China liquor is one of the six largest distilled spirits in the world (the other five are brandy, whisky, rum, vodka and gin). China liquor is much more complicated in technology than distilled liquor from other countries, with various raw materials, different liquor styles and various names.
China liquor has a unique style in beverage wine. Compared with liquor from other countries in the world, China liquor has a special and unparalleled flavor. The wine is white and crystal clear, colorless and transparent; The aroma is pleasant, and the five kinds of wine have their own characteristics. The aroma is rich, pure, fragrant and endless. The taste is mellow, soft, sweet, crisp and refreshing, the wine is harmonious, the aftertaste is long, and the refreshing and beautiful taste gives people great joy and happiness.
The alcohol content of China liquor in the early stage was very high, reaching 67, 65 and 62. Such a high degree of wine is rare in other countries in the world. In recent years, the state has suggested reducing the alcohol content of liquor, and many large wineries have successfully trial-produced low-alcohol liquors such as 39 and 38. When low-alcohol liquor appeared in the early market, most consumers were not used to it, and they always felt that it was not good enough to drink and was "light". In the early 1990s, urban consumers were used to low-alcohol liquor, which gradually became a better variety at banquets.
Liquor used to be called shochu and sorghum, but after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was collectively referred to as liquor and white dry wine. Why is it called white wine, white wine and shochu? Liquor refers to colorless, white dry wine refers to water-free, and shochu is wine distilled by heating fermentation raw materials in retort.
There are many names for liquor. Some are named after raw materials, such as sorghum wine, Daqu wine and wax gourd wine. , is made of sorghum, Daqu, melon wine. Some are named after the place of origin, such as Maotai, Fenjiu, Jingzhi Baigan, Qufu Laojiao and Lanling Daqu. Some of them are named after celebrities, such as Dukang wine and Gong Fan special songs. Others are named after the fermentation storage time, such as Tequ, Chen Qu, Touqu and Erqu. Erguotou, Huilong wine, etc. , are named according to the characteristics of production technology. Erguotou is the ancient name of solid liquor in northern China. Now some wines are also called Erguotou. At present, Erguotou is the wine distilled in the middle by pinching the head and removing the tail when steaming wine. The real Erguotou refers to the wine distilled by the ancient solid distillation method before the cooler is used in the wine making process, that is, the pot is used as the cooler and the water is changed twice. The so-called Huilong wine is to bake the steamed wine again, which is Huilong wine.
When China Liquor originated, there are different opinions, and there is no conclusion yet.
A sentence from the Zhao Dynasty appeared in the literature of the Tang Dynasty. Li Zhao (A.D. 806) wrote in A Supplement to National History: "Wine has a sword to burn spring in the south" (wine is generally called "spring" in Tang Dynasty); Tao Yong (AD 834) said, "Since I went to Chengdu to make soju, I have not considered going to Chang 'an. "Visible, in the tang dynasty, the name of shochu has been widely circulated. Tian wrote "Qu Ben Cao" and said: "Siam wine is burned with shochu, which is full of exotic fragrance. Each altar is painted with more than ten kilograms of sandalwood smoke, then filled with wine, sealed with wax and buried in the soil for two or three years. Never burn gas, take it out for use. "Zhao Xiyu's" Tune Collection "said:" If you are drunk, peel off the ribs with mung bean powder and send the powder down the throat with cold water, which is safe "(Volume 2); He added: "Ginger should not be used with soju. Drinking white wine and raw leeks can make people sick. Drink white wine and avoid all sweets "(Volume 3).
Are the "shochu", "distilled liquor" and "white wine" mentioned in the above quotations today? From the same name alone, there is no conclusion. Some people think that Chinese people have been intimate for a long time, and they call steamed wine Shaoguo, and the wine produced by Shaoguo is Jiu Shao. However, when the name of the cooking pot originated remains to be verified. Therefore, liquor originated in the Tang Dynasty, and its arguments are still insufficient.
Another way of saying this is that it was introduced from abroad in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).
In Yuan Dynasty, China had convenient transportation, frequent exchanges and more cultural and technical exchanges with West Asia and Southeast Asia. Some people think that "Jicoo" liquor is distilled liquor, which was imported from India. Others said: "The original name of shochu is' Archie'. When it was collected in Western Europe in the Yuan Dynasty, the liquor law was introduced to China through Achebe. " Zhang Mu wrote "Differentiation of Diet" and said: "Soju, also known as Huojiu,' Sun Yun Dry Valley'." "Gu" is also a dialect. It has been found that "Sun Yun dry valley", "Sun Yun dry wine" and "Sun Yun dry gas" are transliteration, referring to a distilled wine brewed from palm juice and rice, which was introduced to China in the Yuan Dynasty.
Another way of saying this is that Li Mingzhen (15 18- 1593), a pharmacologist in the Ming Dynasty, wrote in Compendium of Materia Medica: "Jiu Shao is an ancient law, which was founded in the Yuan Dynasty. Its method is to use the steam of strong liquor and inferior liquor and take dew from a vessel. Whenever it is sour, it has only been steamed with glutinous rice or millet or glutinous rice or barley recently and steamed in a fermentation tank for ten days. As clear as water, it tastes very strong and it is covered with wine. " This passage not only shows that China's shochu originated in the Yuan Dynasty, but also briefly describes the brewing and distillation methods of shochu, so people think it is credible.