Kinmen Kaoliang
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Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor distillery, Kinmen
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Kinmen Kaoliang (Traditional Chinese: 金門高粱酒; Simplified Chinese: 金门高粱酒; Pinyin: Jīnmén gāoliáng jiǔ) is a clear sorghum liquor made on the Kinmen islands, which are administered by Taiwan and lie just off Xiamen in Fujian. Kaoliang (高粱, "sorghum", Wade–Giles spelling) is also used as a general name for sorghum spirits of the light-aroma type made in northern China, Taiwan and Korea; Kinmen's is the best-known brand in Taiwan.[1] See also Taiwan Food and Baijiu.
Origin and region
Sorghum liquor has a long history in northern China. On Kinmen, a local distiller began making kaoliang around 1950. In the early 1950s the military command then based on the islands, under General Hu Lien, set up an official distillery and encouraged farmers to grow sorghum, partly to support the local economy; the distillery later became Kinmen Distillery and, in 1998, the company Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor Inc., owned by the county government. Liquor revenue became an important source of local government income.[2][1]
Raw materials
- Sorghum — the islands' farmers have grown sorghum for the distillery since the 1950s
- Wheat for the qu starter
- Water from local groundwater
Overview only — not a recipe.
Production (overview)
Kinmen Kaoliang is made by solid-state fermentation of cooked sorghum with wheat qu, followed by distillation, storage and blending, the general method of northern-style sorghum baijiu. Aged editions are stored for several years before bottling.[1][3]
Style and taste
Kinmen Kaoliang is clean, dry and powerful, with a crisp grain aroma typical of light-aroma spirits such as Fenjiu and Erguotou. The mainstays are the 58% and 38% bottlings; aged and commemorative editions are also made.[1]
Culture
Kaoliang is closely identified with Kinmen's Cold War history and is one of the islands' best-known products, often bought as a local specialty by visitors. Other Taiwanese kaoliang spirits include the Matsu distillery's tunnel-aged kaoliang and Yushan kaoliang from the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation. In Korean-Chinese restaurants the same kind of spirit is known as goryangju.[1]
Notes
- "Kaoliang" and "gaoliang" are two spellings of the same word (高粱).
- This page does not give prices or buying advice.