Beijing Boyce

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For years I have wanted to organize something called the Johnnie Walker Challenge and now it looks like Joseph Kornides of 12sqm has made it all too easy. But first…

Kornides is introducing a two-for-one deal on Tuesdays, starting next week, that covers his range of single malts, Bourbons and Irish whiskeys. And he has a decent range, too, with ~40 options, including Jameson 12-year-old (rmb40),  Bushmills Black (rmb45), Maker’s Mark (rmb45), Blanton’s Silver Edition (rmb50), Glenlivet 12-year-old (rmb45), Laphroaig 10-year-old (rmb50), Lagavulin 16-year-old (rmb65) and Balvenie 21-year-old (rmb95). Note: The prices in brackets are the regular ones. On Tuesdays, that gets you two pours, totaling 60 ml.

As for the Johnnie Walker Challenge, I’ve long wanted to do a blind tasting with friends of the red, black, green, gold and blue labels — the same colors, as Kornides points out, of the Olympic rings — to see the order of preference. (If you choose the red as best, you can look forward to saving money in the long run.) At 12sqm, rmb188 will get you a 30ml shot of each one of these five whiskeys. I plan to bring along some labels to stick on the glass bottoms so I can finally take the challenge…

(Oh, and 12SQM also has a Czech Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself special: A Budvar and shot of Czech absinthe for rmb80.)

Update (July 22, 2011): I asked the always gregarious Sasha Uncovic of Kiosk to oversee the draw and pull the winner. As usual, the names of each entrant was written on a piece of paper, the papers scrunched and scrambled, and then one randomly picked out of the pile. The winner of five bagels from Refresh: Dale Cooper. Enjoy those bagels, DC.

I am a fan of the coffee at Refresh, just under Hooters on Workers Stadium East, the only place in Beijing where I have completed one of those buy [insert number here], get one free cards. Refresh has been adding to its food menu, most recently with bagels and homemade ice cream. On Sunday, the manager gave me five free bagel coupons to give out. Simply leave a comment and tell us how you like your coffee – I like mine black and bitter, just like my heart — and you’re in the draw on Friday.

Here are the bagel options:

• Roast beef and honey mustard with tomato, rucola, mozzarella
• Salmon with capers, cream cheese, spring onions, cilantro, rucola
• Cream cheese with spring onions and cilantro
• Bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato with mayo