baijiu

Thank you for joining us for this special episode of Social Origin. Today you'll meet Ian, he's a Civil Engineer, Father, Husband, and now the Co-founder of Sanyou Tasmanian made baijiu - the first of its kind outside of China.

Baijiu, which translates to ‘white spirit’ or ‘white wine’, is the national drink of China and the largest spirit category on the planet. 99% of baijiu produced never leaves China which for many centuries has made baijiu a relatively unknown spirit outside of the Asian continent.

In this episode, Ian shares more on the age old tradition and unique characteristics of this spirit along with the significant role it plays in being the bedrock of gifting and celebration in Chinese culture.

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Connect with Ian Sypkes
Purchase a bottle or learn more here:  sanyoubaijiu.com.au

Connect with Co-Host Daniel Alexander
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Even though Baijiu is the most popular spirit, by volume consumed, in the world, Americans don't really understand the category. Bill Isler, founder of Ming River Baijiu, took an interesting turn after studying in China for law. Setting out to work on business opportunities for folks coming into China, a shift into the hospitality industry came about. First starting as a volume bartender, a shift to focus on the tastier marks of Baijiu, led to a new bar project and the eventual creation of Ming River. This episode is a great deep dive into the category, where up is down, and left is right. The production details of Baijiu are unlike those of any other category. Bill and I sip through all 4 categories of Baijiu and learn about his life along the way. We chat about Beijing, cultural invitations, and funk.

In this blockbuster Baijiu pairing and Chinese food smorgasbord, some of the topics we discuss with Brett Steigerwaldt and Derek Sandhaus include:

• The base grains, production methods, and flavor profiles of seven - count em - SEVEN different baijiu categories, including: rice aroma, light aroma, laobaigan, phoenix aroma, strong aroma, sauce aroma, and extra strong aroma.
• The relationship between baijiu and food, both at a basic level, and in the context of each different region and culinary tradition
• How different Baijiu styles “hack” the very foreign (to us) looking production method involving microbe-packed grain bricks called “Qu” and giant steamers to create flavors and aromas that are vastly different from one another.
• We also talk about what a phoenix smells like, how various traditional spicy and numbing ingredients affect how baijiu tastes, why food and drink exploration is an important act of cultural ambassadorship,
• And much, much more

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In this eye opening conversation with Baijiu expert Derek Sandhaus, some of the topics we discuss include:

• What Baijiu is - which might seem like a simple definitions game, but it’s way more interesting than that.
• How Derek came to spend years in China studying the culture and learning as much as possible about Baijiu and the people who make and enjoy it.
• What sort of microbial magic needs to happen in order to produce liquid alcohol from a solid fermentable mash - and to that end, what Baijiu shares in common with other spirits like open fermented Mezcal and dunder-fortified Jamaican rum.
• We talk about two of Derek’s books, Baijiu: The Essential Guide to Chinese Spirits and Drunk in China, the most recent of the two.
• We give you a crash course in the most popular styles of Baijiu and the regional cuisines they evolved to complement and then talk about where Baijiu might be heading in the coming years and decades.
• We imagine what it would be like to share a bottle of Baijiu with legendary 8th Chinese drinker and poet Li Bai.
• And much, much more.

Derek is a fascinating guy to interview, and the amount of time he’s spent researching and immersing himself in Chinese culture is a huge asset because the things he shares don’t feel purely academic. They’re based on real things he’s tasted, real places he’s visited, and real people whom he’s learned from.

Considering that it is the world's most popular spirit, it is surprising how little it is known by much of the western world. It is because of this lack of information that we decided to head to Sichuan, China -- the home of this delicious & fascinating spirit -- so, that we could learn about it at its source. Tune and listen as we chat with Derek Sandhaus, a world-renowned author and expert on Baijiu.

Baijiu is the world's most consumed liquor, but is virtually unknown outside of China. Baijiu connoisseur, Shunan Teng of Tea Drunk, returns to Feast Meets West to talk about drinking baijiu, the different types, and how to appreciate it.

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Now one month into his artist residency in China, David rehearses with a Pingtan music icon, plays with fireworks, tries the lethal Chinese drink baijiu and recalls a weird date in Shanghai.