How to drink Shaoxing rice wine

In Shaoxing, my country, there is a particularly famous wine called Shaoxing Yellow Wine. This kind of yellow wine tastes particularly fragrant and will make people feel the strong taste of wine. Because this wine is brewed with pure grains, its alcohol content is not particularly high, but it does have many benefits to the body. Many people like to drink Shaoxing Yellow Wine because of its taste. So how can you drink Shaoxing Yellow Wine to make it delicious?

Since there are many varieties of rice wine and their sweetness levels vary greatly, there are different ways to drink it and pair it with food. Water insulation heating is the most orthodox

The most traditional way to drink Shaoxing wine is to heat it in water to about 45 degrees Celsius. The most commonly used wine containers are copper pots and tin pots. Of course, ceramic containers can also be used, but their thermal conductivity is not as good as copper and tin. This way of drinking warm wine is especially suitable for the most common Yuanhong and Jiafan wine. This is a way of drinking that has been passed down since ancient times because warmed Yuanhong and Jiafan wine can best bring out the aroma of the wine and increase the sweetness of the wine. The most important thing is that it warms the heart without hurting the stomach.

Dry type Yuanhong wine, when warm, is best paired with chicken, duck and egg dishes. Semi-dry type Jiafan wine is suitable for pairing with seafood and cold dishes, especially hairy crabs around the Mid-Autumn Festival. The pairing with warmed Shaoxing Jiafan wine is the best match in the world. In addition, the Shaoxing rice wine after warming, whether it is Yuanhong, Jiafan, Shanniang or Xiangxue, can be mixed and drunk according to personal taste, which is quite interesting. This mixed drinking method is unique among brewed wines in the world, and it can also be regarded as a major feature of Shaoxing drinking method.

Subverting cultural trendy drinking methods In fact, in addition to the traditional drinking methods mentioned above, in order to cater to modern people, Shaoxing rice wine has recently developed a rather modern iced drinking method. Indeed, drinking heated wine on a hot day is indeed a bit abusive. While brandy and whiskey are starting to go on rock, Shaoxing rice wine has also caught up with the trend of the times, attracting young people by drinking it chilled. Not just chilling it, you also have to add ice cubes to the chilled rice wine, and adding ice on top of it is not a problem. After all, if you want to sell wine to this group of mainstream consumers, talking about culture and tradition is undoubtedly like talking to a cow.

The modern way of drinking Shaoxing rice wine can be said to be quite radically innovative. I believe that the older generation of Shaoxing rice wine fans who follow the traditional warm drinking method would be so frightened that they would fall off their chairs when they see this way of drinking. The so-called trendy way of drinking is not just about drinking it chilled and on rocks, it is almost like turning Shaoxing rice wine, which has thousands of years of culture, into a trendy Western-style cocktail. Nowadays, the fashionable way to drink Shaoxing rice wine is to add ice cubes to it and then add plums (Taiwanese way of drinking, I heard it was passed down by Taiwanese businessmen), lemons, cherries, etc., which makes it taste very much like a cocktail. Of course, some people also add drinks such as Sprite, Coke, and juice to it, which is very suitable for women. The mizuwa (adding water) method of drinking Japanese whiskey can also be applied to Shaoxing rice wine.