'Little Er' a time-honored Beijing spirit
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-30 09:55
 |
Large Medium Small |
For those of you who think Beijingers' obsession with Erguotou liquor is an urban legend, consider this: Each of Beijing's nearly 20 million residents bought 40 small bottles of the grain-distilled liquor on average last year, the most of any spirit in the capital, according to the latest production records.
And makers of the mild, clear and tasty spirit don't even spend much on advertising the 300-year-old beverage, which has used the same distillation techniques since the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1367).
The first bottle of Erguotou is believed to have been brewed by the Zhao family, who were good at producing affordable liquors and pickles at Qianmen in central Beijing.
Some competitors believe the popularity of the spirit nicknamed "Xiao'er" - or Little Erguotou - is a result of an affordable pricing strategy that continues today. Each 100-ml bottle costs 3.50 yuan.
But some say there is more to the story than the price tag. "The cost is the last reason to explain Xiao'er's popularity," said Zhang Yumin, a senior liquor researcher who believes Beijing still boasts China's oldest liquor making techniques.
"Erguotou has a classic taste, which dates back to the golden era of Chinese liquor making," said the 47-year-old with the Beijing Red Star Co Ltd, which brews 40 percent of the Erguotou liquor in Beijing and nationwide.
The term "Erguotou" means "second distillation", which indicates the moment when the spirit reaches its highest level of purity. Though the liquor's distilling factory moved to north suburban Beijing a decade ago, nothing has changed since New China's first liquor factory came into being in 1949.
Brewmasters made the first batch of Erguotou under the Red Star after the central military commission issued 100 kg of grain and an order to produce liquor for the nation's founding celebrations.
Today, about 1,000 workers in Huairou district collect grains from Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces and use well water from Huairou to distill Beijingers' daily consumption.
But a taste for the liquor has gone far beyond Beijing's hutong.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly loaded a train with 4,000 large bottles of Erguotou as a gift to late Russian leader Boris Yeltsin after his visit to China two decades ago. In the US, 30 tons of a Diamond brand Erguotou are sold each year.
On the island of Taiwan, it is sold under the local brand Red Flag, which causes less political controversy.
But one thing is alarming for Erguotou makers, said the researcher. Many of today's Beijingers have become addicted to only expensive brands,
Years of extravagant corporate traditions have produced a large number of banquet hosts who stubbornly believe in a hierarchy for liquors based solely on price - the more expensive, the better it looks on the dining table.
The researcher says what everybody is drinking is merely marketing strategies, not a taste of China's prolonged liquor making culture.
"Apart from being famous for their price tags, Moutai liquor in Guizhou actually tastes like pickles, while Tequ liquor in Sichuan has the smell of cheap candy," said Zhang.
"Rarely does anyone know that the weather and water in Beijing have made the city perfect for making China's most long-living liquor."