YIN on 12: Classy Cocktails and Superlative Views in Dongcheng

The New World hotel's YIN on 12 bar is hoping to leave a distinctive mark on Beijing's F&B scene, an effort that it’s highly apt name makes more than apparent. Taken from the Chinese word for a stamped seal, YIN extends that theme with its modern oriental decor, which features light fixtures above its interior bar designed to resemble inky red seals, and a giant stone replica of an Imperial yin stamp near the entrance to its rooftop terrace. 

The terrace may be the 12th floor bar's best feature, offering an expansive view of the Dongcheng area, off the all too well worn path of Beijing's other F&B hotspots like Sanlitun, Gulou, and Shuangjing. A three piece live band entertains guests from Monday to Thursday, while a DJ provides the soundtrack on Fridays and Sundays. But such typical measures won't be enough to draw many partygoers to YIN from more central nightlife destinations. Thankfully, the bar has a much more innovative music setup on Saturdays, when beloved local dance instructor Mambo Jack hosts a salsa night on the terrace for his students and any other dancefloor dynamos that wish to partake. The proprietors are also savvy enough to attract female customers with a lady's night deal on Wednesdays that features free-flow sparking wine and martinis that are shaken with fresh juice and topped with fresh fruit like apples and lychees. 

Yet one of YIN's strongest attributes lies not with conventional martinis, but instead its own distinctive speciality cocktails. And while only four such choices are on offer, the richly unique flavors of each bevy make up for the lack of variety. The best of the bunch is YIN's signature amber (RMB 75), a spellbindingly tart mix of bourbon, angostura bitter, sour mix, and the key ingredient: fresh local plum juice. Another bitter offering is the Long YIN Iced Tea (RMB 60), served in tall glasses and featuring another clever incorporation of a quintessentially Chinese ingredient: the Jia Duo Bao herbal red canned tea that can be bought at any convenience store in the country, which makes this twist on the conventional Long Island Iced Tea an enticingly casual choice. 

The exact opposite could be said of another signature YIN cocktail, the cleverly titled Cao Expensive (which roughly translates to "f*cking expensive,” much to the delight of Chinese customers). The Cao Expensive's appearance lives up to that astounding name, thanks to its flecks of golden jelly, which glisten whenever a light shines on the drink (frugal customers, meanwhile, might gripe that its RMB 75 price is a little too true to its moniker). Its other ingredients – vodka, lime juice, syrup and especially peach liqueur – make this cocktail sweeter and more summery than the Long YIN Iced Tea and the amber. The bar's current specialty cocktails are rounded out by another sweet offering, the Manchurian Cream (also RMB 75), which is made with rum, Amaretto, orange blossom, cream, and five secret spices, the latter giving its sugary flavor an added kick. 

The narrow focus on four signature cocktails has helped YIN ensure that each of those bevies is of high quality. And yet that is still a very limited range of options. But YIN is, quite wisely, broadening those varieties with three new summer signature cocktails: the Shiny Bay, Sunset Boulevard, and Peking Punch, which will all be available in mid-June and priced at RMB 68 each.Those slightly steep prices are offset by YIN's fantastic happy hour special – when well drinks like beer, gin and tonic, rum and coke, wine by the glass, and others – are buy-one-get-one free from 5-9pm. That high value happy hour will let patrons save, even if they splurge on a few specialty cocktails on between well drinks, as they sip away and watch the warm summer sunset while sitting on the terrace of this hidden gem venue.

Photos: Kyle Mullin