To be perfectly honest with you, I really don’t know what good baijiu is and in what ways it differs from bad baijiu (except I know that if you go blind it is bad baijiu) so this is going to be bit less of review and more of an overview of what I feel a foreign grocery store making a distinctively Chinese drink means. TESCO is a large British grocery store chain (that for some reason now goes by Victory Market around me even though most of the products still say TESCO) with a location in the Global Harbor Mall by campus. It is important to note that TESCO is a foreign grocery store, not an international grocery store, TESCO does not specialize in international products even though they themselves are an international company. Baijiu (白酒) is Chinese “white alcohol” distilled from sorghum. Even though beer is becoming more and more popular as the everyman’s beverage in China, baijiu is still widely drunk and is the official beverage of business dealings from the strictly legal, to the Chinese legal, to the totally illegal. The version I am trying is TESCO’s generic brand Baijiu, available for around 10RMB or 1.50USD. According to Wikipedia, it has a sauce fragrance which means it has an aftertaste that tastes remarkably like soy sauce. If I had to compare it to vodka, it is a bit more alcoholic on average, the TESCO brand one is about 56% alcohol, and is also usually much sharper than vodka. Typically it is drunk straight and warm, from small glasses. While it is not the usual method of drinking, I think baijiu would work quite well in a more savory cocktail, like a Bloody Marry; I have actually read on China Today (China’s largest English language newspaper) there is a thriving ex-patriot baijiu cocktail seen in China’s larger cities. In short, while baijiu is mostly drinkable and a useful thing to know how to drink if you want to do business in China I don't think I would make it my drink of choice in the United States. While I don’t believe that TESCO produces this stuff in-house it is interesting that they are willing to put their name to this product. Baijiu is not very popular outside of China and areas with large Chinese populations. It is unlikely that TESCO could convince the British or the Irish to pick up baijiu. I believe that this is a sign that TESCO wants to avoid becoming an international grocery store and just simply be another grocery store operating in China. With such rapid growth in the Chinese market in recent years, establishing a good reputation early may pay off big in the near future as consumers in China’s second and third tier cities get enough money to start demanding large western style supermarkets which, with their early entry into the Chinese market, might be TESCOs, or Victory Markets technically.
7 Comments
Dad
9/30/2016 08:52:10 pm
Interesting commentary on my favorite subject. I think you should try a top shelf baijui (which probably costs the equivalent of $5) to make a real judgement about taste. Also, I agree, with it's hight alcohol content, it would be good in mixed drinks. A baijui Hurricane might work (cyclone?)
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Jared Paul Miller
9/30/2016 08:55:18 pm
Baijiu is weird because the cheep stuff is 6RMB, 1USD, a gallon and the good stuff is 600RMB 100USD, and I am not willing to drop that on baijiu. I think a Hurricane would be too sweet to put baijiu in.
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Dad
10/1/2016 02:25:34 am
You need to find a wealthy buddy to buy you a real drink of the good stuff.
Gramma M.
10/1/2016 05:12:08 am
Sounds like vodka on steroids without the ice cubes. Not likely to make the grade here, and I haven't seen it sold locally in Flushing where they have everything from China. By the way, can you get kosher wine for New Year? LShanna Tova!
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emily
10/4/2016 02:59:55 pm
dude i didn't know tesco put their name on alcohol, i must investigate this.
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Jared Paul Miller
10/4/2016 07:29:52 pm
If there other alcohol is like their baijiu, it is worth drinking.
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Hi guys its a very cheap baijiu, very common in China, probably red star or another low end baijiuwith a tesco label on the bottle...
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AuthorI am a junior at Juniata College spending a year studying abroad at East China Normal University. Please feel free to join my on my journey to China and beyond. Archives
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