How to drink baijiu: Beijing's pros share their tips
Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
World's most popular spirit: Thanks to China's huge population, baijiu accounts for almost a third of global spirit sales.
Euromonitor International, a London-based consultancy estimated about
5.5 billion liters, or 1.5 billion gallons of baijiu sold last year.
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Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Four types of baijiu: Vats
of fermenting baijiu are covered with red cloth. Baijius are
categorized by four aroma profiles: rice, light, strong and sauce.
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Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Saucy spirits:
Sauce aroma baijiu has a savory taste. which some say resembles soy
sauce. The most popular brand of sauce aroma baijiu is Moutai.
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Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Top-end baijiu: Once popular at state banquets, the best baijiu often sells for hundreds of dollars per bottle.
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Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Searching for new fans: Distillers
are trying to find new markets for baijiu as an anti-corruption
campaign has clamped down on spending by government officials.
Hide Caption
11 of 11
Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Moutai: Chinese
men toast each other as they drink Moutai, the most famous brand of
baijiu. Distilled from sorghum and rice, the spirit is the tipple of
choice for everything from wedding receptions to business banquets.
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Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Maotai, China:
Chinese farmers carry sorghum grain across a bridge in Maotai. Sitting
along China's Chishui River in the southwestern province of Guizhou, the
town produces over half of the country's baijiu.
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Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Fermentation: Chinese
workers toss sorghum, one of the key ingredients used for locally made
baijiu, in preparation for the first step of fermentation.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Baijiu tourism: The Chinese government is now promoting baijiu tourism in Maotai, giving visitors a chance to see how it's made.
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Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Chishu River: China's
most famous baijiu brands have long used the Chishu River as their
prime water source. The area is also revered as the site of a 1935
revolutionary battle led by Mao Zedong during the historic Long March of
the Red Army.
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Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Labor intensive: A Chinese worker heats river water to be poured on the sorghum as it's prepared for fermentation.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
World's most popular spirit: Thanks to China's huge population, baijiu accounts for almost a third of global spirit sales.
Euromonitor International, a London-based consultancy estimated about
5.5 billion liters, or 1.5 billion gallons of baijiu sold last year.
Hide Caption
7 of 11
Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Four types of baijiu: Vats
of fermenting baijiu are covered with red cloth. Baijius are
categorized by four aroma profiles: rice, light, strong and sauce.
Hide Caption
8 of 11
Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Saucy spirits:
Sauce aroma baijiu has a savory taste. which some say resembles soy
sauce. The most popular brand of sauce aroma baijiu is Moutai.
Hide Caption
9 of 11
Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Top-end baijiu: Once popular at state banquets, the best baijiu often sells for hundreds of dollars per bottle.
Hide Caption
10 of 11
Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Searching for new fans: Distillers
are trying to find new markets for baijiu as an anti-corruption
campaign has clamped down on spending by government officials.
Hide Caption
11 of 11
Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Moutai: Chinese
men toast each other as they drink Moutai, the most famous brand of
baijiu. Distilled from sorghum and rice, the spirit is the tipple of
choice for everything from wedding receptions to business banquets.
Hide Caption
1 of 11
Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Maotai, China:
Chinese farmers carry sorghum grain across a bridge in Maotai. Sitting
along China's Chishui River in the southwestern province of Guizhou, the
town produces over half of the country's baijiu.
Hide Caption
2 of 11
Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Fermentation: Chinese
workers toss sorghum, one of the key ingredients used for locally made
baijiu, in preparation for the first step of fermentation.
Hide Caption
3 of 11
Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Baijiu tourism: The Chinese government is now promoting baijiu tourism in Maotai, giving visitors a chance to see how it's made.
Hide Caption
4 of 11
Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Chishu River: China's
most famous baijiu brands have long used the Chishu River as their
prime water source. The area is also revered as the site of a 1935
revolutionary battle led by Mao Zedong during the historic Long March of
the Red Army.
Hide Caption
5 of 11
Photos: Baijiu: How the world's most popular spirit is made
Labor intensive: A Chinese worker heats river water to be poured on the sorghum as it's prepared for fermentation.
Hide Caption
6 of 11
Beijing (CNN)It's the most widely drunk hard liquor in the world but it's rarely found on cocktail menus.
Baijiu,
distilled from sorghum and rice, rules every festive occasion in China,
where it's the tipple of choice for everything from wedding receptions
to business banquets.
It's
especially popular during celebrations for the Lunar New Year, which
began Saturday, when shot glasses filled with the potent spirit are
thrown back and slammed down on the table in endless rounds of toasts.
Beijing, Baijiu, Bites and Business 03:16
"Many (foreigners) find baijiu off-putting, but it's not about the liquor itself," says Bill Isler, co-founder of Beijing's Capital Spirits, the world's first baijiu-themed bar.
