Chinese vodka 52 degrees. What to Expect When Drinking in China: A Guide to Chinese Alcohol. When did alcohol appear in China?

Maotai is the highest quality Chinese vodka. It was this rice vodka from Guizhou province that Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai preferred.

Now you do not need to travel to China to try this drink, in any self-respecting wine and vodka boutique you can buy a bottle of another diplomatic drink and arrange a real government banquet at home.

Nowadays, Maotai is practically a mandatory drink at official government banquets taking place in Beijing, as well as at many famous presentations abroad. According to the producers, this vodka is the national and "diplomatic" drink of China.

In addition, Maotai is listed as a gift to Chinese embassies in foreign countries. The price of a drink is high as a result of high demand and a small supply market. So it is necessary to show respect for this drink and follow the traditions in its use.

Vodka "Maotai" has more than 2000 years of history. According to the “Shiji” chronicle compiled by the historian Sima Qian (Han Dynasty), in 135 BC, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty Wudi paid a visit to Yelan Principality, where he was treated to local Guojiang vodka.

He really liked the drink, and later it became the prototype of the modern Maotai vodka. The name "Maotai" appeared in 1704, and by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the productivity of Maotai vodka factories was more than 170 tons.

In 1915, the three largest vodka producers in Maotai County jointly presented their unique product at the Pacific International Fair. By negligence, several bottles of vodka were broken. The spreading aroma captivated the visitors so much that the drink was awarded the highest prize.

In 1951, the three largest factories were merged into a single state distillery "Maotai". From this began the modern history of the production of famous vodka.

As Ji Keliang said, on the eve of the formation of the PRC, on the day the official name of the country was determined, the young state's prime minister Zhou Enlai treated the guests to Maotai vodka at a banquet in honor of the members of the Political Consultative Council.

The symbol of Maotai is a huge red bottle - an analogue of those vessels into which Maotai is poured.

This monument, as high as a four-story house, is equipped with an elevator and an observation deck for everyone to get acquainted with the sight. The town of Maotai itself is located high in the mountains. A “serpentine” leads to it along the beautiful and clean Chishuihe River.

In the city, the air is saturated with wine vapors. Of the 7,000 inhabitants of the town, about half are employed in the production of the famous vodka. In 1915, Maotai was awarded a gold medal at a fair in Panama and dozens more prizes of international and national dignity at fairs in other countries.

Until the end of the 90s of the last century, Maotai vodka received 14 international gold medals in a row. This drink has become a traditional export product and is imported to 100 countries around the world.

The production process of Maotai is rather unusual. The drink is distilled 8 times and produced according to a special technology, all stages of which are carefully observed. Maotai is made from sorghum and is a type of kaoliang. Kaoliang - sorghum wine, sorghum liquor.

The first stage of making this vodka lasts 8-9 months: raw materials (grain) are added to the fermentation boilers twice, it ferments for a month, then the distillation process follows, and this is repeated 8 times. Vodka is stored in the cellar for more than 3 years, after which the manufacturing process continues and the vodka is stored for another 1 year.

This whole complex production process, which takes about 5 years in total, affects the quality of vodka, Maotai becomes more harmonious, refined, the taste is soft and unforgettable. Vodka is slightly yellowish in color, thick in texture, its taste is elegant, subtle and pleasant. The strength of the drink is 35-53%.

Since ancient times, Maotai has been a favorite drink of poets and people of other creative professions. It is believed that many of the geniuses of China drew their strength from Maotai.

They drink maotai from small porcelain or jade glasses or bowls. The speaking toast should raise the glass with his right hand, and with his left - hold it by the bottom. After the toast, it is pronounced - "Ganbei" - this is an exclamation close to our "drink to the bottom."

An interesting observation - with a woman, men are simply obliged to drink to the bottom. If they are in a purely male company, they may not be in a hurry.

The drink is served with a special set of snacks - Chinese spicy dishes. The Chinese, accustomed to such a strength and smell, can afford to enjoy maotai, slowly sipping it from a glass.

