Baijiu, China’s Potent Liquor, Is Poised to Try to Make a Splash in the U.S.

Can you be won over by baijiu (pronounced “bye-joe”), China’s firewater-like liquor?

Ask someone who didn’t grow up on the the high-proof, fermented spirit made from sorghum and other grains, and the resounding answer will be no. It's definitely an acquired taste. Sometimes that taste has essences of ripe melons or pears; often it has funky, nose-wrinkling notes approximating soy sauce or aged cheese.