to draw out the fruity elements and complex finishes of different baijius while retaining their basic flavors. That’s the spirit! And, he adds, ganbei is not obligatory.

For more details on times, prices and addresses for World Baijiu Day, see the “events master list” at worldbaijiuday.com.

Read more features written by Jim Boyce here or check his website beijingboyce.com.

Photos courtesy of Jim Boyce