Isler
says the drink's fearsome reputation comes from visitors being coerced
into excessive drinking by Chinese friends or coworkers -- persuading
people to drink is a gesture of generosity and "being a good host," he
says.
But
Isler wants to change the way baijiu is regarded and consumed. His bar
serves different types of the fiery spirit as well as baijiu cocktails.
It's a push shared by distillers -- sales of high-end baijiu brands like Moutai have slowed as President Xi Jinping has reined in officials' expense accounts as part of an anti-corruption drive.
Young, hip, bar flies are a potential new market.
"It is definitely getting more exposure," says Isler.
Thanks to China's huge population, baijiu accounts for almost a third of global spirit sales.
Euromonitor
International, a London-based consultancy, estimated about 5.5 billion
liters, or 1.5 billion gallons of baijiu sold last year.
Bill Isler and David Putney, co-founders of Beijing's Capital Spirits, the world's first baijiu-themed bar.
Baijiu 101
Isler's advice for baijiu newbies is this: "Don't drink with Chinese people."
He
suggests people approach the drink "on their own first" instead of
being thrown into a Chinese banquet and forced to ganbei -- bottom up --
round after round.
"By the time they drink with Chinese they should know what baijiu styles they prefer and how much they can drink," he says.
Capital
Spirits, for example, offers baijiu flights -- four 10 milliliter mini
shots of the basic baijiu styles, going from the mildest to strongest.
Baijius are mainly categorized by these four aroma profiles.
Capital
Spirits' Baijiu flights go from lighest to strongest. Pictured is
rice-aromatic Guilin Sanhua, light aromatic Fenjiu, strong aromatic
Luzhou Laojiao then sauce aromatic Moutai Prince.
Rice aroma: Originating
in southern Guangxi province, this is probably the lightest among the
four types. Unlike other baijiu styles, it's made from rice, which gives
it a sweet, floral tone. A fine example of this type of baijiu is
Guilin Sanhua, made using water sourced from the picturesque local Li
River.
Light aroma: This
style dominates the north, especially around Beijing. Fermented solely
from sorghum, the light aroma isn't matched by ABVs as high as 56%. The
brand Erguotou, with its iconic square-shaped bottled, falls into this
category. In terms of the taste, light aroma baijius are usually
delicate and dry.
Strong aroma:
China's most popular baijiu is produced with at least two different
grains and fermented in mud pits, giving it a more complex and almost
overripe flavor. A fine example is Luzhou Laojiao, a distillery that
brews the spirit of the same name and is one of the oldest still in
production (from 1573).
Sauce aroma: Some
say this almost savory drink's flavor resembles soy sauce. The most
popular brand, Moutai, produced using labor-intensive methods in Guizhou
province, is the most expensive type of baijiu. A batch of Moutai has
to go through rounds of subterranean fermentation so it usually takes a
year to produce.
"In
terms of depth of flavor, vodka or gin drinkers may tend to the light
aroma type, whereas whiskey or rum drinkers may prefer the strong aroma
type," Isler says.
For
non-purists, Isler also offers cocktails, among them are twists on
classic cocktails like the Baijiu Sour, Crabs Island Ice Tea and
Szechuan Sling.
There are also original baijiu recipes:
There's CS's house special -- mixed with cinnamon schnapps and rice aromatic baijiu.
Tinache,
with sweet and mellow passion fruit and pineapple, perfectly balances
out the dryness of Fenjiu (a light aroma baijiu from Shanxi).
Even the "unmixable" saucy Moutai is tamed by the silky coconut milk in the bar's best seller -- Coco Moutai Cream.
A bartender in Capital Spirits prepares the baijiu-based "Moutai Coco Cream."
Is baijiu poised to take over the world?
There are signs that appreciation for baijiu is starting to spread.
Jim Boyce, a Canadian wine expert based in Beijing, is the founder of World Baijiu Day, aimed at promoting the best-selling yet little-known spirit.
He said 30 Baijiu Day events were held in 20 cities around the world last year.
Dedicated baijiu bars are now found in Liverpool and New York.
There
are also a growing number of overseas baijiu brands. ByeJoe in the
United States, Taizi in New Zealand and Dragon's Mist in Canada are
milder versions of China's most eye-watering drink.
In China, people are experimenting with baijiu too.
Seminars are being held on how to pair it with food and some entrepreneurs have developed baijiu-infused ice cream, pizza and gummy bears. A chef in Beijing even created deep-fried baijiu cake.
The government is also promoting baijiu tourism, a Chinese version of a Bordeaux tour in Maotai, Guizhou province.
Boyce suggests first timers "compare and contrast" different baijiu styles side by side.
"Just
as with a flight of wine or whiskey or tequila, a flight of baijiu is
bound to make you think more deeply about smells, tastes and,
ultimately, preferences," he says.
"Lots
of people assume all baijiu is pretty much the same. Trying different
styles side-by-side reveals a great deal of diversity."
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