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Austin Asian bar pop-up Daijoubu is putting together a cocktail kit to help raise money and spread the awareness of racism against Asian Americans in the country during the novel coronavirus pandemic while most restaurant dining rooms are closed across the country for now. The boozy boba cocktail kit will be available at Allandale Southern-Asian restaurant The Peached Tortilla on Friday, April 10, and Saturday, April 11.
Co-founders Caer Maiko and Sharon Yeung were inspired to create the takeout cocktail during a conversation held during the duo’s virtual happy hour celebrating their one-year anniversary last month. They were talking about “the racially fueled hate towards Asian people since the spread of the coronavirus.” Explained Maiko: “The important takeaway was that people were generally unaware of how bad the situation is for Asian Americans at the moment.”
Partial sales of Daijoubu’s drinks will go toward the Stand Against Hate campaign at Asian-Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ).
The kit sold through Peached Tortilla includes ingredients to make Daijoubu’s Tapioca Express cocktail, which was featured at a previous pop-up last summer. It’s got a cup of Tazo earl grey tea with brown sugar and bergamot liqueur-infused tapioca pearls, and a 50-milliliter bottle of Havana Club anejo clasico rum. 20 percent of the $12 drink sales will go towards AAAJ.
In Texas, restaurants and bars are now legally able to offer liquor to customers for takeout and delivery as long as the alcohol is in its sealed manufacturer container and comes with food. During this time, Peached Tortilla is open for curbside pickups, serving dishes such as noodles, Hainan chicken, burgers, and more. The drink is specifically available from 5 to 9 p.m. each day.
“The goal of Daijoubu has always been to create space for Asian culture, flavors, and people in the bar world,” Maiko told Eater, “so we can at least try to do that.” By creating a special cocktail kit, the two are bringing more businesses and awareness to Asian-American-owned restaurants.
Across the country, a different Daijoubu cocktail will eventually be available for to-go orders at three bars in the San Jose area in California: Paper Plane, MiniBoss, and SuperGood. The bottled cocktail — called the Paper Crane — is a take on the classic cocktail Paper Plane. The Daijoubu version is made with Suntory Toki whiskey, an Asian citrus blend, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, Tempus Fugit Creme de Banane, burdock root tincture, and sesame oil. The timeline for launching these is currently unknown, but when they are sold, 50 percent of sales will go toward AAAJ. (Pre-mixed to-go cocktails are currently legal in California for now, as long as they are sold with food.)
Maiko and Yeung are open to creating cocktail kits for other Asian-American restaurants in Texas that are legally able to do so. They would send over recipes (much like they did for Paper Plane) for the bars to produce and walk them through the process via FaceTime if necessary.
