The Black Moth's Winter Cocktail Menu Will Leave You Warm, Fuzzy, and Buzzed
For many foreigners like me, a whiff of pine cone quickly whisks me back to my backwoods hometown in the dead of winter, where logs crackle in fireplaces and Christmas trees stand tall and fragrant. To have such aroma come off a cocktail in Beijing might seem strange, even unappealing, at first. Yet Peter Kwok, bartender at popular Nali Patio lounge The Black Moth, is both creative and skilled enough to take such an offbeat ingredient and make a cocktail that is both aromatic and delicious. It’s the most noteworthy drink out of a strong roster of options on the bar’s new winter menu, and just about any of those cocktails will get you feeling warm and fuzzy (and buzzed) enough to soothe all your frigid winter woes. Below we’ve listed our favorites among those new offerings:
Pine Cone Old Fashioned (RMB 120)
Ok bear with us: this offbeat take on a classic whiskey cocktail is actually quite irresistible. That’s because the pine cone in the class is not only meant to evoke the festival season for foreigners but also a common snack for many Chinese. The result isn’t so much piney as oaky in flavor, mostly due to Kwok slow cooking the pinecone with sweet bourbon and smoky scotch. Its unique quality is elevated all the more by the use of rare and floral yellow chartreuse along with some honey bitters to give it a few balancing sweet notes. It evokes wholesome traditionalism while also being unique enough to feel more innovative than any cocktails we’ve tried in quite some time.
Coconut Almond (RMB 90)
While Kwok is proud of the distinctive quality of the Pine Cone Old Fashioned, this Coconut Almond cocktail is probably the most popular item on the new menu, so much so that it’s frequently sold out. Chalk its popularity up to spiced rum, which gives the drink a highly rich quality that is balanced with soothing almond milk and thick homemade almond syrup (that or the particularly cutesy and camera-ready presentation). The element that truly puts this cocktail over, however, is its use of coconut syrup, which gives it a left-of-center natural sweetness that brings a whole other dimension to the drink.
Kiwi Peach Cheese (RMB 100)
This cocktail is a cheeky homage to the multitude of cheese tea shops that have sprouted up all over town. It’s made all the more appealing to foreigners who might balk at what they deem to be goofy, offbeat cheese tea because the cocktail is essentially a sangria with a creative twist. On top of its mix of white wine, fino sherry, and peach liqueur is a homemade cheese foam. It’s rounded out with a blend of kiwis to make it as fruity as any tea shop’s offerings in Beijing. Consider this one a sweet, aesthetically pleasing drink that the selfie-taking set will be keen to pose with before knocking back.
Mulled Wine (RMB 90)
Even this warm drink, which is served as an afterthought at most establishments, is elevated with extra care by Kwok and co. Its incorporation of the pandan plant, common in Southeast Asian cooking, gives it a tropical quality, while heaps of glutinous rice make it wholesome and filling enough to help you withstand winter chills. The infusion of this red house wine with vermouth, meanwhile, gives it more depth in terms of flavor, and strong enough to make you delightfully tipsy on even the most bitter of winter days.
Read our full review of The Black Moth here.
More stories by this author here.
Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
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Photos courtesy of The Black Moth
