Move over Shanghai, Nanjing’s got a new guy in town and he’s raising the bar; the city’s whisky lounge scene just went up to an exciting new level! Keeping true to its name, the Bee’s Knees is run by cocktail wizard and whisky connoisseur, Ryan, who learned his trade at Shanghai’s The Union Trading Co., that, he alleges, has been in the top 10 of the Best 50 Bars in Asia for last 3 years.
The Bee’s Knees is located downtown near popular eat street Shizi Qiao, at the bottom of Nanjing’s powerhouse of Chinese publishing, the Pheonix building. “I chose the location because it’s still rather central and I think it’s easy for people to come and go”, said Ryan, while he poured the Nanjinger two crystal glasses of homemade Smoking Monkey sloe whisky. Slushing out of its glass bottle, the burgundy coloured liquor crept gently over the ice cube. The chink of our glasses signalled the beginning of our evening of cocktail bliss.
“Are you ok with egg white?” the bartender enquired as she expertly whipped up my “F****ing Delicious Sour”, which by the way was divine. “And for you sir, we recommend our signature ‘Suffering Bast***’”, which came tall, bold and bitter; just what the doctor had ordered.
“We have four wooden barrels behind the bar, which we use to create our own whisky”, Ryan continued, “All of them are a mixture of top grade whisky from around the world, various dried fruit, honey, cherry and malt liquor; the one your drinking now is 8 months old”.
Feeling rather peckish as the clock struck 8pm, we sampled the bar’s snack menu. Opting for beef tapas, crispy tacos and (at the request of the owner) Sichuan pepper flavoured pigs trotters, you can imagine the latter was not much to our liking. Yet, that did not matter, for the tacos and tapas kicked the ball out of the park, in terms of portion, flavour and quality.
“Before you go, please sample two more cocktails. For you, lady, I recommend our ‘Great Harvest’, which features blueberry butter, and for you, sir, I’ll prepare a ‘Bee’s Bishop’”. Hands down the Nanjinger enjoyed Great Harvest the best, however, one gets the feeling that at this is the kind of place where pretty much every cocktail and malt whisky will be very hard to turn away.
Amy Winehouse in the background, oak furnishings and soft lighting gave the bar a lovely atmosphere. “Why Bee’s Knees?” we enquired. “During the prohibition in America, bartenders used to create cocktails inside bathtubs hidden away from the authorities, one of the most famous cocktails that was produced was called the ‘Bee’s Knees’”.
Ryan expressed his wish is for his customers to feel this is a place that will not only create fabulous food and drink, but will do anything to serve them, just like the bartenders of the early 1800’s. And so there you have it, this Nanjing nightlife tonic is the Bee’s Knees.
The Bees Knees is located at Shop 1-18, Pheonix Plaza, Xuanwu Gate, Gulou District 南京市鼓楼区玄武门凤凰广场1-18铺(罗森便利店). Tel: 18217181330.
