Chinese liquor baijiu takes a shot at the US cocktail scene

Think bourbon is hot? It's got nothing on baijiu.

Yet chances are good you haven't even heard of baijiu, the high proof, pungent, spicy, savory, sweet traditional liquor of China. It packs a fiery punch. It also happens to be the world's best-selling liquor by volume, a drink with a pedigree stretching back centuries, and was poured to toast the warming of Sino-US relations during Nixon's historic 1972 visit.

Now, producers are making diplomatic overtures to an entirely new audience - the US craft cocktail scene.