# The most popular hard liquor in the world and I had never heard of it - "Baijiu" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-popular-hard-liquor-in-the-world-and-i-had-never-heard-of-it-baijiu/696400 "2014-08-24T19:36:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-popular-hard-liquor-in-the-world-and-i-had-never-heard-of-it-baijiu/696400/1 "2014-08-24T19:36:22Z")
Anyone here tried it? What did you think? [The Most Powerful Liquor in the World](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/24/the-most-powerful-liquor-in-the-world.html) > [@](#): > > President Nixon and Premier Zhou took a shot during the pivotal China trip, business deals hinge on it, and billions of cases are imbibed each year. Baijiu is China’s favorite spirit. > [@](#): > > The extremely labor intensive, artisanal production process involves fermenting a mixture of grains in brick, mud, or clay, and distilling a small batch multiple times. No other spirit is fermented more than once. Each distillery closely guards its particular strain of qu, which is incredibly sensitive to its environment, making each brand of baijiu taste different depending on its terroir. Baijiu is aged in clay for up to 30 years and blended with other batches aged for different lengths of time, but made by the same distillery. The resulting liquor is 100 proof-plus. > > “The process is very specific to baijiu. We cannot really compare to any other production method of spirits in the world,” says Manny Burnichon, president and CEO of Private Cask Imports. “Everything is done by hand.” > > Because of this, baijiu production requires a slew of well-trained employees, whereas American distilleries might be able to get by with just a few. Baijiu producers are treated like valued artisans in China. In addition, the majority of baijiu brands are owned by local and municipal governments, so citizens maintain a lot of pride for their hometown hooch. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-popular-hard-liquor-in-the-world-and-i-had-never-heard-of-it-baijiu/696400/2 "2014-08-24T19:57:59Z")
Baijju (bai = white, jiu = alcohol) isn’t so much a liquor as it is a liquid tool for masochists that gets people drunk as a side effect. It’s gross, and the Chinese insist on drinking it straight so you can’t even mask it with cranberry cocktail. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-popular-hard-liquor-in-the-world-and-i-had-never-heard-of-it-baijiu/696400/3 "2014-08-24T20:00:57Z")
I’m wondering at their terminology… “100 proof-plus” is far from the strongest liquor out there; Polish White Lightning vodka is near 200 proof, and Everclear is 200 proof, which is as strong as it can get. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-popular-hard-liquor-in-the-world-and-i-had-never-heard-of-it-baijiu/696400/4 "2014-08-24T20:03:23Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I’m wondering at their terminology… “100 proof-plus” is far from the strongest liquor out there; Polish White Lightning vodka is near 200 proof, and Everclear is 200 proof, which is as strong as it can get. It’s hyperbole. Or maybe self delusion. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-popular-hard-liquor-in-the-world-and-i-had-never-heard-of-it-baijiu/696400/5 "2014-08-24T20:07:25Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Polish White Lightning vodka is near 200 proof, and Everclear is 200 proof, which is as strong as it can get. Nitpick: Everclear is actually 190 proof. 95.6% alcohol is the highest you can get through conventional distillation processes. Each progressive distillation of the mash removes less and less water, and at 95.6% alcohol, the mixture becomes an azeotrope. But yeah, “100 proof plus” isn’t that much; I have Wild Turkey in my cabinet right now that’s 101. Must be terminology disconnect. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-popular-hard-liquor-in-the-world-and-i-had-never-heard-of-it-baijiu/696400/6 "2014-08-24T20:22:43Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > Nitpick: Everclear is actually 190 proof. 95.6% alcohol is the highest you can get through conventional distillation processes. Each progressive distillation of the mash removes less and less water, and at 95.6% alcohol, the mixture becomes an azeotrope. > > But yeah, “100 proof plus” isn’t that much; I have Wild Turkey in my cabinet right now that’s 101. Must be terminology disconnect. 😕 Yeah, and Polish Spirytus (which is what I assume White Lightning is; I’ve never heard it named as such) is labeled at 190-192 proof, depending on the brand. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-popular-hard-liquor-in-the-world-and-i-had-never-heard-of-it-baijiu/696400/7 "2014-08-24T22:10:13Z")
[Oh, we’ve discussed it before.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=692373) I’ve had a $200 bottle in Tianjin and have also had the uber-cheap stuff. It’s a hangover in a glass and also blackout material. I will never touch it again. [Here is our “blackout drunk” thread and I’ll quote what I said](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=629878). The stuff I had that night was 156 proof. > [@Blacked-out drunk: How realistic?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacked-out-drunk-how-realistic/601518/6): > > Once in my entire life and I promised to my wife to never drink hard-alcohol again. > > I drank Baijiu, a white alcohol common in China. It was 78% pure(156 Proof) and I had intended only to take a sip. The Chinese men at the table I was toasting, though, insisted I drink the entire glass. Then another. > > Only time in my life I actually lived about 30-40 minutes of my life and completely forgot about it. Didn’t do anything horribly embarrassing, but my wife was mad. And good for her, honestly. > > I haven’t touched anything stronger than beer in years. Well, I’ve had about 1 glass of wine a year, but that’s no exaggeration. > > That Baijiu stuff, though. Avoid it like the plague. Note: I probably lost more like 90 minutes to 2 hours of my life in that blackout drinking binge. Worst drinking incident of my life. :shudder: ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-popular-hard-liquor-in-the-world-and-i-had-never-heard-of-it-baijiu/696400/8 "2014-08-24T22:47:57Z")
There are cask strength whiskeys that hit 140 proof. Most whiskey is diluted, considerably, to bottling strength. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-popular-hard-liquor-in-the-world-and-i-had-never-heard-of-it-baijiu/696400/9 "2014-08-25T01:06:23Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > There are cask strength whiskeys that hit 140 proof. Most whiskey is diluted, considerably, to bottling strength. And if it isn’t already diluted, I tend to water them to somewhere between 40-45% ABV. I want to taste the whiskey, not the death of my buccal epithelium. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-popular-hard-liquor-in-the-world-and-i-had-never-heard-of-it-baijiu/696400/10 "2014-08-25T03:42:39Z")
I like the hard hit of a good 100 proof like Knob Creek. It’s always a nice moment of consideration whether to drink it straight or with a mellowing drop. 🙂