Kaoliang wine

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Kaoliang wine
Simplified Chinese 高粱 酒
Traditional Chinese 高粱 酒
Literal meaningsorghum liquor

Kaoliang wine, Gaoliang wine or sorghum wine is a strong distilled liquor of Chinese origin made from fermented sorghum. It is a type of unflavoured baijiu. The liquor originates from Dazhigu (大直沽, located east of Tianjin), first appearing in the Ming Dynasty. It is now primarily made and sold in mainland China and Taiwan and also popular in Korea, where it is called goryangju (hangul: 고량주; hanja: 高粱酒) or bbaegal (which is originated from Chinese character 白干). [1] Kaoliang is an important product of the islands Kinmen and Matsu which are part of Taiwan. Kaoliang ranges usually between 38 and 63 percent alcohol by volume. At present, world’s highest alcohol content of kaoliang wine is up to 92%.

Liquor alcoholic beverage that is produced by distilling

Liquor is an alcoholic drink produced by distillation of grains, fruit, or vegetables that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. The distillation process purifies the liquid and removes diluting components like water, for the purpose of increasing its proportion of alcohol content. As liquors contain significantly more alcohol, they are considered "harder" – in North America, the term hard liquor is used to distinguish distilled alcoholic drinks from non-distilled ones.

<i>Sorghum</i> genus of plants

Sorghum is a genus of flowering plants in the grass family Poaceae. Seventeen of the 25 species are native to Australia, with the range of some extending to Africa, Asia, Mesoamerica, and certain islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. One species is grown for grain, while many others are used as fodder plants, either cultivated in warm climates worldwide or naturalized, in pasture lands. Sorghum is in the subfamily Panicoideae and the tribe Andropogoneae.

<i>Baijiu</i> Chinese liquor distilled from sorghum, rice, wheat, baraley, millet, or Jobs tears; name means literally “white alcohol”

Baijiu, also known as shaojiu, is a category of at least a dozen Chinese liquors made from grain. Báijiǔ literally means "white (clear) alcohol" or liquor.

Contents

Famous brands from Taiwan

Kinmen 58% Kaoliang Kaoliang.jpg
Kinmen 58% Kaoliang

Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor is one of the most popular brands of kaoliang in the Republic of China. As its name indicates, it is produced on the island of Kinmen. The mainstays of the range are the standard 58 percent and 38 percent alcohol bottlings.

Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor A distillery in Kinmen

Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc., also known as Kinmen Distillery, KKL, is a distillery in Kinmen County, Taiwan and owned by Kinmen County Government. The distillery is known for its Kinmen kaoliang wine, and provides great tax income for the local government. The company also runs a basketball team, the Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Basketball, in the Super Basketball League of Taiwan.

Yusan Kaoliang Chiew (Chinese :玉山高粱酒; pinyin :Yùshān Gāoliáng Jiǔ) is produced by the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation. It is named after the highest mountain in Taiwan, Yushan. One of the most notable products in the range is an "X.O." kaoliang aged for five years in tanks before bottling.

Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters

Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the standardized character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong and Macau, and in the Kangxi Dictionary. The modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han Dynasty, and have been more or less stable since the 5th century.

Hanyu Pinyin, often abbreviated to pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China and to some extent in Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Mandarin Chinese, which is normally written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones. Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters.

Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation company

Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation (TTL) is a state-owned manufacturer and distributor of cigarettes and alcohol in Taiwan. Its most famous product is Taiwan Beer. Other products include wine, Japanese-style liqueurs, Chinese herb liqueurs, and various distilled spirits.

Tunnel 88 Kaoliang Liquor (Chinese :八八坑道高粱酒; pinyin :Bā Bā Kēngdào Gāoliáng Jiǔ) is produced by the Matsu Distillery on the island of Nankan, part of the Matsu archipelago. The name is derived from the name of an abandoned military tunnel which the distillery took over as storage space for their kaoliang and aged rice wine. All of the distillery's aged kaoliangs are stored in the tunnel for at least five years.

Zhang Yimou Chinese actor, film director, screenwriter and film producer

Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is part of the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum.

<i>Red Sorghum</i> (film) 1987 film by Zhang Yimou

Red Sorghum is a 1988 Chinese film about a young woman's life working on a distillery for sorghum liquor. It is based on the novel Red Sorghum Clan by Nobel laureate Mo Yan.

Shandong Province

Shandong is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the East China region.

