What is in the bottle?

Greg81

Maybe someone here will be able to help me identify what is in those bottles. Some time ago both a batch of random bottles and found those among them. Probably from China. Any ideas?

Thanks

1percent

Biajiu, awful stuff altogether, even the good stuff is rank.

irish_goat

I have a mini bottle of the first one. The father-in-law works at a uni and has gotten a few as gifts from Chinese students as well. As above, it's awful stuff.

the beer revolu

It's an acquired taste!

Greg81

Thanks for comments. Maybe will try it.

I can always put it down the drain

1percent

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120116110#Comment_120116110

Makes great paint thiner too

Black Sheep

I don't like Baiju but a premium one I tasted was not THAT bad.

A Chinese friend told me once that tasting it is not the point, he painted a picture of it just bring consumed in round after round of small cups. It's repeated shot drinking.

the beer revolu

It's very Eurocentric and patronising to dismiss another culture's spirit production as "awful, rank, paint thinner", just because you are unfamiliar to the flavour profiles and it isn't to your current taste.

It says more about you than the spirit.

These are not backstreet, cheaply made hooches from inferior ingredients. They are spirits with history and traditions probably older than whiskey. There is also a wide varience of styles and techniques involved in the production. I could go on.....

irish_goat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120118882#Comment_120118882

Don't worry, I slag off plenty of European drinks too. Some of the worst liquid I've ever tasted was various raki from the Balkans.

I get there's a load of history and culture behind these drinks, but whiskey is miles better.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120118903#Comment_120118903

You've doubled down. Great.

I know it's just wording and semantics, but anyone saying x spirit category is better/worse than y spirit category, is in my opinion, just displaying their ignorance.

You may not enjoy tequila, for instance and love whiskey. This does not make whiskey better than tequila or any other spirit. Don't confuse taste preference and familiarity with quality.

In a similar vein, anyone who is passionate about whisk(e)y but absolutely refuses to drink any other spirit is, in my opinion, an expert on nothing much at all.

irish_goat

I'm not claiming to be an expert, and I also drink plenty of other spirits.

You've approached our comments as if we have ruled this stuff out based on it not being European when I'm sure most of us here will drink (and eat) things from all over the world. Black Sheep mentioned a Chinese friend describing it as something not to be tasted, I think that is a damning reflection on its quality.

the beer revolu

Sorry but an Internet anecdotal conversation from a singular, unknown Chinese person, isn't damning at all - in any way.

Ever hear an Irish person spouting utter bollocks about Irish whiskey? I certainly have.

Again, you are doubling down on the fact that you think it is a low quality product compared to whisky.

You could just say that you tried some, and what you tried was not at all to your taste and caveat it with the fact that you know virtually nothing about the category and have tasted few examples.

But it's easier to say whiskey is miles better, I guess.

It's not very informative, though.

irish_goat

Google "how to drink baijiu" and the results are all the same, it's meant to be downed in one.

I think you're arguing quality from a technical point of view, which is really not what anyone else is getting at. All we're saying is, the stuff tastes bad.

the beer revolu

I just think that you use poor language to express your opinions.

You continue to do so by saying, "the stuff tastes bad."

There are many, many different flavour profiles to biajiu. Why would they bother if it was to be necked without tasting?

I know lots of people who insist that tequila is just for knocking as shots with salt and lemon. I know those people to be ignorant about tequila, but it's an extremely popular opinion.

On the one hand you seem to be arguing that it's just language and it's just your opinion that it tastes bad but on the other hand you keep trying to present evidence that your opinion is correct and that biajiu is bad tasting.

You keep try to insist that biajiu is inferior to whiskey - not that you just don't enjoy the taste.

Irish_goat, perhaps my language isn't very clear but you appear to be 100% missing the point I'm trying to make.

Black Sheep

Firstly, I should say I agree anecdotal evidence in arguments on boards.ie should never be given much weight.

I repeated what my friend said only because we're a bunch of Irish guys discussing baiju and actually I do think what he said was largely correct, if admittedly the perspective of a pretty westernised non-baiju drinker.

