Blank Canvas: New Bar Canvas at Chunxiu Lu's The Crib Innovates to Get Ahead

At first it doesn’t look like much: gray, gray, and more gray. It’s just a bare concrete room on the second floor of The Crib (which you may also know by it's Chinese moniker Yu), with patchy concrete walls and little to draw the gaze of passing diners. But it’s not the décor that’s going to win this bar its share of loyal followers; if you’re aiming to extend your knowledge of cocktails in 2017 or you’re just looking for a place to find reliably well-made drinks, Canvas could just be your new favorite hangout on Chunxiu Lu.

Owner, Warren Pang (Janes & Hooch, The Opposite House, d lounge) tells us that, as its name suggests, the space has been left blank with the intention of creating a bar that can be formed and transformed as often as required to stay ahead of the competition. “Janes is a modern classic so it’s hard for it to go out of fashion,” Warren told us. “But this place will be the opposite.”

The bar’s mission is constant innovation that Warren says will be exciting for consumers, exciting for the industry, and will “bridge the gap” between the two. The Canvas team are planning a full lineup of seasonal themes, featured brands, and cameo appearances by world-class bartenders – all accompanied by a curriculum of tastings and drink-making classes.

Currently splashed across the canvas is a rum-themed menu that’s perfect for winter. When the weather turns chilly, spirits turn dark, and the Canvas team has selected Venezuela’s much celebrated Diplomatico range of dark rums to melt the smogcicles off even the greyest of Beijing hearts. We tried the Old Amigo, a twist that replaces the Canadian rye whiskey usually present in an Old Pal with Diplomatico Exclusiva Reserva. Rum lovers won’t be disappointed with this sweet and spicy sipper as fino sherry, Campari, and molé bitters all unobtrusively round out the drink without stealing any of the limelight.

RELATED: Chunxiu Lu Just Got 20 Times Tastier Following Opening of The Crib

We also tried the Just in Thyme, an artful creation that won the Diplomatico World Tournament for New Zealand’s Sai Charan Hamsala in 2015. Rum, Benedictine, fresh pineapple, lime juice, thyme, and Peychaud’s bitters are what made this drink a winner last year, with the Benedictine’s 27 botanicals providing a sweet, herbaceous backdrop for the drink’s fresh thyme flavors.

Winter rum concoctions aside, we’re seriously looking forward to seeing what Canvas has in store for Beijing once the sun returns next year. Warren told us he’s in talks with Singapore’s 28Hong Kong Street – this year named Drinks International’s Best Bar in Asia – about a pop-up bar at Canvas in early 2017.

Canvas
2/F, The Crib, 1 Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区工体北路1号 

Photos courtesy of Canvas