Bar Tab is a recurring column in The Post and Courier Food section that highlights a locally made or sold adult beverage. You may have never heard of the most-consumed spirit in the world. It's not vodka or bourbon or tequila or rum, or one of the liquors you'll commonly find behind the bar.
It's actually baijiu (pronounced bye-joo), a clear alcohol made from a variety of different grains including sorghum, rice, wheat, rye, barley, corn, millet and peas. Kwei Fei paired baijiu with dishes for a dinner and tasting that they hope to do more of at the James Island restaurant. It's most popular in China, where it's not just a drink but a symbol of hospitality and social bonding.
Traditionally, tiny shot glasses of baijiu are clinked together while holding eye contact and saying, "Gan-bei!," which means "Cheers." It's polite to drink the entire shot in one gulp. Globally, baijiu has a market that was worth $167 billion in 2023, according to Forbes .
"A lot of people have never heard about it, and I hadn't until I started working here," said Dylan Trujillo, general manager and a baijiu expert at Kwei Fei , James Island's Sichuan restaurant next to the Charleston Pour House. Owners of Kwei Fei on James Island put together new menu instead of China trip scrapbook Here, he's been crafting unique ticketed baijiu and food pairing dinners alongside chef de cuisine Greg Kurtzman. Baijiu comes in a range of profiles based on the geography, climate and culture of different regions it is pr.
