As we consider how to popularize millets, perhaps a US based Baijiu-maker would get more farmers to grow sorghum. Apparently, the sorghum based spirit is the most consumed spirit in the world. There must be a hipster distiller in Brooklyn looking for the next ultra-cool spirit to introduce to Western cocktail aficionados. https://plateonline.com/drink/cocktails/get-crash-course-baijiu-vancouver-sp... (article copied from Plate online) Get a Crash Course in Baijiu at This Vancouver Speakeasy Robin CatalanoJANUARY 2, 2024 [image: Photo: Courtesy of Laowai] Dance Monkey baijiu cocktail at Laowai, VancouverPHOTO: COURTESY OF LAOWAI <https://plateonline.com/drink/cocktails/get-crash-course-baijiu-vancouver-speakeasy?src=fte&oly_enc_id=9574A8130145D0S#comments> [image: Marketing & Technology] <https://mtgad.com/www/delivery/cl.php?bannerid=4773&zoneid=104&source=sourcevar&sig=14734d16e132f3765e33771f67d0a1eebb9faa3f76a80e4e696beebe7e97408e&oadest=https%3A%2F%2Fplateonline.com%2Fuser> In a narrow, warmly lit bar, under dozens of pale, papery phoenix suspended from the ceiling, customers chatter while a musician taps out a ragtime tune on the upright piano. A server glides past, pausing at a corner table to deposit a pair of foam-topped cocktails and a tray bearing five shot glasses filled with baijiu.
From the secret location behind a faux dumpling house door to the crystal chandeliers, and prime menu real estate occupied by China’s favorite spirit, it wouldn’t be hard to envision this speakeasy in 1920s Shanghai. But three-year-old *Laowai*, hidden away in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighborhood, has amassed a loyal audience with an innovative cocktail program that takes a storytelling-first approach in bringing to life a forgotten era of Chinese culture.
*Lewis Hart* was an economics student and aspiring pro rugby player in England, who parlayed his imposing size and gregarious nature into working as a bouncer at bars. “I never had this idea of keeping people out. It was, how do I make people happy coming in, especially when they have to wait in line for three hours?” he says. After moving to Vancouver at 20, he worked his way up through nightclub management to VP of operations. He struck out on his own a few years later, choosing Chinatown, which had entered the early stages of a revival, as his location. (Laowai means “foreigner” in Chinese.) A self-described history nerd, Hart wanted to honor Chinese culture while highlighting a lesser-known time period. He landed on the Prohibition era, where famous American rogues like Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly had across-the-Pacific counterparts. [image: Photo: Courtesy of Laowai] The wall of a faux dumpling shop that leads to Laowai speakeasy in VancouverPHOTO: COURTESY OF LAOWAI Laowai’s menu relies on these outsize personalities to bring baijiu to the mainstream. Although the sorghum-derived spirit is the world’s most consumed, thanks to China’s massive population, it’s rare in Western bars. The pungent, high-proof beverage is unfamiliar to North American palates, and can be acquired taste. Hart started by bringing in one of each of the four main types of baijiu, which are categorized by aroma: light, strong, phoenix, and sauce. “People loved it. They wanted to try more,” Hart says. “They were bringing in their grandparents, telling us, ‘My granddad hasn’t had this baijiu in 30 years.’” To meet the demand, Hart kept doubling his selections. The Laowai beverage list currently features 56 labels of the Chinese spirit. For cocktails, the mixology team uses brands like Yanghe Baiju, which are less intense flavors and more consistently available. They’re also the most affordable, running between $20 and $50 per bottle. The next tier, including popular Luzhou Laojiao, makes the jump to $80 to $150 per bottle. Premium baijiu, such as Wuliangye and Maotai, costs between $300 and $600 per bottle. Each Laowai cocktail menu takes about nine months to develop, beginning with research into historical figures. Then the team gets to work on pairing the 120-proof spirit with other ingredients that reflect the time period and the person. The esters in each aroma type dictate the best flavor combinations, says Hart. For example, the fermented-pineapple flavor of strong-aroma baijiu works well with tropical juices and stone fruits. Light aroma, which has the undertone of a grappa, is a natural in drier drinks, such as martinis; the bar team sometimes includes rice to help give the drink a bit of body and prevent it from tasting too sharp. Sauce-aroma baijiu has the earthy taste of soy and fungus. The mixologists lean into its truffle essence with chocolatey flavors, including red wine. As for phoenix aroma, Hart says, “It’s the bartender’s fernet. It’s got a lot going on, so we use it very delicately.” [image: Photo: Courtesy of Laowai] Goodbye Marilou baijiu cocktail PHOTO: COURTESY OF LAOWAI For instance, Don’t Let Them See You Bleed is based on W. E. Fairbairn, a British marine who moved to China and joined the Shanghai Municipal Police, which had one of the roughest beats in the world. (He’s believed by some to be the inspiration for Q in Ian Fleming’s James Bond books; the libation’s name derives from a snippet of dialogue.) Using a light-aroma baijiu, Laowai’s bartenders homed in on a dry martini flavor, fusing it with toasted rice to round out the body, and blood orange oil for a bit of zing. Hart recommends a lighter hand when starting out with baijiu. “You’re effectively pouring one and a half ounces to everybody else’s ounce,” he explains. “As a businessman, I want people drinking more cocktails, not getting wasted off two and then dipping out.” The cocktail menus—printed in slim, cloth-bound books, with a description and original illustrations of the historical figures each drink is based on—are the “most collectible item in the world,” Hart says with a laugh. “I swear they have legs. We’ve gotten to the point where we have to do a menu count at the end of the night, because so many go walking.” Beyond their keepsake-like feel, the menus serve an important role: they help articulate the bar’s concept without either the customer or the staff having to remember all the details of each cocktail’s story. The storytelling formula has been successful for Laowai, whose team delights in the theater of mixology, and of walking guests through baijiu tastings and cocktail selections to fit their palate and mood. “The best bars in the world, they’re no longer just opening the doors and saying, ‘Hey, I would like your money, and you would like a good drink,’” Hart says. “I think people are very cognizant of their spending power now, and they’re no longer just choosing a good product. They’re choosing an experience.” *Robin Catalano is a travel, food and beverage, and conservation journalist based in New York’s Upper Hudson Valley. * -- *Robin Asbell* *http://robinasbell.com/ <http://robinasbell.com/>*