This, they believe, is the most correct and surest way to use it. Perhaps this resistance to strong drinks is formed due to the traditions of spicy food. Although the Chinese can drink maotai without eating it at all.

Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health!

If you have never been to China, and in general, are familiar with the culture of this country only from old films with Jackie Chan, you will clearly find it difficult to answer the question - what kind of alcohol do they drink in China?

In fact, in terms of alcoholic beverages, China is not far behind other countries. There are also a huge number of beers (pi-jiu), and different strengths of wine (for example, shaoxing-jiu and putao-jiu). There is also vodka in China. And just about it we will tell in this article.

Ergotu and Maotai.

These drinks are analogues of our vodka. Ergot made from sorghum or corn, the different varieties of this drink vary greatly in quality, strength and price, but they are not too expensive. They have a very pungent odor. Recently, ergota (especially varieties made from sorghum) have become popular in other countries - for its good value for money and sweet aftertaste.

Maotai- This is rice vodka of a yellowish hue, with a very characteristic smell. The strength of the drink is 35 - 58 degrees. The process of its preparation is long and complicated: it is subjected to eight (!) distillations with additional fermentation in between, and then aged for several more years. All this affects both the production volumes of Maotai and the price: the former are rather small, but the latter are not affordable for everyone. Not surprisingly, this drink (whose history, by the way, has about two thousand years), is the most popular among the country's top leadership. Mao Zedong himself drank Maotai, and he could choose. At banquets, in honor of representatives of other countries, foreign guests are always treated to this vodka.

How to drink Chinese vodka?

Traditions in the Celestial Empire are honored and respected, but in the conditions of our country there is not much point in thoroughly observing Chinese rituals when drinking alcohol. But if you want to make drinking a rare bottle brought from abroad as it should be, then here are a few simple rules.

• Small, porcelain or jade bowls are the dishes from which the Chinese prefer to drink strong alcohol.
• Glasses should not be empty. Drank - immediately poured. But you can drink a second time only after the next toast.
• It is customary to hold the bowl with the right hand, supporting the bottom with the left.
• After each toast, they say "Gan bei" (to the bottom). Moreover, if drinking vodka takes place in the presence of women, men always drink to the bottom, but if the company is purely male, this rule can not be followed.

What to eat Chinese vodka?

Given the pungent smell of ergotu and maotai, traditional, very spicy Chinese dishes serve as an appetizer for them. Although, it should be noted that some Chinese consider the only correct way to consume maotai, slowly sipping a drink from a glass without any snack.

Kerosene flavored vodka breaks records for foreign investment in China. Fortified wine maker Maotai has already become the world's most expensive alcoholic brand. Last year alone, the company's profit exceeded $5 billion. Its shares are traded on stock exchanges, and demand on the alcohol market exceeds supply. What is the secret of the economic success of the brand and why is the “little white” from the Celestial Empire called the “vodka of diplomats”

World leaders drank it: Mao Zedong, Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, and even Vladimir Putin praised it. Elite Chinese vodka "Maotai" is recognized as the most expensive brand in the world among spirits. Alcohol from the Middle Kingdom has a specific smell. It is made from wheat and sorghum. That is why tourists from all over the world have managed to call Chinese vodka "kerosene". They taste the drink in live broadcasts of social networks.

BLOGGER: The smell is somehow off-putting. Yes? In short, I realized that it will be enough for us for a long time. We'll sniff it... I'll tell you more: it's an elite ruff.

The product is manufactured by Maotai. The annual capital of the flagship of the Chinese liquor industry has exceeded the income of all European competitors. In terms of foreign investment in the market, the company overtook its leader, Alibaba Corporation. Previously, the main sales of this vodka accounted for the supply of spirits for state banquets and business events. That is why in the narrow circles of the Chinese elite, Maotai began to be called “vodka for diplomats,” says Alexei Maslov, head of the HSE School of Oriental Studies.

MASLOV: It is correctly called "mow-thai" and really belongs to the category of vodka. During the civil war in China, in the 30s, and then after the 1949 revolution, Maotai vodka, which, by the way, was not particularly prestigious at that time, became the main vodka of real communists and the Red Army in general. Gradually, it became vodka for receiving guests. For the first time, Mao Zedong suggested drinking this vodka when receiving foreign diplomats.

