The world's bestselling spirit outsells whisky, vodka, gin, rum and tequila together
Most Western drinkers have never tasted it, yet baijiu sold 10.8 billion litres in 2018, beating the combined totals of the big Western spirits. This clear Chinese grain spirit usually runs between 35 and 60 percent alcohol, and at a business dinner it doubles as a test of character.
Baijiu, literally white or clear liquor, is most often distilled from fermented sorghum, though rice, glutinous rice, wheat, barley, millet or Job's tears can appear in the mash. What sets it apart is the starter, called qū, usually made from ground wheat or steamed rice. Grain is fermented in a solid state rather than as a liquid, with the starter converting starch to sugar and sugar to alcohol at the same time. Every batch is blended, and each style has its own qū and signature flavour.
Nobody can date its invention, because it emerged gradually. Brick reliefs suggest systematic distilling under the Han dynasty; Tang poets such as Bai Juyi described an early version; and Song-era cities filled with bars. That drink was probably only about 15 percent alcohol, since writers of the time mention people downing whole bowls. Middle Eastern distilling methods arriving under the Yuan likely allowed stronger spirits, and by the Ming dynasty the drink looked much like today's, described in detail by Li Shizhen in his Compendium of Materia Medica.
Connoisseurs judge it mainly by fragrance, under a classification begun in 1952 and revised in 1979 at a national competition in Dalian. The light-aroma style, dry and delicate with dried-fruit and floral notes, includes Fenjiu from Shanxi and Beijing's Erguotou, which Taiwan calls Kaoliang.
Drinking it carries social weight. The belief that intoxication reveals a person's true self means strong baijiu often appears when negotiating a deal, and pressure not to refuse an elder or superior leads many newcomers to overdo it, souring younger drinkers on the spirit. Prices range from beer-cheap bottles to top Wuliangye at CN¥26,800. Demand even reaches Australia: in 2019 around 78.3 percent of its sorghum exports went to China, largely for baijiu.
Source: Baijiu
