Baijiu
Baijiu is China’s native spirit and the most-consumed spirit in the world by volume. The name means “white spirits” in Mandarin, and, much like whiskey, production of baijiu is highly variable from one region to another. Four major styles of baijiu are recognized: rice aroma, light aroma, strong aroma, and sauce aroma, and each is quite distinct from one another. Most Chinese baijiu is made from a base of sorghum, but many other grains (particularly rice) can be used. Fermentation of baijiu can involve months of lingering in an earthen pit, with wild yeast and other organisms doing their thing to give baijiu its signature funk.
Top Baijiu Posts:
Exploring the 4 Major Styles of Baijiu
Here’s something you don’t see every day. Buffalo Trace, makers of many bourbons you want but can’t find, recently launched the 24th release in their Experimental Collection, and it’s easily the strangest one yet. It isn’t a bourbon. It isn’t really even a whiskey. It isn’t even a spirit familiar to the Western world. It’s…
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By now, you’ve probably heard of baijiu, essentially the national spirit of China. But what the heck is it? Baijiu draws comparisons to everything from vodka to rhum agricole, and while it is arguably closest to vodka in construction, it’s really a broad category of spirits that refers to a wide category of Chinese spirits…
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Vinn Distillery is a family-owned distiller based in Wilsonville, Oregon, where it makes all of its products from non-GMO rice. That includes vodka, whiskey, baijiu, and a blackberry liqueur. How far can a little rice go in today’s distillery universe? Let’s dig in to the full lineup. Vinn Distillery Vodka – Reportedly the first rice vodka…
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Over the last year I’ve gotten a little bit into wine. As a whisky guy, my goal was to be able to read a wine list in a restaurant but I quickly became absorbed in a new world, not too dissimilar to the way I fell down the whisky rabbit hole. This process of learning…
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Pundits love to pontificate about “what’s next” in the world of whatever it is they’re experts about. When it comes to spirits, one word is increasingly bubbling up to the top: Baijiu. Baijiu is a Chinese distillate of fermented sorghum, though other grains like rice and wheat are sometimes used, depending on where it is…
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