''Erguotou'' () is a style of '' qingxiang'' ''

baijiu ''Baijiu'' (), or ''shaojiu'' (), is a colorless Chinese liquor typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). Each type of baijiu uses its own type of ''qū'' for fermentation to create a distinct and characteristic flavo ...

'' originating in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and primarily made in the region surrounding. The process of ''erguotou'' production is what sets it apart from other ''qingxiang baijius like Fenjiu. Three ingredients,

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

, ''fuqu'' (麸曲; a wheat bran based qū), and water make up the ingredient base. The sorghum is crushed, cooked, cooled, and mixed with the qū before being added, in a liquid state, to a stone or steel fermentation vessel where it will be left to ferment for a relatively short period of about four to eight days. After the qū has converted the starches and sugars in the sorghum into ethanol, the grain is transferred to a still that will extract the ethanol from the mixture. The distilled output is then rested in ceramic jars for a relatively short six to twelve months before being blended, proofed, bottled, and sold. The relatively short fermentation time, and the stone or steel fermentation vessel result in less production of esters overall. For that reason, erguoutou is a milder spirit than other baijius in terms of aroma.

History

The earliest evidence for the consumption of alcohol in the region that is now Beijing lies in the archeological discoveries of drinking vessels ( Gu, Jue, and

You In Modern English, the word "''you''" is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from ...

) from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, about 3,000 years ago. However, before the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

, the alcohol that was being drunk came in the form of a liquid form fermented mijiu. The first spirits in the region came with the advent of distillation around 800 years ago after which production processes were developed and expanded into a successful commercial industry. In the 1680's, during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

, three brothers working as heads of the Yuanshenghao distillery, experimenting with various methods of distillation discovered that their best product came while the second pot of cold water (which served as the condenser) was atop the still. It is from this discovery that the brothers developed erguotou; "head of the second pot." This new style of baijiu gained notoriety in and around Beijing over the following centuries and so nearing the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

and prior to the foundation of the People's Republic, 12 distilleries in and around Beijing were nationalized and merged into a single distillery and issued the first business license in modern China, for the purpose of producing baijiu for the festivities surrounding

Proclamation of the People's Republic of China The proclamation of the People's Republic of China was made by Mao Zedong, the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on October 1, 1949, in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The government of a new state under the CCP, formally called ...

. This distillery named "Hong Xing" () has grown into one of the nation's most widely consumed spirits (particularly in Beijing itself) and its label, designed by a Japanese Red Army enlistee, has become one of the most iconic brands. According to baijiu writer Derek Sandhaus, Hongxing is considered "the Coca-Cola of baijius."

References

{{Chinese alcoholic beverages Baijiu Chinese distilled drinks Beijing cuisine

History

See also

References