World acquires a taste for Chinese spirit

But Mathew said there's a competitive element of baijiu drinking in China.

"I've experienced it being the Westerner around a dining table and everybody wants to toast you," he said. "It is a bit of a knife fight - there's an interesting dynamic as to who toasts who and how it goes around the table."

Despite its growing popularity outside China, there is still a long way to go in making the drink commonplace, especially as there is a lack of information to help foreign drinkers understand what makes a good baijiu.

Michal Maziarz, head bartender at Mei Ume restaurant at London's Four Seasons Hotel, said the biggest challenge is clearly navigation as there is little knowledge about baijiu - how to recognize the different varieties or understand how the flavors have been created. He said to start with, it is important for chefs or bartenders to understand things and then they can educate others.

"Using baijiu in small doses is a good way to make baijiu not being hated on their first date and to make people learn how to appreciate it," Maziarz said, "It's little small doses sneaked in between those overripe fruits or other flavors that make it quite interesting and approachable before exposing a shot itself as a soul spirit - I think this transition of making this very slow introduction would do the trick."

Maziarz suggested promoting baijiu in Western markets by standardizing the flavor. One way would be to invite Western spirit experts or sommeliers to create a panel where they could discuss the flavor and categorize baijiu, he said.

In China, baijiu is also being subject to experimentation. Seminars are being held on how to pair it with food and some entrepreneurs have developed baijiu-infused ice cream, pizza and gummy bears. A chef in Beijing even created deep-fried baijiu cake.

The government is also making great efforts to promote baijiu tourism, a Chinese version of a Bordeaux tour in Maotai, Guizhou province, where China's top-notch baijiu - Moutai - is produced.

Baijiu-producing companies are keen to enter Western markets. The State-owned Kweichow Moutai Company has launched its Moutai brand promotion in Hamburg, Germany. Sichuan Swellfun, a baijiu maker in Chengdu, sold a stake to Diageo in 2013.

"It would be great to see brands partnering with spirit distributors who specialize in bars," said Mathew, who said sourcing baijiu easily at a right price can be difficult.

"A lot of baijiu marketing in China surrounds the aura of the brand without giving too much detail," he added. "But here, bartenders and an increasingly educated spirits consumer want to know about the raw materials, fermentation process, stills and aging."

Zhang Yangfei contributed to this story.

wangmingjie@mail.chinadailyuk.com