Booze News: Jing-A Bar Takeover, More New Beers, Autumnal Drinks at Zarah
Thirsty? Wet your whistle with Booze News, our wrap-up of the week's best deals, parties, concoctions, industry gossip, and more.
Jing-A Kitchen & Bar Takeover, new collab beer
Fresh off the heels of this past weekend's 8x8 festival, Jing-A is gearing up for the coming of winter and the return of their Tap Takeover series. Leaning into the new highballs at their remodeled Xingfucun location, they’re teaming up with hip Japanese Izakaya Toratori-ya in the kitchen and bar on Saturday, Oct 30. They’ll be cranking out a menu of classic yakitori platters (RMB 100) as well as some modern takes on Japanese bar snacks including cured mackerel bruschetta with yuzu mayo and SPAM katsu with mustard mayo (RMB 50 each). Plus there will be beer cocktails (RMB 50 each) inspired by the seasonal flavors of Japan, from yuzu to hojicha to wasabi. Get one snack + one beer cocktail for RMB 80.
But that's not all, they've also collaborated on a new beer with Yunnan restaurant In & Out: the Gan Ba Ba (pictured above). This porter is brewed with dry-roasted Yunnan ganba mushrooms, resulting in an earthy, creamy dark brew with a velvety, melted chocolate mouthfeel and bursts of umami flavor. Try it on tap at all their locations beginning Friday, Oct 22 in limited quantities.
Autumnal drinks launch at Zarah
Café Zarah is launching a new drinks menu inspired by the colors of autumn tonight, Oct 22 from 7pm to 1am. The new range features a Gulou Highball and Osmanthus Sour, craft cocktails from ROC (all RMB 40/glass at the party), and their special gluehwine. There will also be a lineup of DJs to ring in the new menu and the new season.
New beers at Great Leap
In the autumnal world of beer, Great Leap has cranked out two new seasonal brews: the Nine Eyes IPA and the Round the Mulberry Bush Sour Ale. The former, taking its name from Chengdu’s Nine Eyes Bridge, is made with nine different ingredients: wheat, barley, oats, four different hops, yeast, and water. The result is a classic IPA with strong citrus and grapefruit aromas.
The latter (pictured above) is the latest addition in GLB’s “Poet Sour Series,” crafted with tart mulberries for a mauve-colored brew and a tart finish.
More new beers from Slow Boat
Along with their Wheat Wave Wheat Wine and Hullaballoo Shanzha Sour Saison, Slow Boat has unveiled three more beers for October. First is the BOat Cream IPA, an oat cream IPA, which is a dry-hopped beer packed with lactose and oats, resulting in a creamy yet punchy IPA, amped up with special hops to give the beer a hit of tangerine, Earl Grey tea, and tropical fruit.
Next, there’s the Hansa Smoked Plum Baltic Porter (pictured above), inspired by the Polish delicacy chocolate-dipped candied prune. Utilizing grains, lager yeast, and sunameitang-inspired smoked plums, the result is a smooth drinker with hints of chocolate and fresh berries. Finally, the HBC630 Broadside Blonde (pictured below), the 13th iteration in their blonde ale series which features strong sweet fruit, berry, and peach notes.
The BOat Cream Ale and HBC630 are available at Slow Boat’s Maizidian and Dengshikou locations, while the Hansa Smoked Plum Baltic Porter is available at all locations.
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Images courtesy of the venues
