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Baijiu Meets Binary: Why Moutai is Investing in Semiconductors

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29 pointsjugurtha65619 comments

When the male relatives tried to drink me under the table / waterboard me with baijiu (some brand with a hologram authenticity sticker) the first time I went to Harbin and met the family of my then university girlfriend (later married) and instead it just took care of this strange shivering thing that had started happening to me, and THEY needed to be dragged home unconscious, I should have realized then and there I was an alcoholic instead of being so proud I “passed the test”.

I've got some Moutai Prince, it tastes pretty unusual to me I guess it is umami-ish. Anyone got any recommendations for other Baijiu?

Also interested in recs.

The only comments I'd heard about baijiu before actually trying it were in the vein of the rather hyperbolic sibling comment that compares it to cow feces. I was surprised to find the particular baijiu I tried more like a very herbal whisky.

Maybe people hating on baijiu just haven't tried many hard liquors? At its worst, peaty scotch could be compared to, well, peat (which is decaying vegetation), and mezcal could be compared to burnt plants. But both can taste great.

Interesting re. herbal whisky, do you recall which baijiu you've had?

Re. scotch whisky I've heard people referring to laphroaig as smelling of TCP. (I really enjoy peated whisky/smoked beers - I need to try mezcal don't think I've had any before).

I've had baiju that's more herbal before as well. generally good baiju should smell floral.

The big problem with Baiju is that most people, at least in the US, are trying the equivalent of Smirnoff / cooking grade stuff because it's cheaply sold at asian marts.

Fen Chiew (https://www.totalwine.com/spirits/baijiu/xinghuacun-fen-chie...) is decent stuff that I've bought at a Total Wine in Socal. You can also go to somewhere like a Ranch 99 and look for a mid tier bottle. Whatever you do don't get the "Red Star" brand (google for pics), it's bottom of the barrel stuff, the "Popov Vodka" of Baiju as a rough analogy :)

As is true for many hard alcohols, you typically get what you pay for when it comes to Baijiu. Moutai Prince is terrible compared to Moutai but the difference is not in the immediate flavor. It’s mostly in the after taste.

Baijiu has many different taste categories. Moutai and the like are known as “Jiang Xiang” which roughly translates to Soy flavor. That’s the umami you’re referring to and it’s an acquired taste.

I find Wuliangye to be more approachable to beginners because it sits in the “Nong Xiang” category and tastes more floral. It’s not cheap but that’s where I recommend newer Baijiu drinkers to start.

Thanks, that's interesting about the difference being in the aftertaste between Prince and Moutai. Will see if I can find a bar selling the Wuliangye one.

Do you drink wine? The best analogy for the difference between Moutai vs Moutai Prince is the difference between a $100+ bottle of fruit forward Napa Cab vs a supermarket red that tastes like it had sugar injected into it. A beginner might call both a “sweet” wine, but the depth of the flavor is night and day for anyone who’s had any experience. Or the difference between a structured Bordeaux vs an astringent mess of a red blend. Both would taste acidic to a new wine drinker.

The expensive vs cheap baijius are the same way. Try some Wuliangye or Fenjiu for a couple of different taste categories to see what you like. Avoid the cheap stuff as your subconscious will tell you it’s terrible even if you’re not tasting the difference upfront.

All Baijou taste like what a barn with uncleaned cow dung in it smells like.

0/10 would not recommend.

Just opening a bottle and letting the stench float around the apartment is a good way to make guests leave pretty quickly :D

First time I tasted scotch I thought it tasted smoked mud. I was making faces.

God I love whisky, and french cheese, and red wine, and oysters.

I’ve “enjoyed” multiple bottles of the stuff with a group of friends.

We all agree on the taste, as do everyone who we have convinced to taste it.

If it was an acquired taste I would’ve acquired it already =)

so is everyone who likes it just wrong? or what?

Just weird.

It really does smell like cow dung and tastes like it too. Are my taste buds somehow misaligned?

it doesnt smell or taste like that to me at all

Must be a Coriander/Cilantro -thing, some people smell it differently

Asianometry video on Moutai, I recall it being quite informative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnOIKAEDv9I&vl=en-US

Baijiu latte, thats quite the concept. I wonder if it’s baijiu flavored syrup or the real deal.

Likely syrup. A lot of Chinese coffee shops offer flavored syrups in coffee, sometimes with creative stuff like bits of dried orange or freshly pulped apricot, so this fits in pretty well with existing offerings.

Good Baiju tends to have a mildly floral taste. I tried the Moutai ice cream about 2 years ago, it tasted like vanilla with mildly floral notes from what I recall. It was fun to try for the brandname but I couldn't see myself getting it normally (for ref: I am a chocolate w/ crunchies kind of ice cream person)

I'm pretty sure it's syrup. The article says "The alcohol content is under 0.5%" so by my estimate says that'd be a very tiny amount of the real thing (but for the price being ~20 RMB based on the other numbers in the article, you can't expect much).

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