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Alcoholic drinks from Xi'an and Guanzhong, Shaanxi, China

Choujiu (Xi'an milky rice wine)稠酒

Choujiu, "thick wine", is a sweet, milky rice wine from Shaanxi. Steamed glutinous rice is mixed with a little xiaoqu starter and fermented about a week at a cool room temperature, then the whole mash is beaten smooth instead of being pressed clear, and it is flavoured with osmanthus.

Fully documentedAlcoholic drinks7 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe optimum batch found by an orthogonal test at Northwest A&F University, Shaanxi (Lu and colleagues 2000). Traditional makers keep their own recipes.
Rice for one batch25 kgSteamed 25 min[lu2000]
Xiaoqu starter50 gRice-based starter cake (xiaoqu)[lu2000]
Osmanthus flowersFor flavour; the Lu study is of osmanthus (guihua) choujiu[lu2000]
Starterkoji/qu/mold-starter (xiaoqu)

Total time across the recorded steps: 7 days

Start
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What changes: Glutinous rice is steamed until the grains are just soft

Step 1 of 4
Steam the glutinous rice
Time
25 min
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Aspergillus oryzae
Moulds
Yeasts
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: steamed glutinous rice.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Choujiu, "thick wine", is a sweet, milky rice wine from Shaanxi. Steamed glutinous rice is mixed with a little xiaoqu starter and fermented about a week at a cool room temperature, then the whole mash is beaten smooth instead of being pressed clear, and it is flavoured with osmanthus. Made in 4 steps over 7 days. The longest step, ferment in a cool room, takes 7 days (Lu Z.-M 2000) and runs at 22 °C (Lu Z.-M 2000). Aspergillus oryzae, which the Wikipedia outline names as the mould that turns the rice starch to sugar and Yeast, which makes the alcohol do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7 daysReported[lu2000]Ferment in a cool room
Temperature22 °CReported[lu2000]Ferment in a cool room

What makes this one different

Choujiu keeps the whole rice. Huangjiu and mijiu are pressed or drained clear, but choujiu's mash is beaten into a thick drink, so it is sweet, cloudy and only mildly alcoholic.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Osmanthus choujiu (guihua choujiu)Choujiu flavoured with osmanthus flowers; the subject of Lu and colleagues' 2000 process study.

Safety

For bottled osmanthus choujiu, Lu and Bai (2001) proposed steam sterilisation at 95 °C, with the sterilising formula 5'–40'/95 °C, for small and medium enterprises.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The Wikipedia outline traces choujiu to the Tang dynasty, when the poet Li Bai is said to have praised it, and gives laoli and yujiang as older names. Today Xi'an is known for it.

  1. [lu2000] Lu Z.-M., Wang Z.-L., Bai W.-D. 2000, 桂花稠酒生产工艺研究 (study on processing technology of osmanthus rice-wine), Food Science 21(12):82–84 (abstract)paper
  2. [song2025] Song D., Zhong X., Wu Y., Guo J., Song L., Yang L. 2025, From artisan experience to scientific elucidation, preparation processes, microbial diversity and food applications of Chinese traditional fermentation starters (qu), Foods 14(22):3814, doi:10.3390/foods14223814paper
  3. [feng2023] Feng X., Lei F., Xu Z., Ma R., Xin B., Zhang Z., Li J. 2023, 陕西不同地区稠酒品质特征及挥发性风味成分分析 (analysis of quality characteristics and volatile flavor components of glutinous millet wines in different regions of Shaanxi), China Brewing 42(4):244–249 (abstract)paper
  4. [lu2001] Lu Z.-M., Bai W.-D. 2001, 瓶装稠酒灭菌工艺研究 (study on sterilizing technology of bottled osmanthus rice wine), Food Science 22(3):64–66 (abstract)paper
  5. [WP:Choujiu] Wikipedia, Choujiu (outline only)wiki