A two month old baby was fed a milk formula mixed with baijiu after the mother mistook it for water. The baby had drank around ten ml of the formula when the parents realised there was a strong smell of alcohol coming from the bottle.
When rushed to hospital for emergency treatment, the infant was unconscious in the mothers arms
The doctors explained that the effects on the gastrointestinal tract and liver could be acute and should be treated immediately.
Truly enjoying baijiu is an artform. This is why China is host to unofficial ‘training centres’, in which seasoned baijiu enthusiasts which teach younger citizens how to drink – and toast with – the spirit. This is considered a critical part of Chinese culture, as baijiu is so often used to cement business deals and boost interpersonal relationships with state figures.
Sadly, many people will now need to look elsewhere for this education. The Shandong province has been cracking down on this practice. 67 different businesses have been punished for illegal practices and forced to shut down. Among these are eight drinking centres.
Sorry, students of China. You will need to find alternative teachers on the art of consuming this celebrated spirit.
Acts of corruption of those in positions of power are always concerning. A television documentary recently broadcast on China Central Television has recently exposed such misbehavior, including a banker hoarding cash in a secret vault.
Not all corruption involves direct financial incentives, however. In an act that hurts us to the very core of our souls, the latest episode exposed a government official pouring precious baijiu down a drain. This action is always objectionable, but when we consider that this was antique Moutai, it’s even more troubling.
Moutai is often described as China’s national liquor. As we know, baijiu plays a prominent role in social and business functions in the country, including affairs of state diplomacy. Cases of baijiu are served at formal banquets, and often presented to foreign dignitaries as gifts. This means that Moutai is often regarded as a collectible item. Sadly, where there is rarity there is money to be made – and where there is money to be made, people will act inappropriately.
Baijiu is famously the national drink of China. While it is growing in popularity elsewhere, it’s a surprising location that has shown an interest in growing a new baijiu line. The Eimverk Distillery – based in Reykjavik, Iceland – has created two new baijiu brands.
It’s easy to identify these baijiu, as the Eimverk Distillery is not messing around with any confusing monikers. The first, simply named Red Label Baijiu, is the closer of the two to the traditional Chinese liquor. It’s created using mashed barley – all grown in Iceland, naturally – and triple-distilled in pots on a farm. The alcohol volume of this baijiu will be 53%, and the taste is described as barley-centric with grassy overtones and an aftertaste of spice.
Baijiu may be yet to make real inroads into the western world, but Harrods is a British institution. Fenjiu, the baijiu producer distillery in Shanxi, appear to be fully aware of this. This is why they have teamed with Harrods for a month-long campaign. To celebrate Chinese New Year, the distillery and department store have teamed up to offer afternoon tea – Chinese-style.
Now, don’t panic. We are not playing fast and loose with the terminology ‘afternoon tea’ here. Tea is indeed served, alongside traditional Chinese snacks to nibble on. These include The Mandarin (mahjong blocks that contain Mandarin-flavoured mousse as a compote centre) and Mahjong (gunpowder tea that contains a lime-based ganache.)
When enjoying a barbecue on a sun-kissed Australian beach, many of us picture our Antipodean friends washing down their steaks and shrimp with a can of Fosters. The East Coast distillery of Brisbane is branching out though, creating a new baijiu dubbed Kaoliang.
The chief distiller of East Coast, James Mylne, has a history of creating spirits in Taiwan. While his experience was previously limited to vodka and gin, Mylne is now broadening his repertoire with a light-fragrance baijiu. Kaoliang is created from native red sorghum, while the qu is imported. The ingredients are then aged in oak wine barrels.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
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.