Beer Battle Bowls
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Mark Metcalf had lunch with his in-laws at a great Cantonese restaurant in Taichung, Taiwan. They shared a bottle of Táiwān píjiǔ 台灣啤酒 ("Taiwan beer") and were given chilled “Hong Kong style” battle bowls – emblazoned with zhàndòu wǎn 戰鬥碗 ("battle bowl") on the side and with shēng 勝 ("victory") on the inside bottom – to drink it. Neither Mark nor his son had seen such a bowl before, but according to the owner it’s a Hong Kong thing.
Apparently you can buy them for \$NT6 each online or \$US70 (including postage) for a set of four from Amazon.
Here’s what they look like:
(source)
Chinese Traditional Way of Drinking Beer – From the Bowl
Selected readings
- "Tangut beer" (10/13/18)
- "Hipster beer names" (10/15/22)
- "Plum > apricot and wine > brew: the language of poetry and painting" (7/14/17)
- "Brew" (11/25/21)
- "'Who Dey?'" (2/13/22)
- "Tangut beer" (10/13/18)
- "Token Cantonese" (5/16/15) — Carlsberg
- "English 'wine, French 'vin', Spanish 'vino'" (8/6/16) — this and the following two posts contain important notes on beer and the vessels for making, storing, and drinking it, including comparisons with similar vessels in the Middle East
- "Let the Beer-Divider Be Chief!" (8/5/09)
- "Don't Drive in the What, er?" (8/4/09)
- "Two brews" (2/6/10)
Andy Stow said,
November 14, 2023 @ 1:12 pm
I was given a bowl like this to drink my Snow Beer from in Wuxi, China.
Peter B. Golden said,
November 14, 2023 @ 1:37 pm
Actually, it looks quite elegant. In my grandfather's native Belarus', "harelka" (the local term for vodka) was bought in buckets and consumed therefrom. Bottles and glasses were for "high class" folks.
Linda said,
November 15, 2023 @ 7:06 am
What volume do they hold? 250ml or 500ml (half or full pint)?