I'm pretty sure he is correct that it is consumed for the most part in a series of shots - made as rounds of toasts. And actually I also suspect that he's correct that most people in China drinking baiju this way are not savouring it any more than people in Ireland are savouring shots of sambuca in pubs and clubs. It's not so much a comment about the spirit as an observation about the way it's consumed and what the point of the activity is... It's about the toasts, the togetherness, the theatre and not so much what's in the glass.

There definitely are premium brands and I'm sure there are connoisseurs but you get that with almost every product these days. In fact a lot of spirits are tiered, aren't they... The difference between cheap sake and premium sake is pretty large, likewise with tequila.

I'm not coming down on either side of the argument about what is "better" as a spirit. Its a question of cultural approach to drinking more than anything. Is a strong sipping beer better than a relatively tasteless but quaffable lager? For shot drinking the baiju I've had, and indeed most vodka, is perfectly well adapted.

I do think if taste and lingering drinking is the point we can probably all agree that whisky, tequila and rum which can be aged in wood all have potential advantages over spirits which are presented in a younger, less complex manner.

A slight aside, but I had no idea this would be such a cultural landmine, accusations of eurocentrism are pretty spicy for this forum.

the beer revolu

"I do think if taste and lingering drinking is the point we can probably all agree that whisky, tequila and rum which can be aged in wood all have potential advantages over spirits which are presented in younger, less complex manner."

I'm afraid that I don't agree with this statement. It's coming from a point of view that aged spirits are better than unaged spirits. They aren't - they are just different.

For years now, I've complained how there is so little understanding or appreciation of white spirits in this part of the world.

For example, I just last week, purchased a bottle of The Cratur from Baoilleach Distillery. It is un unaged, white spirit. It is an absolute flavour bomb and very, very complex.

The overriding claim that I am making is that one shouldn't dismiss a product when one isn't very informed or experienced on that product.

Or more simply "I don't like it" ≠ "it's not any good" (particularly when you have little knowledge or familiarity of it)

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120120016#Comment_120120016

Meh, I didn't dismiss any product. I offered a view about the potential advantage of wood aging and that's a perfectly valid viewpoint to have.

I never said I didn't like white spirits at all, I think your problem is you are making straw men of what you are reading in this thread.

But to be honest, your larger problem in this thread is one of tone: When you talk about people having 'little understanding or appreciation' you just come across as condescending, which, thankfully, is something we generally avoid here. There's lots of people on this forum who have been involved in spirits as a hobby for many years. It's lazy to assume anyone's lack of familiarity with drinks they might offer a viewpoint on (We're talking about more than baiju at this point).

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120120099#Comment_120120099

I was reacting to people saying it was "awful", "rank", "paint stripper".

This was subsequently doubled down on.

I didn't say you dismissed any product or that you don't like white spirits.

Personally, I know fcuk all about baijiu, therefore I'm not in a position to judge it on its own merits or against any other category. I'm not ashamed of my ignorance. I have tasted a few examples and I found them unfamiliar and challenging in flavour. Very interesting to me and completely unlike any western spirit I've tried.

1percent

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120119397#Comment_120119397

What are your personal thoughts of baijiu? Is it a drink you personaly like?

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120120349#Comment_120120349

I've edited to add to my last post some of this information.

Hodors Appletart

Sad state of affairs when someone is talked down to for stating something they dislike tastes rank, awful or like paint stripper - accused of cultural insensitivity no less.

It's ok not to like stuff from countries with which one is unfamiliar, and it's also ok to tell other people, especially on an internet forum, what you do actually think of those products.

1percent

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120120361#Comment_120120361

I see that now, cool.

So you keep doing you and finding problems on the Internet. Telling people you don't know that you are better than them because they have opinions that they dare express.

I'll keep being me, I'll keep sharing my toughts on things I have personal experience of and keep being happy with my journey of discovery to try and experience new things with no preconceptions.

At first I thought we had a genuine defender of the spirit in question and might have a good hearted and heated debate about the subject and maybe a few recommendations of a good baijiu that would change our open minds. but alas you turn out to be a garden variety basic Internet troll, wanting no more than to get your rocks off talking down others experience.

