Herbal: New Sanlitun TCM Cocktail Bar to Cure All of Your Ails

There's certainly more space here at Herbal compared to the owners' other venture, Straight Spirit

For now, two medicinal cocktails are on offer: the first is the RMB 70 “healing tonic” made with gin, bee pollen, lily sugar, pear, and a TCM herb called henbane used to ease a variety of aches and pains, while the second is simply called "calming liquid" and consists of coca leaf liqueur, gin, basil, green grapes, lime, green tea, and a prunella herbaceous plant used to treat cuts and inflammation. The menu will be rounded out with many more equally ailing cocktails in the coming weeks once soft opening wraps up.

Vintage furniture furthers the bar's classic ethos

As for now, Herbal also acts as a showcase for Schuitman’s renowned flair for decor, and those who frequented Pop-Up before its sudden closure last year will no doubt thoroughly enjoy these aged trappings. The new bar is outfitted with late-1800's furniture like hardwood tables and chairs (the latter boasting vintage upholstery), along with gothic-like chandelier light fixtures and statues behind the bar. At the end of the bar sits two Chinese stone statutes that Schuitman says are 180 years old. Clearly, his factory and antique contacts from his Pop-Up days have served him well.

Unlike Straight Spirit, which has the feel of a later era, Schuitman says he strived for a colonial vibe this go around, but not in the pejorative sense of the word. As Schuitman explains, it’s “meant to evoke a Western perspective on how Chinese medicine can be beneficial. It’s also an effort to reclaim that colonial period so that Chinese people can have pride in its past, and have pride in its traditional medicine.”

The owners are striving for an aged vibe

Clearly, Ah Jian and Schuitman (pictured at top second and fourth from the right, respectively, with some of their staff members behind Herbal's bar) also have their eyes set on an innovative future, slinging drinks with a worldly ethos that runs deeper than flavor. While this is by no means Beijing’s first bar to make use of Chinese herbs in its drinks, Ah Jian and Schuitman hope that Dr. Chen’s consultation can help the cocktails at Herbal stand out as a unique new offering that, as Schuitman puts it, “goes beyond a gimmick.”

We’ll need to stop by a few more times to see just how effective those healing concoctions are. But the low prices and ambitious concept, along with the prime location and time capsule-esque furnishing, all make Herbal a bold new addition to Beijing’s bar scene, one that holds plenty of promise.