The world's most-consumed liquor is finally cropping up in North American bars

CBC

2 days ago

It's the most-consumed liquor in the world and one of the oldest-known alcoholic beverages. Yet, according to one industry expert, "nobody outside of Asia really knows about it."
Cleman Fung is the manager of Toronto's long-standing Chinese restaurant Hong Shing — home to the city's first baijiu bar. He's determined to help people better understand and appreciate the traditional spirit.
"We're trying to reclaim it as our own and really showcase that, you know, the Chinese culture has its own liquor," he said. "[There's] sake from Japan, soju from Korea…. They've all had their own phase, and I think that it's time for baijiu."
But the crystal-clear beverage has a way of challenging expectations. It's often bottled at around 50 per cent alcohol by volume, said Fung, which explains why it's frequently described as "fire water." And when it comes to its fermentation process and resulting flavours, there's nothing else like it.
"It's almost easier teaching someone about baijiu who doesn't know anything about any other alcoholic spirits," said Alex Black, a baijiu educator and director of bars at chef Matty Matheson's Our House Hospitality Company.
"The first rule of baijiu is to forget everything else you know."
The process behind baijiu's 'fun and funky flavours'
"My elevator pitch for it is: baijiu is an umbrella term for really any distilled spirit that comes out of the area of China," said Black, previously the cocktail director at Vancouver's Laowai, which has one of North America's largest baijiu selections.
He compares the spirit's vastness to the world of whisky in the sense that there are many ingredients, and varying fermentation and aging lengths used. But there is one thing that unites all kinds of baijiu: an ingredient called qu.
Qu is made from grains, typically wheat (known as big qu) or rice (small qu), which are soaked in water and ground into a fine paste. "Essentially [it] is a bomb of bacteria and microorganisms that convert starch to sugars," Black explained. Think of qu like the starter that bakers use to make sourdough.
Once the qu has cultivated yeast and other good bacteria, it's mixed with other grains and water. This starts baijiu's unique fermentation process, where starches are broken down into sugars while, at the same time, those sugars are turned into alcohol.
Before distillation and aging happen, this bacterial process creates all the "weird, fun and funky flavours in baijiu that make it so, so unique on the palate," said Black.
Don't confuse 'aroma' for scent profile
Baijiu is divided into several different "aroma" categories, though they have "absolutely nothing to do with the smell," said Black. Instead, the names often refer to something specific in the production process. "In 'medicine aroma,' for instance, they're using traditional medicinal herbs," he explained.
One of the most popular types of baijiu is known as strong-aroma baijiu, which Fung said will often contain notes of fermented pineapple, melon and other tropical fruit, and have a warm, anise-like finish. These flavours work particularly well in tiki-style cocktails. "A baijiu mai tai with strong aroma is phenomenal every single time," said Black.
Light-aroma baijiu is another popular style that's characterized by its "grainy caramel sweetness," said Fung. "[It's] more herbaceous, I would say. And a little bit more earthy." In premium light-aroma offerings, Black added, you'll even pick up hints of florals or potpourri.
Up for a challenge? While Fung said sauce-aroma baijiu is "not your entry-level style of baijiu," its longer fermentation process makes for some deep, pungent flavours. "Typical descriptions of a sauce-aroma baijiu are earthy mushrooms, 'umami-forward' — more of like a fermented soybean kind of flavour," he said.
This type of baijiu can also have notes of dark chocolate, espresso and even cheese, said Black. "If you want to get weird and, like, jump right in the deep end, that's sauce aroma."
'A form of celebration and respect'
Although there's no written record of the first baijiu, the spirit is surrounded by some colourful origin stories. One tale traces the beverage back to the invention of jiu (around 5000–1000 BC), which was a grain alcohol crafted by court brewers to impress their king.
Another legend centres around Du Kang — an exiled man who lived during the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BC) — who, in a happy accident, left sorghum seeds in a tree, where they mixed with rainwater and fermented into alcohol.
What remains as clear as baijiu is the spirit's deep connection to Chinese culture, history and tradition. "There's always a bottle of baijiu on the table, be it a lunch, be it a dinner, be it a banquet," said Fung. "Basically [it's] kind of a form of celebration and respect, where if I pour you a drink, then you should drink it."
Traditionally, baijiu is taken as a shot from small, half-ounce glasses, said Fung, but he has a suggestion for beginners: "Don't fight the baijiu."
"Take your time with it," he said. He recommends smelling the baijiu first, taking a sip, then smelling it again. "When you do that, it forces you to breathe, and it forces all those astringent, rougher edges of baijiu out, so you can really see and taste the flavours."