Pickering’s Gin and Seafood Bar: The First Gin Bar in Beijing

In July 2018 we launched Beijing’s first ever Gin Bar. ‘What? Where? Why?’ you ask. Well, we may make small batch gin from a 400 square foot distillery in Edinburgh, but we have a determinedly global outlook – much like our home city of Edinburgh. 

One fortuitous Tuesday in early 2018, Marcus met with Kurt, Director of PandaBrew – the trailblazers in the burgeoning Chinese craft brewing scene. Two very different companies, but with the same mission to bring high quality craft drinks to the Chinese market. Not long after the initial conversation, Pickering’s Gin and PandaBrew began to collaborate to develop a high-end Pickering’s Gin and Seafood Bar concept – bringing the first dedicated gin joint to Beijing. Plans quickly shifted into bricks and mortar and in a matter of months our bar was being built in the trendy Sanlitun area of the Chaoyang District in Beijing.

With Scotland’s first direct flight to China having recently launched between Edinburgh & Beijing, team Pickering’s hopped on a flight to oversee the final stages of the build. Together with the bar’s award-winning head mixologist, John Hung, Pickering’s Brand Ambassador Stevie Watson tweaked and fine-tuned a bespoke, avant-garde cocktail menu designed to introduce gin to the people of Beijing.

The Pickering’s Gin and Seafood Bar opened on July 22nd 2018 with a swanky opening ceremony with over 100 local dignitaries, celebrities and influencers from the Chinese capital, all to the tune of Beijing’s only bagpiper. Marcus and Matt donned their full traditional Scottish attire and impressed the crowd not only with their kilts, but our exceptional range of botanically engineered gins. 

China hasn’t yet seen the thirst for gin that the West has had in recent years but it’s coming, and with an alcohol import market of £608m we’re certainly excited to be one of the first gins to introduce ourselves! We are absolutely thrilled with the success of the Pickering’s Gin and Seafood bar in Beijing and are looking forward to the future of Pickering’s Gin in China. Watch this space…