China exports its products to more than 100 countries around the world. The Chinese "strong" has not yet reached Russia. They promised that deliveries of the elite "Maotai" to the domestic market would begin 2 years ago, but the taste is so specific that they stopped on test deliveries of vodka with the smell of "kerosene", says orientalist Alexei Maslov.

MASLOV: She has features - an unpleasant smell, which is not always tolerated by Russians. We are used to the fact that vodka should not smell of anything except alcohol, so this vodka repels many. We have a slightly different tradition, until we understand what the essence of this wonderful drink is.

The most expensive versions of the drink are 80 years old and sell for several hundred dollars a bottle. The cheapest costs from 145 euros, while the maximum price continues to break records. Last year, an unknown British investor bought about 100 bottles of "strong" from China at an auction. The purchase cost the businessman one million euros. Whether still will be, Chinese economists assure. And maybe they are being cunning, explains Vadim Drobiz, head of the Center for Research on Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets.

DROBIZ: It's actually nothing more than a Chinese vodka bubble. This is vodka that no one, ever and anywhere, except for the Chinese themselves, will drink. Yes, some export parties go around the world, but only diasporas drink it. Although with shares - this is pure speculation - they will, of course, play.

In addition, just a couple of years ago, the reputation of the Maotai company was damaged due to the large number of fakes in the Chinese alcohol market. The situation was aggravated by frequent mentions of the brand during corruption scandals. The struggle of the Chinese Communist Party with the unrestrained lifestyle of local officials also played its role. Everywhere one way or another featured elite national alcohol.

The high cost of the Chinese brand is also explained prosaically. The fact is that "Maotai" is vodka of "state significance", and earlier it appeared exclusively on the tables of the state level. With the advent of mass production, it became available to ordinary people. Simple but rich. And since the demand for the elite brand of the Celestial Empire exceeds the supply, the price of the drink is very high.

Maotai is a subspecies of traditional Chinese vodka (baijiu) with a strength of 40-60 degrees. The brand is made in the city of the same name in Guizhou province, the raw material for the drink is fermented Chinese sorghum (kaoliang) and wheat.

The history of Maotai vodka began 2000 years ago: Chinese chronicles of the 2nd century BC. talk about the drink gojiang (low-alcohol mash made from rice), which, after the invention of distillation, evolved into a modern version. Farmers in the north, working daily in knee-deep rice plantations in cold water, had no choice but to invent strong, warming alcohol.

Once the emperor tried the local “fire water”, and the monarch liked the drink so much that he ordered production to be established in his province. When most of the Celestial Empire still drank light brew, moonshine appeared in the north of the country and in Guizhou. The inhabitants of the town of Maotai took the gojiang recipe as a basis, but over time supplemented it (in particular, they tied the production cycles to the lunar calendar), and also used sorghum instead of rice, which changed the taste.

It is difficult to establish the exact date of the start of production, but the name "Maotai" was assigned to the drink in 1704 by a decree of the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. In 1915, Chinese vodka (more correctly called moonshine) won a gold medal at an exhibition in San Francisco, and in 1951 received the title of "China's national alcohol". In total, Maotai has more than 20 victories in major international competitions, not to mention local events.

The brand became the first Chinese alcohol, the production of which exceeded 170 tons of products per year (today this figure reaches 30 thousand tons). Vodka is an indispensable attribute of all official events in China, is sold in 100 countries of the world and is a significant source of income for the country, since the manufacturing company Kwiechow Moutai Company belongs to the state.

For a long time, Maotai was the alcohol of the elite, inaccessible to the average consumer - primarily because of the high cost, due to the duration and laboriousness of production. Now the situation has changed, but the cost of Chinese vodka is still high: the price of one bottle starts at $ 130, and there is no upper threshold - there are cases when the drink left the auction for tens of thousands of dollars. As before, so now the demand for elite vodka significantly exceeds the supply.

