The Beijinger – March 2016: Daytime (and Nighttime Drinking): Everything You Need to Know About the Drinking Life in Beijing
As we go to print with this issue, we’re simultaneously gearing up for the Beijinger 2016 Reader Restaurant Awards, where you will once again choose Beijing’s best and favorite dining spots. But very quickly afterwards, we’ll be turning our attention to the Beijinger 2016 Reader Bar and Club Awards.
In advance of the spring awards, we present an edition of the magazine that’s dedicated to all things alcoholic in Beijing. Beijing is a pretty good drinking town, but like in many other areas of our city’s life, fragmented.
There are Yanjing drinkers and baijiu drinkers, around the corner from craft brewpubs, across the street from wine bars, and people drinking at home courtesy of one of Beijing’s many delivery services. There are plenty of bars to appeal to those who prefer dedicated venues instead of restaurants, which is actually where most drinking in Beijing takes place.
First up we speak with Carl Setzer of Great Leap Brewing. Great Leap is the Beijinger Reader Bar and Club Awards three-time Bar o f the Year and reigning champion, along with winning more trophies than any other bar in the history of our awards. On yet another busy night at Great Leap #12, we sat down with Setzer on bags of malt to discuss craft beer and the Beijing drinking scene.
Next up is the one-named superstar Pink. No, not the American pop singer, we mean the partner and bartender of Temple Bar. Our Kipp Whittaker describes her as “part snake charmer and part lion tamer,” a kickboxing enthusiast who takes pride in the quality of the bands that grace her bar’s stage.
There’s state-of-the-scene looking at drinking in Beijing from the last man standing, Jim “Beijing” Boyce, who, as usual, pulls no punches. And for those of you who’ve always wanted to open your own Beijing bar, we present a guide on how to do just that. You’ll need a good, stiff drink afterwards.
There’s a whole lot of other information in this edition, including where to find delicious bar food, how to stock your home bar or wine cellar, and even what it takes to open your very own Beijing bar. And last call comes from Morgan Short, who introduces us to some of the fine folks he’s met at Heaven Supermarket.
We hope you enjoy this issue of the Beijinger, which you can read via Issuu here or grab the PDF here.