[HN Gopher] Baijiu Meets Binary: Why Moutai is Investing in Semi...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Baijiu Meets Binary: Why Moutai is Investing in Semiconductors
        
       Author : jugurtha656
       Score  : 21 points
       Date   : 2024-08-14 17:27 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.chinatalk.media)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.chinatalk.media)
        
       | christkv wrote:
       | Baijiu latte, thats quite the concept. I wonder if it's baijiu
       | flavored syrup or the real deal.
        
         | gs17 wrote:
         | I'm pretty sure it's syrup. The article says "The alcohol
         | content is under 0.5%" so by my estimate says that'd be a very
         | tiny amount of the real thing (but for the price being ~20 RMB
         | based on the other numbers in the article, you can't expect
         | much).
        
         | er4hn wrote:
         | Likely syrup. A lot of Chinese coffee shops offer flavored
         | syrups in coffee, sometimes with creative stuff like bits of
         | dried orange or freshly pulped apricot, so this fits in pretty
         | well with existing offerings.
         | 
         | Good Baiju tends to have a mildly floral taste. I tried the
         | Moutai ice cream about 2 years ago, it tasted like vanilla with
         | mildly floral notes from what I recall. It was fun to try for
         | the brandname but I couldn't see myself getting it normally
         | (for ref: I am a chocolate w/ crunchies kind of ice cream
         | person)
        
       | anfractuosity wrote:
       | I've got some Moutai Prince, it tastes pretty unusual to me I
       | guess it is umami-ish. Anyone got any recommendations for other
       | Baijiu?
        
         | theshrike79 wrote:
         | All Baijou taste like what a barn with uncleaned cow dung in it
         | smells like.
         | 
         | 0/10 would not recommend.
         | 
         | Just opening a bottle and letting the stench float around the
         | apartment is a good way to make guests leave pretty quickly :D
        
           | cassepipe wrote:
           | First time I tasted scotch I thought it tasted smoked mud. I
           | was making faces.
           | 
           | God I love whisky, and french cheese, and red wine, and
           | oysters.
        
             | theshrike79 wrote:
             | I've "enjoyed" multiple bottles of the stuff with a group
             | of friends.
             | 
             | We all agree on the taste, as do everyone who we have
             | convinced to taste it.
             | 
             | If it was an acquired taste I would've acquired it already
             | =)
        
         | jonathanyc wrote:
         | Also interested in recs.
         | 
         | The only comments I'd heard about baijiu before actually trying
         | it were in the vein of the rather hyperbolic sibling comment
         | that compares it to cow feces. I was surprised to find the
         | particular baijiu I tried more like a very herbal whisky.
         | 
         | Maybe people hating on baijiu just haven't tried many hard
         | liquors? At its worst, peaty scotch could be compared to, well,
         | peat (which is decaying vegetation), and mezcal could be
         | compared to burnt plants. But both can taste great.
        
           | anfractuosity wrote:
           | Interesting re. herbal whisky, do you recall which baijiu
           | you've had?
           | 
           | Re. scotch whisky I've heard people referring to laphroaig as
           | smelling of TCP. (I really enjoy peated whisky/smoked beers -
           | I need to try mezcal don't think I've had any before).
        
             | er4hn wrote:
             | I've had baiju that's more herbal before as well. generally
             | good baiju should smell floral.
             | 
             | The big problem with Baiju is that most people, at least in
             | the US, are trying the equivalent of Smirnoff / cooking
             | grade stuff because it's cheaply sold at asian marts.
             | 
             | Fen Chiew
             | (https://www.totalwine.com/spirits/baijiu/xinghuacun-fen-
             | chie...) is decent stuff that I've bought at a Total Wine
             | in Socal. You can also go to somewhere like a Ranch 99 and
             | look for a mid tier bottle. Whatever you do don't get the
             | "Red Star" brand (google for pics), it's bottom of the
             | barrel stuff, the "Popov Vodka" of Baiju as a rough analogy
             | :)
        
         | eo3x0 wrote:
         | As is true for many hard alcohols, you typically get what you
         | pay for when it comes to Baijiu. Moutai Prince is terrible
         | compared to Moutai but the difference is not in the immediate
         | flavor. It's mostly in the after taste.
         | 
         | Baijiu has many different taste categories. Moutai and the like
         | are known as "Jiang Xiang" which roughly translates to Soy
         | flavor. That's the umami you're referring to and it's an
         | acquired taste.
         | 
         | I find Wuliangye to be more approachable to beginners because
         | it sits in the "Nong Xiang" category and tastes more floral.
         | It's not cheap but that's where I recommend newer Baijiu
         | drinkers to start.
        
           | anfractuosity wrote:
           | Thanks, that's interesting about the difference being in the
           | aftertaste between Prince and Moutai. Will see if I can find
           | a bar selling the Wuliangye one.
        
             | eo3x0 wrote:
             | Do you drink wine? The best analogy for the difference
             | between Moutai vs Moutai Prince is the difference between a
             | $100+ bottle of fruit forward Napa Cab vs a supermarket red
             | that tastes like it had sugar injected into it. A beginner
             | might call both a "sweet" wine, but the depth of the flavor
             | is night and day for anyone who's had any experience. Or
             | the difference between a structured Bordeaux vs an
             | astringent mess of a red blend. Both would taste acidic to
             | a new wine drinker.
             | 
             | The expensive vs cheap baijius are the same way. Try some
             | Wuliangye or Fenjiu for a couple of different taste
             | categories to see what you like. Avoid the cheap stuff as
             | your subconscious will tell you it's terrible even if
             | you're not tasting the difference upfront.
        
       | floam wrote:
       | When the male relatives tried to drink me under the table /
       | waterboard me with baijiu (some brand with a hologram
       | authenticity sticker) the first time I went to Harbin and met the
       | family of my then university girlfriend (later married) and
       | instead it just took care of this strange shivering thing that
       | had started happening to me, and THEY needed to be dragged home
       | unconscious, I should have realized then and there I was an
       | alcoholic instead of being so proud I "passed the test".
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2024-08-14 23:01 UTC)