Baijiu

Baijiu
A glass and bottle of “Jiugui” (酒鬼) brand baijiu
TypeDistilled beverage
Country of origin China
Region of originEast Asia
Alcohol by volume 35–65%
Proof (US)56–130
ColorClear
Variantslight aroma, strong aroma, sauce aroma, rice aroma, phoenix aroma, mixed aroma, chi aroma, sesame aroma, medicine aroma, extra-strong aroma, special aroma, laobaigan, small qu baijiu
Related productsshōchū, soju, huangjiu, mijiu, sake
Baijiu
Chinese白酒
Literal meaning"white (clear) liquor"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinbáijiǔ
Wade–Gilespai2-chiu3
IPA[pǎɪ.tɕjòʊ]
Wu
Romanizationbaq cieu
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanizationbaahk-jáu
JyutpingBaak6 Zau2
IPA[pak̚˨.tsɐw˧˥]
Alternative Chinese name
Simplified Chinese烧酒
Traditional Chinese燒酒
Literal meaningto heat (distilled) liquor
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyinshāojiǔ
Wu
Romanizationsau-cieu
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingSiu1 Zau2
Southern Min
Tâi-lôsio-tsiú

Baijiu (Chinese: 白酒; pinyin: báijiǔ; lit. 'white (clear) liquor'), or shaojiu (simplified Chinese: 烧酒; traditional Chinese: 燒酒; pinyin: shāojiǔ; lit. 'burning liquor'), is a colorless Chinese liquor typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV).[1][2] Each type of baijiu uses its own type of for fermentation to create a distinct and characteristic flavor profile.

Baijiu is a clear liquid usually distilled from fermented sorghum, although other grains may be used; some southeastern Chinese styles may employ rice and glutinous rice while other Chinese varieties may use wheat, barley, millet, or Job's tears (Chinese: 薏苡; pinyin: yìyǐ) in their mash bills. The starter culture used in the production of baijiu is usually made from pulverized wheat grain or steamed rice.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

Because of its clarity, baijiu can appear similar to several other East Asian liquors, e.g. Japanese shōchū (25%) or Korean soju (20–45%), but it often has a significantly higher alcohol content (35–60%).

  1. ^ "A Guide to Chinese Alcohol". Lost Laowai:China expat.
  2. ^ "The World's Most Consumed Alcohol Is One You Might Not Have Tried. But It's Coming to a Bar Near You". Time.
  3. ^ Zheng, Xiao-Wei; et al. (2011). "Daqu—A traditional Chinese liquor fermentation starter". Journal of the Institute of Brewing. 117 (1): 82–90. doi:10.1002/j.2050-0416.2011.tb00447.x.
  4. ^ Rong and Fa, Grandiose Survey of Chinese Alcoholic Drinks and Beverages, 2013, "Grandiose Survey of Chinese Alcoholic Drinks and Beverages". Archived from the original on July 29, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  5. ^ Xiaoqing Mu et al. Solid-State Fermented Alcoholic Beverages, in Chen, Jian, and Yang Zhu, eds. Solid State Fermentation for Foods and Beverages. CRC Press, 2013.
  6. ^ Wang, H-Y.; et al. (2011). "Characterization and comparison of microbial community of different typical Chinese liquor Daqus by PCR–DGGE". Letters in Applied Microbiology. 53 (2): 134–140. doi:10.1111/j.1472-765x.2011.03076.x. PMID 21554340.
  7. ^ Zheng, Xiao-Wei, et al. "Complex microbiota of a Chinese " Fen" liquor fermentation starter ( Fen- Daqu), revealed by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods." Food microbiology 31.2 (2012): 293–300.
  8. ^ Xiong, X.; et al. (2014). "PCR-DGGE Analysis of the Microbial Communities in Three Different Chinese" Baiyunbian" Liquor Fermentation Starters". Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology. 24 (8): 1088–95. doi:10.4014/jmb.1401.01043. PMID 24809292.
  9. ^ Liu, Huilin; Sun, Baoguo (2018). "Effect of Fermentation Processing on the Flavor of Baijiu". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 66 (22): 5425–5432. doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.8b00692. PMID 29751730.