Drinks to Warm You Up for Beijing’s Winter, Pt. 2
After writing our previous roundup of warm weather drinks, we felt like we needed one ourselves. Thus, we’re writing this second round with some hot chocolate in hand (you can read more about it on this list).
And with that, we begin this second list, packed with even more mulled wine, hot chocolate, and other warming drinkable goodness to be found around Beijing.
Hot Chocolate – La Maison Lyonnaise
La Maison Lyonnaise keeps things particularly elegant with their take on Hot Chocolate, using rich and aromatic Ecuadorian chocolate for their beverage. For tea drinkers, they also have Winter Pear Tea on offer, as well as Hot Toddies and Mulled Wine on the alcohol front.
La Maison Lyonnaise
44 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区光华路44号
Hours: Daily, 11am-10.30pm
Contact: 132 6003 4808
Honey Hot Milk & Other Drinks – Side Street
Side Street is offering Mulled Wine, Hot Toddies, and Hot Chocolate with their own special “Side Street twist”, but what’s really caught our eye this year is the addition of Hot Honeyed Milk. It’s a traditional recipe – and one featured most famously in Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo – that quite simply combines hot milk with a dash of honey and, sometimes, a few other bells and whistles.
Side Street (Jianguomen branch)
Bldg N28 2/101-102 17 Jianguomenwai Dajie (behind Nola)
朝阳区建国门外大街17号楼2/102-102 （Nola后面）
Hours: Daily, 11am-midnight
Contact: 135 2195 8643
Side Street (Jiaodaokou branch)
113-02 Jiaodaokou Dongdajie, Dongcheng District
东城区交道口东大街113-02号
Hours: Daily, 11am-midnight
Contact: 176 0088 1832
Spicy Hot Chocolate – Choc-a-lot
We really love Choc-a-lot. The local Beijing chain has a neat little menu of imaginative brownies, cookies, cinnamon rolls, and even sandwiches to offer for a quick lunch or afternoon snack. Their hot and cold chocolates are equally impressive, with our favorite being the Spicy & Salty (RMB 30).
It’s hot chocolate combined with red chili powder and sea salt, all topped with a dollop of whipped cream, more chili powder and chocolate flakes. Sweet and savory with a bit of heat here and there, this hot chocolate is good ‘til the last drop, with bits of dark salty chocolate at the bottom.
Choc-a-lot (Jinbao Jie branch)
14 Hongxing Hutong, Dongcheng District
东城红星胡同乙14号
Hours: Daily, 9am-8.30pm
Contact: 135 5227 4728
Locomotive Spiced Wine & Teas – Susu
Susu brings back their winter drinks with a Southeast Asian twist. The first of these is the Locomotive Spiced Wine, which sees mulled wine enhanced with fresh pomegranate and spiced rum. On the lighter side of things, there’s also Lemongrass Cane Tea and Dragon Fruit Coconut Punch.
Find Susu at all of their locations in the map above.
Special Mulled Wine – CHEERS
Finally, on the mulled wine front, there’s CHEERS, which is serving up their annual Special Recipe Mulled Wine for RMB 30 by the glass at their Phoenix City branch near Sanyuanqiao. They’ve also got a few recipes for winter warmers as well via a recent post, should you choose to make your own at home. Read all about them here.
CHEERS Wines (Phoenix City branch)
06A, Bldg 10-6-1 Shuguang Xili Jia 5, Zuojiazhuang Jie
左家庄街道曙光西里甲5号院10号楼-6-1层06A号
Hours: Daily, 10am-11pm
Contact: 138 1163 2507; 130 1120 5933
READ: Drinks That'll Warm You Up for Beijing's Winter, Pt. 2
Images: Unsplash, Vincent R. Vinci, courtesy of the venues
