Moutai Liquors is seen on a shelf at a supermaket in Xuchang, Henan Province, Jan. 19, 2014. (Photo : Reuters)
China's baijiu may have a chance of making a splash in the U.S. China's firewater-like liquor might satisfy the palate of those looking for something stronger to replace their cocktails and beers. It certainly is not for the faint-hearted.
Liquors are not as popular in America as they are in China, where they are considered almost a staple. While businessmen in America talk contracts and negotiations over wines or a few beers, certainly nothing hard, Chinese businessmen can go head-to-head with more than just tiny shots of baijiu. It was announced last year that baijiu is poised on entering the U.S. market, but it remains to be seen if it could sustain a place in the market.
It would not be a smooth ride for baijiu. Some said that baijiu is simply too powerful for the occasional drinker who is not looking to be drunk. Baijiu is often bottled at 100 proof or higher and contains a lot of ingredients that would either make Americans scratch their head or balk. It contains sorghum, though this may be mixed with glutinous rice, millet, wheat, or corn, which Americans are not used to finding in their alcohol.
The production process may also turn the ordinary Americans off. Baijiu is fermented in mud pits, distilled, and then aged in big earthenware vessels, resulting into a drink with distinctive and unfamiliar flavors. Ordinary Americans would probably not like it.
On the other hand, they could taste it and surprisingly love it, too, since majority of American tastes are now changing. Americans, especially younger ones, are more open to trying out new things--new ingredients, new flavors, and even new aroma. Baijiu just might make it.
Baijiu, of course, could enter the U.S. and transform into drinks that would be highly more palatable than its pure Chinese form. It could be mixed with other drinks and then turned into cocktails. Since it is has an all-too-powerful aroma and flavor, bars that would try to serve baijiu to their customers need to think hard on how to work with the product.
Orson Salicetti, a New York-based cocktail consultant, said that the key is to making consumable baijiu cocktails is to hide the aroma that Western palates cannot cope with and work from there.
That said, baijiu's entrance into and success in the U.S. is shaky at best.
