Is This the Best-Selling Liquor in the World?  By Clay Risen
risen apr15 moutai.jpg  Photo by harryalverson/Flickr CC  I'm no
fan of food shows, but I make an exception for Andrew Zimmern's
Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel, wherein the intrepid host
travels the world consuming seemingly inedible parts of the
animal and plant kingdoms. Who wants to watch ten kitchen brats
try to make a cake when you can watch Zimmern try to eat a hen's
uterus?  If Zimmern ever does a liquefied version of his show, I
recommend he wrangle a bottle of Maotai, a leading brand of
baijiu, or "white spirit." Baijiu is a broad category, covering
virtually any high-ABV (alcohol by volume) liquor made in China
--it is usually distilled from sorghum, but it can also be made
from wheat, glutinous rice, millet, or Job's tears; depending on
the region and ingredients, baijiu can be sweet or flowery,
thick or thin.  In 1974, Henry Kissinger told Deng Xiaoping, "I
think if we drink enough Maotai we can solve anything."
According to Chinese