Beijing Boyce

Terra Rum Bar, on the ground floor of ceviche restaurant Terra, will hold its soft opening from tomorrow through next Thursday, with customers getting a 20 percent discount on rum pours and rum cocktails. Look for a snack menu, with Brazilian crab cakes, empanadas and more, to be added in March. (Note: The current snack menu has eight items, including Brie tequenos salad, churros and empanadas, starting from rmb48.

A sampling of prices of the ~20 rums: Captain Morgan Private Stock, rmb35; Trois Rivières (Martinique), rmb48, Bundaberg (Australia), rmb58; Gosling Family Reserve (Bermuda), rmb98; and Zacapa 23-year-old (Guatamela), rmb180. Bacardi-infused house rums will be rmb38, with three choices available.

Meanwhile, cocktails are rmb68 and the list includes everything from a ‘Pomarossa‘, with dark rum, pomegranate and chillies, to ‘The Empress Tea‘, with dark rum, sherry fino, ginger and jasmine tea, to more common drinks such as Pina Coladas, Mojitos and Daiquiris.

When the new owners took over Tun Bar, they renamed it Absolute, which makes me wonder — given that the place has pretty much been empty on a half-dozen visits, including last night — what that particular word refers to. Anyway, I heard about a month ago that the place is back on the market and it would be good to see someone revitalize it.

I would love to this place become a combination of Great Leap Brewery and Home Plate (beer and BBQ), with regular live music, and it certainly has the floor space and ceiling height to put some tanks on full display. Or perhaps Huxley and Chad Lager can team up again to reopen it. Or perhaps it can be the venue for long-awaited second coming of Browns. In any case, it seems a shame that this space sees so little traffic. Someone do something!

Look for some Pisco power in Beijing next week, with cocktail events at Scarlett and Migas, among other places, and  bartender Hans Hilburgh flying in from Peru for the occasion. I’ll have more details tomorrow but word is Migas will feature  a cocktail with “tiger’s milk“, the leftover liquid from ceviche. Sounds like a possibly rich source of Omega 3 and Vitamin C. Speaking of Migas, its new bar opened a packed house last Friday, one that spilled into and filled the restaurant and lounge.