Booze News: Mokihi Lucky Street Closes, Young Master at Slow Boat, and Beijing's First Kombucha Bar

Thirsty? Wet your whistle with Booze News, our wrap-up of the week's best bar deals, parties, drink concoctions, industry gossip, and more.

Mokihi closes its Lucky Street location

Cocktail fans will be sad to hear that Beijing has lost one of its best and longest-running cocktail bars, Mokihi on the Chaoyang Park-adjacent Lucky Street. Opened by the endlessly cool Tokyo transplant Moto Uchiyama – formerly of Twilight and Apothecary – his down-to-earth but classy style oozed into the dark wood interior of Mokihi, where you could rely on the seasoned staff to fix you exactly what you were after. Luckily, Mokihi 3.3 in the basement of Sanlitun's 3.3 Mall remains open. Click here to read our interview with Moto-san after the chai-ing of his other bar 1%ers back in 2017.

Kombucha Gunpowder House opening

With every closure comes new life, and after a prolonged death spiral we're happy to announce that there's something at The Crib worth writing about: Beijing's first-ever kombucha cocktail bar, Kombucha Gunpowder House. Officially open as of tonight, they're celebrating with a weekend of 50 percent off kombucha cocktails as well as a grand opening party this Saturday from 8pm onwards. If they pull it off, it should make for an excellent study in self-replenishing bar supplies.

17 Cafe opens new concept Tap Bar a Vin

Another opening comes via 17 Cafe, which recently closed on Chaoyangmen Waidajie, who have already christened their new venue Tap Bar a Vin on the east side of the Jing complex in Xinyuanli (also home to Turkish Feast, Q Mex Taqueria, Boxing Cat, etc.). The wine bar, first reported by Jim Boyce, is said to currently stock half a dozen wines by the glass and 200 by the bottle, which is expected to expand to 300 or 400 bottles over the next few weeks. We haven't visited yet, but we're already enjoying their graphic design choices – you can see more via their WeChat at Tap Bar踏葡. 

Jing-A beer garden takeover at Pak Pak

This Saturday, Jing-A will commandeer Pak Pak's The Place-adjacent patio from 4-11pm, giving away free pours from two kegs of their new watermelon-packed Beijing Bikini (pictured above). If you arrive early, you don't only stand a better chance of getting one of those free pours (two kegs will probably go pretty quickly), but they'll also be serving up free Pak Pak snacks from 4-7pm such as Thai shrimp cakes, chicken satay, and fresh salads from Pak Pak. There'll also be DJs spinning tunes as the sun begins to set.

Young Master at Slow Boat Maizidian

Finally, Slow Boat's new brewpub in Maizidian is kicking into high gear with a huge lineup from Hong Kong's finest, and one of Asia's leading breweries Young Master Ales. Defined by "original thinking, bold flavors, and disciplined brewing techniques," you can now get your hands on five of their brews on tap, all of which are available for RMB 10 off during their daily happy hour, 4-7pm.

Cheers, Beijing!

Looking for something else to do? Check out the best of this weekend's events.

Images: capsule48.com, Uni You, Tim Oliver Metz (via Unsplash), courtesy of the venues,