Beijing Boyce: Creator of the Buffalo Wing Martini

No matter how doggedly he maintains his ignorance of the finer points of the drinks industry, Jim “Beijing” Boyce knows Beijing’s bar scene better than most. We quizzed the bar blogger, consumer champion and wine challenge organizer over a drink or two.

On “tolerance”
“I’d like to see a nightlife scene characterized by more tolerance. Here’s a dumb example. I really wanted to make a buffalo wing martini last year. Now I realize that’s a goofy idea. But some aficionados actually seemed to be genuinely upset by this. Really, who cares? We’re talking about drinks. There are many serious issues in the world, and making a drink is not one of them. Save your angst for global warming.”

On the annual Grape Wall Challenge
“The reason we ask Chinese consumers to judge wines under RMB 100 is that the vast majority of wine that is bought is below this price and most wine publications don’t pay attention to it. If we can give consumers confidence and get them to try more wines and move from drinking something terrible to something that’s pretty good for RMB 60, that’s a victory.”

“There’s an assumption we just need to teach Chinese consumers to drink the way that the rest of the world does. That’s very arrogant. When you look at a big Chinese meal, you have bitter, salty, sweet, and so on, all on one table. People have sophisticated tastes here and we need to start paying more attention to what they like.”

On Chinese wines
“If you want to try Chinese wines, go for Grace Vineyard, like the Deep Blue or Tasya’s Reserve Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon from 2010. Helan Mountain – for RMB 60, the Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 is pretty good. On Torres China’s website), you can find Silver Heights: The Summit. It’s RMB 416 but if you’re going to spend money on a Chinese wine, that’s a beautiful one to try.”

On “what-ifs?”
“If I had to name three top drinks served in Beijing bars, they’d be the smoky martini from Twilight, the Bloody Mao from Mao Mao Chong, and something fruity like The Passionate Englishman from Flamme.”

“If somebody made Beijing Boyce: The Movie, I’d have Mickey Rourke play me, because he’s already done plenty of bar research. Or David Hasselhoff, but only if it includes the talking car.”

Follow the exploits of Beijing Boyce at www.beijingboyce.com and www.grapewallofchina.com.

Click here to see the February issue of the Beijinger in full.

Photo: Sui