World acquires a taste for Chinese spirit

Cocktail bars put fiery liquor to the test as demand grows for drinks with difference

Drinks columnist Douglas Blyde first came across baijiu when he was presented an intriguingly squat bottle with a red ribbon tied around its neck in a shopping mall in China's Inner Mongolia.

Since then, he has become a fan of the fiery Chinese spirit - the most widely drunk alcohol in the world, despite being very little known beyond the borders of China.