Raise your glass to eye level and check the color, transparency and sediment of baijiu. Normally, baijiu is water-white and coloress. Yellowish
appearance is allowed in strong-aroma baijiu like Luzhou Laojiao.
Generally, baijiu is water-white and colorless when they are young, but becomes yellowish in and thicker in body after years of ageing.
Raise the glass with 2/3 or 1/2 filling of baijiu to your nose. Take a sniff and move the glass away from the nose in case any harm to the nose should be caused by smelling high alcoholic percentage baijiu for too long. For meticulous smelling, take a few drop of baijiu on your palm and rub your hands. Baijiu will be volatilized by body temperature and release more aromas. Do not exhale to the glass.
Take a sip of baijiu (0.5~2ml) and let it flow in to cover surface of your tongue and whole mouth. Swallow in 3~5 seconds and then exhale with your mouth closed to appreciate the finish.
Besides sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami, we can also experience various taste substances in baijiu with the help of saliva protease. Normally sweetness is detected by the tip of the tongue, soumess by sides of the tongue and bitterness by the back of the tongue.
Finally we can determine the taste and style of the baijiu by its sweetness, sourness richness, balance, smoothness, pureness and finish.
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