Mai Bar

This intimate courtyard bar located down a hutong in Beijing’s old town serves an extensive list of hand-fashioned cocktails. The bar is cozy, rustic and low-key rather than sophisticated, and it is popular with Beijing’s hutong dwelling expat hipsters. The founder had previously worked in the city’s beloved Apothecary cocktail bar and it shows: there are an apparently endless number of inventive infusions including a Pomegranate Bellini, Hawthorn Whiskey Sour, and the Bramble (a mixture of Bombay, Sapphire gin, blackberry, fresh lemon juice and syrup). You may have to wait a while the cocktails are being made (speed is not Mai Bar’s style), but drinks are reasonably priced at around 50RMB ($8) a cocktail. The tiny outside courtyard space is worth seeking during hot summer nights.