Monthly Archives: May 2012

The final countdown

Posted on May 30, 2012 by

All good things must come to an end. For my sake it’s fortunate that this rule also extends to prolonged grain-alcohol stunt drinking. On May 15, 2012 – a date which will live in relative obscurity – I finished the … Continue reading →

Posted in Tastings | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

And we’re live … again

Posted on May 24, 2012 by

Yesterday, as some of you may know, WordPress decided to suspend my blog for no discernable reason.* I flatter myself to think that it was my hard-hitting analysis of the Dongbei distillery “findings,” or perhaps the world just wasn’t ready … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Miracle in Dongbei?

Posted on May 24, 2012 by

Last week Xinhua published a story whose headline announced, “Nation’s oldest brewery unearthed in northeast China.” The nation’s oldest brewery – Harbin – is indeed in Dongbei, but upon closer inspection this story was about the oldest distillery. The story … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical oddity, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Liquid swords

Posted on May 21, 2012 by

Ah, Chengdu in the springtime. The bugs, the humidity, that burnt-tire smelling je ne sais quoi outside my window. I’d been away a while and to celebrate my return, I wanted some quality local spirits. Jiannanchun 剑南春 (South of Sword … Continue reading →

Posted in Tastings | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Will baijiu kill you?

Posted on May 14, 2012 by

Question: “Will baijiu kill you?” Let me start by saying I know that this question drives most of my web traffic. By starting this blog I became a de facto guinea pig for everyone who’s wanted to journey into the … Continue reading →

Posted in Baijiu basics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment