Drinking Buddies Monthly Beer Club Delivers Selected Imported Craft Beers Straight to Your Door

Being a craft beer addict is both a blessing and a curse; the industry is absolutely burgeoning, including in China, and there are a bazillion breweries in the world to now explore and get lost in. However, for that very same reason, it’s impossible to try them all. Luckily, Drinking Buddies (nice name!) understands this, and has created a service model dedicated to delivering great beer straight to your door.

Launched in mid-2016, Drinking Buddies has allocated itself two roles at the same time: an independent distributor and a beer club. For the distributor role, they supply craft beers to selected bars, restaurants, and hotels around China. For the straight-to-the-consumer beer club role, they have set their eyes on hard-to-find small-batch beers from quality and highly regarded breweries from around the world, most of which have never come to China before. 

Drinking Buddies carefully curate their selections, and are driven by “a passion for beer, a desire to support artisanal makers, and to introduce the best of what’s out in the world to their customers.” Monthly beers are guaranteed to be different, and in fact, a lot of these beers have never been introduced in China before. June’s beer box featured a "transatlantic bond" theme (think UK and USA), and future boxes look to focus on more artisanal and unfiltered craft beers from Italy, UK, and Spain.

Some highlights that they’ve so far introduced are Tickey Brew, London Fields Brewery, Big Hug Brewery, and Crate Brewery from UK; The White Hag, Sunburnt, Eight Degrees Brewing, McGargles from Ireland; Brauhaus Gusswerk, Alefried, Brew Age from Austria; and The Hand & Malt from Korea.

In one sentence, they source unique beers, import them to China, and deliver them to you. How does it work? Simply join the beer club, pay for the subscription, and wait for your six-pack of beers (330ml each) to be delivered to your home or office each month without additional delivery fees.

So far they have three subscription plans available: RMB 650 for a three-months (three deliveries), RMB 1,200 for six months (six deliveries), and RMB 2,000 for a year of unique brews (12 deliveries). Aside from the membership, you can pick up single beers on their WeChat shop too (啤友汇DrinkingBuddies), ranging in price from RMB 30 to RMB 50. For more information check out their website, contact 137 1808 0725, or email them at hello@drinkingbuddies.cn. Buddies, let's get our drink on!

More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @flyingfigure
Instagram: @flyingfigure

Photos courtesy of Drinking Buddies