Talking Pints: The Swinish Vice of Drunkeness
That's how the result of drinking too much rum was once described by a naval captain. I like that. Look out for our rum feature in the October issue of the Beijnger (yes, that's where I came across it). We're feverishly putting your October issue together as I type, so I intend to try to keep this brief.
A couple of new openings worth a mention. Tonight (Sep 13) marks the grand opening of Cicada Ultralounge in Taikoo Li North. They've got international DJ Alex from Tokyo providing the aural fixings for that one. If you're in the "in crowd" and have an invite to that bash tonight, it should be worth checking out. If you're not, unlucky. But you can check it out on the reg after tonight.
Up in Shunyi, The Garage is slated for opening on October 12. They say: "Escape the city for an evening of live music, outdoor BBQing & lots of tasty adult beverages (but don't worry, kids are more than welcome too). Local expat bands will play throughout the night, with headliner John Kirkwood Band," of their opening night event. One for the diary.
The new "drink shop" (think Heaven Supermarket and Bob's Wine two doors along), Commix Bar, between Back Alley Bistro and Frost seems almost ready to open. It looks like this from the outside:
Not so much a new bar as a new era; Jack and Ah Jian (of 1F, 2F, The Bar fame) have been given the keys to old favorite Schiller's along the banks of that horrible river at the end of Sanlitun Beilu. They've got big plans for doing the place over in the coming months. One recent visitor told me: "It looks a hundred times better already; they've cleaned twelve years of filth off the walls and windows."
The 京A boys are keeping busy:
"We're keeping up a feverish pace with our pop-ups and beer events around town. Next up, we're popping up at Vineyard by the River this upcoming Sunday, Sep 15 (3-8pm) for a day of local art (and artisan beer) appreciation! One of our absolute favorite artists, Martin Barnes, draws inspiration from the streets of Beijing, capturing the pulse of city in his beautiful modern graphic art pieces. Vineyard and 京A beers will be on tap, with BBQ on offer by our friends at Stuff’d."
They gave us a heads up that they'll be unveiling a special Mid-Autumn Festival harvest beer this weekend, and will keep it on tap for the next couple of weeks.
There's a big wine fair this weekend called "Taste of the Nations" at Swissotel on Chaoyangmen Beidajie. Beijing Boyce knows more about wine than I ever will. Go here check out what he says about the event.
Finally, are you one of the dwindling number of nutcases who likes to drink paint stripper baijiu? Well, then there's never been a better time to try it. You likely won't try it twice.
Click on this red writing for some ideas of stuff to do this weekend. And enjoy your weekend with abandon.
Photos: Cat Nelson, tntmagazine.com
Email: p.ryding@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @pjrydo
Weibo: PaulRyding
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