Beijing Boyce

I no longer smoke cigarettes, but crave an occasional cigar. Last Friday in Sanlitun was one such time. I’ve long avoided the street vendors there, assuming that if the cigars weren’t dried bark, spinach and pine needle-stuffed fakes, the storage conditions of a downtown Beijing street corner would render them worthless. I discovered differently from Alan U, whose eyes glow when he talks about cigars, who always keeps more than 200 properly stashed at home and who once spent three weeks visiting Cuban cigar factories - as a vacation. He even named his dogs Cohiba and Montecristo (actually, he didn’t, but I’m sure he would if given the chance).

Alan informed me of all this at a wine tasting at Sequoia Cafe, just up from Tongli Studio, where most of my Fridays nights have begun of late. This tasting featured two red and two white Californian wines you won’t find on Beijing shelves. The Wente 2005 Chardonnay and Murrieta’s Well 2004 Meritage were pleasant, the Mitchell Katz 2004 Petite Syrah above average, and the Cedar Mountain 2003 Cabernet enough to inspire some to say, “hmmm.” As organizer Frank Siegel put it, “This wine was a bit strange to me; it had some acidity in it which is unusual for a cab.” I’ll have more on these wines in the newsletter.

After the tasting, Alan and I stopped in front of Tongli to peruse smokes being sold from a wooden table by heavily bundled women. Fingering the tubes, he explained that many of the cigars are “seconds” and thus have slight defects, but use Cuban tobacco and are smoke-worthy, and simply require a careful check to make sure they are not too dry. We took our time indifferently sniffing and fingering cigars, inspiring the seller to bring out a box of better ones and, when we still hadn’t decided, another. We eventually picked two Romeo and Juliet, negotiated the price to 80 kuai for both (from 120), cut the ends with the seller’s clipper, and headed across the street to Cheers…

Cheers, cited by several readers in my last newsletter as their favorite bar, had about eight people and a singer / guitarist. We sat at the bar and lit our cigars. (Don’t inhale while lighting, says Alan. Instead, hold the cigar horizontally and twist the end, until it is red hot, one centimeter above a flame.)

As we worked through our smokes and Cheers’ last shot of Wild Turkey, a drummer, and then a bassist and hand drummer, joined the singer. The ensuing jam had the growing crowd’s heads nodding and toes tapping. A good vibe as usual at Cheers, though we’re hoping the staff takes some advice and refrains from adding Sprite to the Mojitos next time.

Afterwards, we popped next door to China Doll for a quick Jack Daniels and then up the street to Q Bar, where I introduced Alan to my drink of the month - the Alfonso Special.

All in all, it was a good time, and as Alan pointed out several times, sometimes you need to step back and appreciate Beijing for what it offers. What’s not great about trying such hard-to-find Californian wines, picking up a Cuban cigar on the street for five bucks, sipping Wild Turkey while watching an excellent Xinjiang band, checking out a cool lounge that appeals to locals and foreigners alike, and then enjoying a top-end drink named after an exiled Spanish king, all in one night?