See also

Maotai brand of baijiu

Maotai or Moutai is a brand of baijiu, a distilled Chinese liquor (spirit), made in the town of Maotai in China's Guizhou province. Produced by the state-owned Kweichow Moutai Company, the beverage is distilled from fermented sorghum and now comes in several different varieties.

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Alcoholic drinks in China

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Nangan, Lienchiang Rural Township in Lienchiang County, Republic of China

Nangan Township is a rural township in the Matsu Islands and the county seat of Lienchiang County, Taiwan.

Korean alcoholic drinks

Korean cuisine has a wide variety of traditional alcoholic drinks, known as sul (술). Many of these drinks end with the Sino-Korean word -ju, and some end with the native Korean word -sul. The Sino-Korean -ju is not used as an independent noun.

<i>Erguotou</i>

Erguotou, also known as Chinese white liquor is a Chinese alcoholic beverage. It is a type of baijiu made from sorghum. The most famous brands are Red Star (红星) and Niulanshan (牛栏山). It is available in various strengths, the average being 50% alcohol or 100 proof

Ricebaijiu, also known as rice fragrancebaijiu (米香型白酒), is a variety of distilled beverage popular in China. Unlike other kinds of baijiu, it is distilled mainly from rice rather than from sorghum or other grains. This baijiu also has a characteristic rice fragrance.

<i>Cheongju</i> (beverage) clear, refined Korean rice wine

Cheongju is a clear, refined rice wine.

<i>Mijiu</i>

Mijiu is a Chinese rice wine made from glutinous rice. As a fermented beverage, it is categorized as a form of huangjiu. It generally looks clear and tastes somewhat sweet, similar to its Japanese counterpart sake. The alcohol content ranges between 12% and 20%. Rice wine was made around or before 1000 BC by ancient Chinese and then the practice spread to Japan and other countries. Since then, it has played an important role in Chinese life. In most Chinese supermarkets there are various kinds of rice wines. It is a traditional beverage to the Chinese and some of the families still follow the custom of making rice wine by themselves. The rice wine is made using sticky rice, Chinese yeast and water. It is also served as an appetizer and is believed to be beneficial in improving metabolism and skin.

Luzhou Laojiao

Luzhou Laojiao is a Chinese liquor distilled from fermented sorghum. It is a baijiu of the "strong aroma" class. It is produced by Luzhou Laojiao Company Limited, which is headquartered in Luzhou, in southern Sichuan, China.

Beer in Taiwan

Beer in Taiwan was dominated by monopoly products until 2002, when free trade became law in Taiwan. The main domestic brand remains Taiwan Beer, brewed by the publicly owned Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation that succeeded the government's monopoly bureau in 2002. Taiwan Beer is primarily sold domestically, though the brewery does make some beer for export to Taiwanese living abroad. In recent years Taiwan Beer has stepped up export to People's Republic of China. Other products such as Zhujiang Beer are also popular.

Jiuniang food

Jiuniang is a sweet, soup- or pudding-like dish in Chinese cuisine. It consists of a mixture of partially digested rice grains floating in a sweet saccharified liquid, with small amounts of alcohol (1.5–2%) and lactic acid (0.5%). It is made by fermenting glutinous rice with a starter called Jiuqu (酒麴) containing Rhizopus oryzae and/or Aspergillus oryzae and often yeast and bacteria.

Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Basketball

Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Basketball, formerly known as the ETTV Antelopes is a basketball team that plays in the Super Basketball League (SBL), a professional basketball league in Taiwan. In 2008, Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc. took over the team from ETTV and adopted the new team name, it is now officially sponsored by Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor.

<i>Red Sorghum</i> (novel) Chinese language 1986 novel by Mo Yan

Red Sorghum: A Novel of China or Red Sorghum Clan is a Chinese language novel by Mo Yan. Published in 1986, it was Mo's first novel and remains one of his best-known works.

Yilan Distillery Chia Chi Lan Wine Museum Museum in Yilan County, Taiwan

The Yilan Distillery Chia Chi Lan Wine Museum or Chia Chi Lan Liquor Museum is a museum about wine in Yilan City, Yilan County, Taiwan.

<i>Huangjiu</i>

Huangjiu, often translated as yellow wine, is a type of Chinese alcoholic beverage made from water, cereal grains such as rice, sorghum, millet, or wheat, and a qū starter culture. Unlike baijiu, it is not distilled and contains less than 20% alcohol.

Jiangxiaobai

Jiangxiaobai is a Chinese light-aroma baijiu brand which focus on youth market.

References

  1. ↑ Korean Goryangju is produced in both North and South Korea, but Koreans also consume Chinese-produced and Taiwanese-produced kaoliang.
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