Maotai production technology

Based on equal proportions of local wheat and sorghum. Cereals are fermented on a special sourdough ju cui, which contains mold fungi (the starch in the grain is processed into sugar) and ordinary yeast. After several distillations, the distillate is kept in ceramic containers for at least 3 years and filtered.

Young Maotai is mixed (blended) with older samples. Exposure of individual alcohols can reach up to 50 years. The resulting drink is bottled and delivered to the market. Despite the high strength (modern Maotai is sold in two variations: 35 and 53 degrees), Chinese vodka is soft and easy to drink even without snacks.

Real Maotai can only be produced in the village of the same name - the characteristic taste of the drink is due to a combination of local climatic conditions and water from the Chishuihe River. Exact adherence to technology in any other place will not give the desired effect.

The smell of fermenting sorghum is so pungent that it literally smelled of the entire city of Maotai, especially since more than half of the inhabitants of this settlement work in the production of vodka.

Differences between Maotai and classic vodka

How to drink Maotai

It is correct to drink Maotai from small porcelain bowls, and the "glass" should never be empty. In a purely male company, the drink is slowly sipped, savoring the taste and aroma, but with the ladies, gentlemen always drink their portion in one gulp, to the bottom.

It is not uncommon for a bottle of Maotai to be completed with two or three tiny glasses - this is no coincidence, it is this portion that is considered optimal to enjoy the taste, but keep a relatively clear head.

The drink goes well with traditional Chinese dishes, especially spicy ones, but an appetizer is not necessary: ​​true gourmets prefer to feel the pure bouquet, in which experts counted 155 notes.

Social aspect

A bottle of Maotai is considered an ideal bribe - it is a rather solid and expensive gift that is not a shame to present to officials, while formally, according to local law, it does not fall under the definition of a bribe.

Often people buy Chinese vodka only as an exhibit of their collection or stock up in case of going to higher authorities. There is even a saying in China: those who buy Maotai do not drink it, and those who drink do not buy it.

It is not possible to bring yourself to a state of extreme intoxication with the help of local beer. We tried - it didn't work. Alcohol disappears from the body faster than you have time to consume it. Slight intoxication - this is the maximum effect that was achieved after 8 liters of Chinese Budweiser.

And that's what's amazing! On the Internet, they write completely different figures for the ethanol content in Chinese beer. The websites of the same Wikipedia indicate figures from 4 to 5 percent, but in reality there is simply no such beer in China. 2.5% is the maximum we have personally seen.

The most popular beer in China is Tsingtao (or Qingdao, or Tsingtao). In order to try it, you do not need to go to China, as it is readily sold in WOK cafes in Moscow and other Russian cities. Its green label is well recognizable (pictured left).

Of course, everyone has their own taste, but in our opinion it is not very tasty. When you drink it, it seems that this beer is diluted with water. In any case, it's worth a try just out of curiosity.

Chinese rice vodka

The prices for these drinks vary greatly. Yanghe vodka in a beautiful blue package costs from 50 USD. Other varieties can cost as much as $15, depending on the manufacturer.

The first thing that distinguishes Baijiu is its strong smell. After opening the bottle, you can feel it at a distance of 3 meters. For Europeans, this smell is very unusual and seems terrible. The Chinese like it. It is believed that the intensity of the smell determines the quality of the drink - the stronger the smell, the better.

To taste, this is quite a worthy drink, no worse than high-quality Russian vodka. Just pinch your nose so you don't smell it and drink. Baijiu fortress can be different depending on the brand - from 40 to 60 degrees.

Rice is the most popular raw material for the production of baijiu, but this alcoholic drink does not have to be made from it. Baijiu is made from all types of cereals that are available.

Ultra-cheap alcohol in China

We found it quite by accident. For the first time this happened in a small store not far from. On the liquor shelf were several bottles with startlingly low numbers on the price tag. One bottle of 0.5 liters cost 4 (0.6 USD), and the second 6 yuan (0.9 USD). The Chinese government levies excise taxes on alcohol producers in the same way as it does in other countries. Such prices are insanely cheap even for China.