Question 1

What are the baijiu aroma types?

Accepted Answer

Baijiu is classified by aroma type (香型). China recognises twelve, but four are considered fundamental, and the others derive from them: strong aroma (浓香), sauce aroma (酱香), light aroma (清香) and rice aroma (米香). Each is linked to a region, a production method and a signature producer: strong aroma to Sichuan and Luzhou Laojiao, sauce aroma to Guizhou and Moutai, light aroma to Shanxi and Fenjiu, rice aroma to Guangxi and Guilin Sanhua.

Question 2

Which type of baijiu is the most popular?

Accepted Answer

Strong aroma (浓香), born in Sichuan, is by far the most popular style in China, accounting for 60–70% of the baijiu industry's sales. Its rich, fruity character comes from fermentation in mud-lined pits, some of which have been in continuous use for centuries.

Question 3

Which baijiu should I try first?

Accepted Answer

Light aroma (清香) and rice aroma (米香) baijiu are the easiest for newcomers. Light aroma, the style of Fenjiu, is clean, dry and floral, and works well in cocktails. Rice aroma, the style of Guilin Sanhua, is made from rice and is soft, mild and gently sweet. Sauce aroma, the style of Moutai, is the most complex and the most challenging for beginners.

Question 4

What is qu?

Accepted Answer

Qu (曲) is the fermentation starter used to make baijiu and Chinese rice wine. It is made by growing moulds, yeasts and bacteria on grain, and it does two jobs at once: it turns the grain's starch into sugar and the sugar into alcohol. Northern baijiu uses daqu ('big qu'), made in large blocks, usually from wheat; southern spirits and rice wines often use xiaoqu ('small qu'), made from rice. The type of qu is one of the main reasons why baijiu styles taste so different.

Question 5

Is Moutai a brand or a place?

Accepted Answer

Both. Maotai (茅台) is a town in Renhuai, Guizhou, on the Chishui River, and the home of sauce aroma baijiu. Kweichow Moutai is the most famous company there, formed from 1951 by merging the town's three historic distilleries. But it is not the only producer: many other distilleries in and around Maotai town also make sauce aroma baijiu.

Question 6

What does the 12987 method mean?

Accepted Answer

12987 is the shorthand for the production cycle of sauce aroma baijiu, the style of Moutai: one year of production, two additions of grain, nine steamings, eight fermentations and seven distillations. Each distillation gives a spirit of different character; the batches are aged separately for years and then blended. It is the longest and most laborious process of any baijiu.

Question 7

Why do people smell an empty baijiu glass?

Accepted Answer

In sauce aroma baijiu, one of the signs of quality is 空杯留香, 'fragrance in the empty cup': long after the glass has been emptied, its aroma remains. Connoisseurs smell the empty glass to judge the spirit.

Question 8

Why are old fermentation pits so important in baijiu?

Accepted Answer

In strong aroma baijiu, the grain ferments in pits dug into the earth and lined with mud. Over years of use, the mud fills with microbes that create the spirit's rich, fruity aroma, so the older the pit, the better the baijiu is believed to be. A pit must be used continuously for at least thirty years to be considered mature. Luzhou Laojiao still uses pits dug in 1573, declared a national cultural relic in 1996.

Question 9

What is baijiu?

Accepted Answer

Baijiu (白酒) is China's national spirit, a clear spirit distilled mainly from sorghum using a wild fermentation starter called qu and solid-state fermentation.

Question 10

How strong is baijiu?

Accepted Answer

Most bottles are between about 40% and 60% alcohol, and many classic brands are above 50%. That is why it is served in tiny glasses.

Question 11

What does baijiu taste like?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the aroma type: sauce aroma is savoury and deep, strong aroma fruity and rich, light aroma clean and floral, rice aroma soft and honeyed.

Question 12

What is the most famous baijiu?

Accepted Answer

Moutai, a sauce aroma baijiu from Maotai town in Guizhou, is China's most famous spirit. Wuliangye and Luzhou Laojiao are other great names.

Question 13

How do you drink baijiu?

Accepted Answer

Traditionally neat, at room temperature, in small glasses, with food and with a toast. It is also increasingly used in cocktails.

Question 14

Where can I buy baijiu in Europe?

Accepted Answer

In specialist spirits shops and some department stores, especially in the UK, and in Asian supermarkets in large cities.

Question 15

Is baijiu the same as rice wine?

Accepted Answer

No. Baijiu is a distilled spirit, usually made from sorghum. Rice wine (黄酒, huangjiu) is a fermented drink made from rice, much lower in alcohol.

Styles

Production

Culture

Baijiu

Styles

What are the baijiu aroma types?+

Which type of baijiu is the most popular?+

Which baijiu should I try first?+

Production

What is qu?+

What does the 12987 method mean?+

Why are old fermentation pits so important in baijiu?+

Culture

Is Moutai a brand or a place?+

Why do people smell an empty baijiu glass?+

Baijiu

What is baijiu?+

How strong is baijiu?+

What does baijiu taste like?+

What is the most famous baijiu?+

How do you drink baijiu?+

Where can I buy baijiu in Europe?+

Is baijiu the same as rice wine?+