Alcoholic drinks in China Alcoholic drinks in China Alcoholic drinks in China seem to precede the earliest stages of Chinese civilization. They include rice and grape wine, beer, and various liquors including "baijiu", the most-consumed distilled spirit in the world. ("jiǔ") is the Chinese character referring to any drink containing appreciable quantities of ethanol. Its Old Chinese pronunciation has been reconstructed as "*tsuʔ", at which point it was generally applied to drinks made from fermented millet. By the time of the first certain use of distillation during the Jin and Southern Song dynasties, the Middle Chinese pronunciation was "tsjuw". It is often translated into
Mulled wine "vin fiert" ("boiled wine"), and it is made using red wine, adding sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, anise and orange zest. Everything is boiled and served hot. In Russia, "Глинтвейн" ("Glintwein") is a popular drink during winters and has same recipe as the German Glühwein. Additionally, the traditional Russian winter herbal drink sbiten, although usually a non-alcoholic tisane made with hot water, may also be made with red wine replacing some or all of the water. In Turkey, it is called "Sıcak Şarap" ("hot wine") and can be made using sweet red wine, adding sugar and fruits such as lemon and