Bit disappointed to be honnest.

Beanstalk

I really want to try baijiu now. I really need to know what it tastes like lol.

An other interesting perspective on wood aging is that it was traditionally done for brandy and rum etc because the distillate was so rough that the wood helped mellow it a little! I hadn't thought of it this way until a local man who is somewhat familiar with the process of plum brandy and poitin making argued the case that the spirit that he may or may not be familiar with is a much purer spirit (in both taste and palatability) than big brandy and whiskey distillers make today (new make spirit)!

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120120367#Comment_120120367

I don't agree that it's ok to label products a bad quality just because you don't like them. This is what happened here - and when pulled up on it, they tried to justify it as a fact. Words matter.

the beer revolu

I really want to try baijiu now. I really need to know what it tastes like lol.

One of the ones I tasted was a bit like poitín with hints of marmite or soy sauce. The other was more similar to poitín as I remember but with an somewhat different (hard to describe) flavour profile.

irish_goat

I'm not sure where all the resentment is coming from. People come on this forum and express their opinions about drinks all the time and we don't question their credentials or ask to see their sommelier qualification. Don't think there's much point going over it though, majority of us feel like the stuff isn't tasty but in reality, it's up to the OP to taste them and decide for themselves.

On a mod note, no need to call anyone a troll. We're all here to have a good time talking about booze, and maybe even learn something...

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120120658#Comment_120120658

This is a thread that needs to die and be forgotten about now, but... In an effort at eliciting some self reflection - why would you need to "pull up" posters here on the language they use about the drinks they say they like or don't like? If there is doubling down going on, I would respectfully suggest maybe you should ask yourself have you doubled down a bit in this discussion as well.

Look, there's all kinds of takes on whisky that I read here that I think are way off the mark... But I mean, it's a discussion forum! Let people have their say, no one needs to police how someone here describes how they feel about a given drink.

Honestly, it's a recipe for a very dry forum, no pun intended.

Yes words do matter, but a bit of a context is also required - we're not in a setting like a court trial where something really important turns on them... More generally, if someone here says baiju is a rank drink no one is dangerously misleading anyone or personally abusing anyone. I'm pretty sure we've had people say all sorts of things are absolute shite - Tuborg for example, in my most recent memory, someone was relieved it wasn't available on tap more widely. It was actually pretty funny.

the beer revolu

I just like to be respectful towards fermented and distilled beverages whether we are familiar with them or not, and respectful towards those who make them, and those who have a passion for them, and respectful for the history and culture surrounding them.

I apologise if I upset anyone but it just upsets me to see a whole spirit category dismissed because someone tasted an example of two of it and they didn't like it. Without any reference to brand or quality, a whole category of spirit was dismissed and people went on to defend this was justified because whatever..

It upset me and I reacted on a forum for discussing beers wines and spirits.

I'd react the exact same way if someone said something like, "Chilean wine is Rubbish". Or French wine, or whatever.

kuang1

So this would have all been avoided if everyone had said "in my opinion" before saying what they had to say.

It's a discussion forum my friend. The "imo" part is automatic.

I'm a semant myself. Words and their correct use is something that does matter imo.

However if someone on a discussion forum said "Chilean wine is rubbish", I'm pretty certain I would take that as an opinion rather than fact, without any necessity of clarification from that individual.

I believe you believe you're making a valid argument, but it's very badly misplaced.

Imo.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120120546#Comment_120120546

I've seen Maotai, which is a type/brand of baijiu advertised in the windows of a couple of off licences. Had thought maybe there would be tastings, but asked and none were planned.

They had a stall at Whiskey Live last year, so I tried it. I didn't like it, but am glad I tried it.

Twee.

Moutai do the odd tasting in Celtic Whiskey Shop & Asia Market. They post them here https://www.instagram.com/moutai_ireland/ They'd be more active around Chinese celebrations. Asia market has some cheaper priced brands as well. I've only had it the once, very strong stuff but was pleasantly surprised by the taste after I'd heard so much about it being rank!