Baijiu, one of the most common beverages in Chinese life, is indispensable at dining tables during festivals, weddings, funerals, or friend gatherings. More often than not, people drink not just for the lively atmosphere but to express emotions, relieve stress, and unwind. As the old saying goes, What can relieve sorrow? Only Dukang (a legendary figure in Chinese mythology credited with inventing baijiu), and another popular phrase goes, One drunkenness dissolves a thousand sorrows. While we shouldn’t take these literally as solutions, they illustrate baijiu’s significant role in people’s hearts.
After thousands of years of inheritance and evolution, China’s baijiu now encompasses a wide range of styles and aromas—from light, strong to sauce-like—each with its distinct character. Unfortunately, a problem has arisen: in recent years, the baijiu market has become increasingly chaotic, with uneven quality. Various blended wines and counterfeits have flooded in, making it difficult to distinguish real from fake.
Online, you often see methods to identify genuine and fake baijiu, but many people still feel confused after reading them, unsure of how to apply these techniques. In reality, distinguishing good baijiu from poor quality isn’t that complicated. Sometimes, dropping a drop of cooking oil into it can reveal the truth. This is a handy tip that wine-loving friends might want to know—it can help you avoid many “traps” at critical moments!
Step-by-Step Operation (Suitable for High-Alcohol Baijiu Only)
- Start with the bottle of baijiu you want to test and a transparent cup (plastic is fine), ensuring it’s clean. The transparency helps you observe changes in the wine.
- Pour about 50 milliliters of baijiu into the cup. Then, dip a spoon or chopstick into some cooking oil and gently drop one drop into the cup.
- Wait for about 15 seconds and observe the result:
- If the oil slowly sinks to the bottom without spreading out during the descent, it indicates that the wine is likely pure and of good quality.
- Conversely, if the oil floats on the surface or even spreads into an oily film, be cautious. It’s probably a blended wine or of poor quality—it’s recommended not to drink it.
So Why Does This Work? The Science of Density
We know that different liquids have different densities. When two liquids are mixed, the denser liquid sinks while the less dense one floats.
Baijiu is mainly composed of water and alcohol, and its density is generally lower than that of cooking oil. Under normal circumstances, in a high-quality baijiu brewed from pure grains, the oil drop will sink slowly after being added. However, if the wine contains flavorings, additives, or is blended with alcohol, its density will decrease. In such cases, the oil drop will float on the surface or spread out, indicating that the wine is not pure and should be avoided.
- Baijiu: A high-alcohol Chinese spirit (usually 40–60% ABV), typically made from sorghum, rice, or other grains. It’s a cornerstone of Chinese social culture but may taste quite different from Western liquors like vodka or whiskey.