Baijiu

Where it started

China was brewing qu-fermented grain wine, huangjiu, by the time it unified in 221 BCE.¹ The earliest written reference to baijiu, from the 16th century, places the start of distilling in the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), and by the early Ming dynasty China had a drink resembling modern baijiu.¹ After 1949 the state consolidated workshops into large distilleries, such as Luzhou Laojiao, founded in 1951.¹⁷ The government held its first national evaluation in 1952, naming four famous distilleries; by the 1979 evaluation the categories became sauce, strong, light and rice aroma.⁸

Where and how it's made

Most baijiu is distilled from sorghum, though rice, wheat, corn and millet are common.¹ Every style uses qu: big qu, wheat-based bricks, is the preferred starter for most popular styles, while small qu, made from rice, is used for rice-based drinks.² Grains are steamed, cooled, mixed with qu and fermented in solid state; most baijiu is then distilled in Chinese pot stills that pass steam through the fermented grain.¹

Each major aroma type now has its own part of China's national standard GB/T 10781. Part 1 (2021) covers nongxiang, strong aroma; Part 2 (2022) qingxiang, light aroma; Part 3 mixiang, rice aroma.⁹¹⁰¹¹ Sauce aroma, jiangxiang, sat in GB/T 26760-2011 until GB/T 10781.4-2024 replaced it, effective June 1, 2025.¹² The definitions for strong and light aroma both rule out adding edible alcohol, directly or indirectly.⁹¹⁰

How to taste it

Baijiu is traditionally served neat, at room temperature, through a meal of communal toasts.¹ Use a small glass and sip before you toast. Pairings: Sichuan dishes with strong aroma, Peking duck with light aroma, braised pork with sauce aroma.

Styles and what the label means

• Strong aroma (nongxiang) — mud-pit fermentation, rich and fiery; at least two-thirds of all baijiu, centered on Sichuan.³
• Light aroma (qingxiang) — sorghum fermented in pots, named for mild flavor rather than low strength; Fenjiu of Shanxi and Beijing's erguotou.⁴
• Sauce aroma (jiangxiang) — Guizhou's soy-sauce-scented style, made by repeated fermentation and distillation of the same grain over about a year.⁵
• Rice aroma (mixiang) — the rice-based style of China's southeast.¹¹⁸