Complex and delicious, find out why baijiu is China’s national drink.
Click image to shop
How is it made?
Baijiu can be made with a variety of different grains, for example, some are made exclusively of sorghum, while others use wheat, millet, barley, or rice.
To produce baijiu (translated literally as"white liquor") grains are steamed, then added to a fermentation starter culture called ‘qu.’ The qu is considered the special ingredient in Baiju as it allows both fermentation and saccharification (sugar conversion) to happen at the same time. The spirit ferments over time, then distills, and then ages (the longer the better).
That’s kind of like asking what wine tastes like. Baijiu varies in flavour and aroma, just like wine. So, it really depends on how it’s produced, the ingredients used, how it’s fermented and distilled, and the length of time it’s aged. That’s why you can get both strong and bold baijiu with aromas of soy sauce or mushrooms, and light, smoother-styled baijius.
Here's a good little cheat sheet to remember the various flavour profiles of baijiu. The drink is split into four main aroma profiles: light aroma, strong aroma, rice aroma, and sauce aroma.
Sauce aromas
Click image to shop
Click image to shop
Light aromas
Strong aromas
Click image to shop
There are many rules and customs to follow if you’re drinking baijiu in China, but the most important thing to remember is that it is definitely a social drink. Which means you need to be having a feed with friends or fam in order to fully experience its depth and flavour.
Serve it at room temperature in a communal pitcher, so glasses can be filled at the table. Speaking of glasses, baijiu is traditionally drunk neat from shot-style glasses, which gives you a hint as to how to consume it – in small, quick doses. And to really do it properly, make sure to always make a toast before drinking.
Ganbei!
