Baijiu Blog

For thousands of years, alcohol has played a part in the Chinese way of life. From farmers to politicians and from Emperors to paupers, alcohol has touched all parts of Chinese life. It has caused wars and brought about peace, it has inspired poets and artists. It is a way of life, ingrained into Chinese lore and it runs through their veins.

1) Has anyone heard of of baijiu?

Simply put, it is a Chinese white spirit, pronounced “by Joe” but by my opening lines you can see it goes much deeper than that, which you will find out more when reading Baijiu Blog, but first a few facts,

2) What is the biggest selling spirit in the world?

It is baijiu, with over 17 billion litres of the drink produced each year, this means that baijiu accounts for over two thirds of the world’s production of spirit.

The word baijiu was derived from the word bai meaning transparent and jiu meaning alcoholic drink. Also known as samshu, baigan. In imperial China it was called shaojiu or burnt wine.

Read moreTen Things You Did Not Know About Baijiu

There has been a recent revival in cocktails, old recipes have resurfaced and new ones have appeared along side of them. To the professional bar person a cocktail is a short drink of 3-4 fl oz. Anything larger would be called a mixed drink. Mixed drinks, both hot and cold, have been on the scene for hundreds of years, but the original cocktail had its beginnings in the prohibition era in the U.S.A.

They were designed to create something drinkable from the mishmash of inferior liquors that were available, but the idea was soon taken up by those who had access to good quality liquor.

When the ban was lifted in 1933 and the standards of liquor improved many of the early cocktails were refined and more created, then the cocktail boom began.

Read moreBaijiu Cocktails – Best Baijiu Cocktail Bar Guide

The shares for Jiugui liquor have rebounded, after the Chinese baijiu distillers products were found not to contain excessive amounts of sodium cydamate, a cancer causing artificial sweetner, a claim made by a distributor.

Jiugui’s stock price (SHE:000799) climbed 3.1 percent to CNY35.47 (USD 5.07) this morning. The shares had tumbled by 10 percent on December the 23rd after a distributor said that a batch made in 2012 contained too much hazardous additives.

Read moreJiugui Baijiu – Safe Levels Of Sodium Cydamate Shares Jump

A new international spirit research body, backed by China has been founded in London.

The International Research Centre for Spirits (IRCS) based in the British capitol, is part of a drive to develop the profile of Baijiu worldwide.

Read moreThe International Research Centre for Spirits (IRCS)

Another traveler was faced with a tough decision at a train station in China after a security check found her bottle of baijiu.

The woman, like many others in the past, decided to drink the bottle of liquor instead of letting it get thrown away. Then smiling walked past security at the railway station in the Hunan city of Huaihai on Wednesday.

Read moreChinese Woman Necks Full Bottle Of Baijiu To Avoid Confiscation & Pays The Price

Baijiu is the most popular drink in China, but it remains a well-kept secret in most western nations. Industry officials have advised traders from China to look into changing this, and to expand their customer base into international territories.

The primary concern of the liquor industry in China is how import figures are vastly outnumbering exports. It’s believed that, throughout 2018, China imported around 83 million litres of liquor. That was a climb of some 13% from the previous year. The price tag attached to these imports was almost $1.5 billion, which was almost 25% higher than 2017.

Read morePopular Baijiu Brands Encouraged to Promote Their Brands Overseas

On October the twenty ninth the Zhongshan public service bureau made an announcement that the local police arrested six suspects involved with a fake alcohol operation that amassed RMB17 million in the Guangdong prefecture-level city. According to the Southern Daily, the Zhongshan authorities have been investigating the syndicate since June, along with the Wu Gui Shan sub-bureau assigning a special investigation team to handle the case.

Read moreRMB 17 Million Fake Alcohol Arrests

In total forty-seven suspects have been arrested over a sham Moutai and Wuliangye baijiu scam, Thirty staff members from local bars and hotels were also involved. Said Shanghai police.

The hotel and bar workers collected empty baijiu bottles from their customers and passed them on to the other gang members who refilled them with cheap, inferior liquor. If the baijiu the gang had sold had been genuine it is estimated it would have been worth over sixty million yuan or eight point five million U.S. Dollars.

Read moreHuge Fake Baijiu Scam Busted

A lawyer has filed a lawsuit accusing the Chinese distiller Kweichow Moutai for what he alleges are false claims against the vintage baijiu he purchased.

Mr Xing is demanding financial compensation after he discovered that two bottles of baijiu he bought contained a base liquor blended with aged spirit. At the time of purchase, he was under the impression that it was a vintage product.

Read moreMoutai To Be Sued Over ‘False Advertising’

Most people enjoy a nice cuppa, so I have put together the cuppa with a difference, just a few recipes to get you started in exploring this famous brew and make it more exiting just by using your imagination. So here I have brought together two of Chinas favourite sons. Tea and V.I.P Jiu. 8 Baijiu

Many people are surprised to learn that all teas, yellow, white, green, Oolong, black and pu-er are all made from the leaves of the same species of plant. Also there are hundreds of different brands for each category. While there are variety’s of the Camellia Sinensis plant, the weather conditions and the soil contribute in the final tasting of the tea, but the significant differences of tea type is developed in the drying of the leaves.

Teas can be scented with fresh or dried flowers such as jasmine or rose or flavoured with citrus fruits and herbs such as mint. Or simply a drop or two of flavoured essences. Herbal teas are not really a tea but an infusion of dried herbs. While all true teas contain caffeine, herbal teas do not. The history of herbs and spices are far more ancient than that of tea.

These recipes are a guide only, use your own discretion, for example if I use sugar and you don’t take sugar then simply alter to your taste. Also I am using the two mug method of making tea from leaf, place the desired amount of loose tea into one mug, pour over freshly boiled water, let it steep for a minute, strain into the second mug which contains the other ingredients and there you have your brew.

Read moreTea Infused Recipes With V.I.P Jiu 8: Baijiu Alcohol