It’s no secret that Nanjing is awash with venues that are coffee shops by day and cocktail bars by night. Indeed, it would be difficult to avoid them. Many are rather smart and reflect a global trend which I very much welcome.
That said, many segregate their operations by the clock. I have no idea why. So if you want an Amber Moon in the afternoon or a Singapore Sling in the morning (well you never know, you might), you would have better luck asking for a hacksaw in a florist.
You will sit with your espresso, looking longingly at the inviting bottles, shakers and muddlers, wondering why the barista/barman cannot achieve at 17:30 what mysteriously becomes possible at 18:00.
To be fair, there are a few places that do offer both coffee and cocktails throughout the day, even if their cocktail menus may vary at different times for no apparent reason. The Sauce is a very good example of this, and I often enjoy a coffee there, or a cocktail, or the best of both worlds, a coffee cocktail (and a coffee and another cocktail).
So all bases are covered then? Time to rejoice? Can we can reward such enlightenment with our custom and eschew those establishments that operate a curious clock-dependent-beverage apartheid?
Well, sadly this is not quite the case, because although I enjoy cocktails, coffee, wine and much else besides, my primary interest is beer. As regular readers will know, the lack of availability of good beer during the day will soon spoil the plans of any Nanjing-based foreigner or local looking to enjoy a well-earned pint on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Can these coffee-shop-cum-bars come to the rescue? To a limited extent they can. There are a few coffee shops that also specialise in draft craft beer, but not many. There are even fewer that can open a tap at 16:15 as opposed to 18:00 (the hour when mysteriously all sorts of things become possible in Nanjing which, in many other cities, are possible for most of the day).
Southern Trip will be happy to serve you from a small but enjoyable range of TripSmith beers at any time of day. They are canned (come on, you have by now not learned to expect too much, I hope…) but they are very drinkable. In fact, they are very drinkable indeed. Beware of possibly having to cancel your plans for the evening after a Double IPA and a couple of Imperial Stouts at 14:00 suddenly seemed a grand idea.
Meanwhile Ego, Mountains H2O and XSpace (and I am sure there are others) all serve a fine range of decent draft craft beer as well as coffee, but suffer from the strange Nanjing time-warp thing that seems to occur around 18:00, when baristas are magically transformed into people who are able to hold a glass under a tap and turn it on. Ego is a splendidly bijou little place that I enjoy very much, and the others are also worth a visit, but do remember it has to be in the evening.
However, full marks go to Next. I think some sort of little-understood quantum distortion of time and gravity around Longjiang means they are really aligned to the Shanghai dimension. Next is able and willing to serve both coffee and beer all day, every day, and it’s a pleasant place too.
So it can be done! A coffee, a pint (the beer is good, but don’t expect the very best) and a little brunch at 11:00? Well, if you want to, why not? You’ve crossed into another dimension and not even needed a high-speed train to help, so you’ve earned it. Cheers!
Next is located on Longyuan Xi Lu opposite Longjiang Gymnasium 龙园西路龙江体育馆正对面. Tel: 15951883170.
