Long Jing Tea House & CockTeal Lounge may just be one of Beijing’s coolest new lounge bars in South Sanlitun and it’s about to give all their neighbors something to talk about.
Located just across from the entrance of south Sanlitun’s 1949- The Hidden City and around the corner from Pop-Up Beijing is a brand new venue called Long Jing, which will be open as a Chinese tea house by day and transforms into a pumpin’ “cockTeal” (aka cocktails made with tea) lounge by night. It’s the superhero venue Beijing has been waiting for.
Before it opened to the public last month, insider Boris Steiner was kind enough to lend me his time to give LDS the scoop about this new spot which is bound to attract quite a lot of attention from both tea lovers and cocktail guzzlers alike.
Look for the jailed horse statue and you’ll know you found it! (just walk around the wall of bars to find the entrance)
LDS: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the eclectic team behind Long Jing?
BS: My name is Boris Steiner and my first time coming to China from Germany was in 2001, but I’ve been living here since 2008. Always interested in new and visionary concepts, something outside of the box, I’ve thought about opening a bar for many years and am finally getting the chance. Together with our other three investors, Cobain Fu (ex-Mesh), Vincent Dong (designer) and Mr. Zhao, it was clear we wanted to make something different using all the resources we have.
As Cobain has his own premium tea brand and Vincent was working with him on the brand design for the tea, the idea behind Long Jing was born. I am mainly responsible for Marketing, PR and lately the music.
LDS: A venue that transforms between a tea lounge by day and a cocktail bar by night, can you explain the concept behind Long Jing?
BS: Our slogan is “somewhere, water reacts with water”. We wanted to be a bit mysterious from the beginning, but say just what it is – tea is made with water, alcohol is too – and we bring both together.
Instead of having just a regular cocktail bar and competing with other great place around (I guess everybody knows the names), we wanted to create a new concept which we believe is the new way to attract “Beijingers” based on the industry style we have been seeing over the last few years.
Our plan is to create a healthy space with (a bit) healthier drinks. We will have lots of plants and also a fully functional air cleaning system that allows people to work and relax during bad weather, and not worry too much when enjoying their drinks at night.
Another difference to other places is that from 10:30 – 17:00 we are actually a modern Tea House with traditional tea (many friends have told me they love the relaxed tea culture in Chengdu) and after 17:00, we turn (literally as the racks above our bar rotate from tea to alcohol) to a CockTeal lounge, with tea-based classic cocktails.
At the end of the day, we want to be the place where everybody can find his/her way to enjoy – and that relates to your superhero idea – he/she is there for everybody too.
LDS: Can you give us a few examples of your signature CockTeals?
BS: We will start with classic cocktails and turning them into a CockTeal – like an Oolong old fashioned or a Lapsang Whiskey Sour. We also have many of own creations waiting which we will introduce steadily.
We will follow the Chinese 节气 to make these cocktails and name it accordingly, i.e., “春分“/”谷雨”
Long Jing’s Lapsang Whiskey Sour
LDS: Who creates these crafty cockTeals?
BS: Cobain is doing every CockTeal himself. He has been working with tea for several years already and has a lot of experience with alcohol too. We encourage everybody in our family to create their own drinks too.
LDS: And who is responsible for designing the place?
BS: The team creates – everybody has his own responsibilities and next to the regular job in LONG JING, every employee will also be trained by ourselves in Tea, Alcohol, Design, Marketing, PR. We believe in education as a tool to build our team and also provide a bit more than a regular lounge or restaurant would offer.
LDS: Aside from the use of Chinese tea in the cockteals, what else sets your cocktails apart?
BS: Every cocktail we have is created with our own Tea “TheCha”. To mix a classical cocktail and turn it into a tasty CockTeal, we usually need to make it with at least 5 different teas to see which is really the best. We also work a lot with housemade tea syrups and sprays that give every drink a final touch. There are a lot of ideas in our brains that will involve our customers in the finalization of their own drinks too!
LDS: How many cocktails can we expect to find once you’re ready?
BS: We have all the classics like Whiskey Sour or Old Fashioned plus 12 signature CockTeals. Stay tuned for a lot of ideas to Teaup! your other drinks!
LDS: How do you want people to feel when they first walk in?
BS: In a different world. We want to be a place where you can find best quality tea for a reasonable price – I know that many of my friends always look for a good place to buy tea as presents or to remember their time in China. We hope we can be the place they trust with the 100+ tea selection that we have.
Long Jing Contact Details:
- Address: 112 , blog 22, GongtiBeilu 4. Chaoyang, Opposite of the 1949 west entrance (Jing A, Okra)
- 朝阳区工体北路4号, 机电院， 22号楼 112, 1949对面
- Tel: Landline TBC, 18514006088 Ivan (Event organizer)
- Opening days and hours: Mon-Fri 10:30am – 2 am
- Email: [email protected]
About Kristen
Kristen Lum has an accomplished background in PR, communications and events in China. Born and raised in California, Kristen has been based in Beijing since 2006 and is founder of the lifestyle blog called LumDimSum, covering mostly restaurant news and reviews alongside upcoming events around town that relate to Beijing’s muti-faceted, quickly-developing creative industries like art, music, film, health and fitness, fashion, nightlife, charity events, and travel tips.
