Yorkshire brewery bringing Chinese spirit to Sheffield next month

The Baijiu Society was formed after Sheffield based founder Craig Butler travelled to China 25 years ago. He was introduced to Baijiu – a century old spirit – while in China, and became fascinated by it and crafted it with beer.

Craig, along with co-founder Chris Spencer, started the Baijiu Society to show why the spirit deserved a place “in every single bar across the world”.

In 2019, they had a complete range of Baijiu beers and six contemporary versions of Baijiu all made in the UK and also built their own distillery and blending facility to complement the brewery.

By 2020, the society had launched in Hong Kong and China and saw the range hit the UK and other western markets.

Now Craig wants to bring Baijiu, with a few contemporary twists, to Sheffield, and is hosting a bar takeover at 99 Mary Street in November to launch his product line.

Craig said: “Five of the world’s most valuable alcohol companies are Chinese Baijiu producers, it’s just that no one in the West has ever heard of them.

“I lived in China for years so I drank lots of Baijiu, some I really loved because of their distinct flavours.

“China is so big and diverse that Baijiu encompasses many different types of clear spirit.”

Baijiu means ‘clear spirit’ in Chinese and it varies hugely in ingredients, taste and method use to make it. It is very often high in alcoholic content, making it very strong.

It can quite often contain flavours that are unusual to westerners, making it an entirely new experience. The Baijiu Society have infused the core elements of sweetness and fruitiness from Baijiu and refined the blends to create a Baijiu spirit amazing to new drinkers whilst also allowing them to grow into the spirit quickly.

The company has ensured that its Baijiu products are also good for mixing too as not all Chinese Baijiu can be used in this way.

It states that “our Baijiu is far more interesting, far more memorable and brings way more character to tonic than any gin we have tasted”.

The Baijiu Society is also the first company outside of China to create its own fermentation process for the production of Baijiu. This will see it release its first ever barrel-aged and matured Baijiu as well as a tea infused range this year.

With its UK launch coming this year, the company has invited local bar and restaurant business, local media and people of interest to join them for an ‘ultimate experience’ of their Baijiu products in Sheffield on November 26. They will then also be a night open to the general public on November 27.

Craig added: “We are blessed in Sheffield with great Chinese restaurants with delicious food but then they will serve you a bottle of Tiger, which is essentially German lager.”

Craig explained that in China, most Baijiu drinkers are older and have it neat with an evening meal.

In bringing the drink to the UK and adding western elements, he hopes to capture a younger demographic.

He said: “Part of our contemporary twist is that we have infused ours with berries, fruits, a botanical mix.

“We have brought the alcohol down to 40 per cent (from 60 per cent) and worked with blending technology so it works really well with tonics and in cocktails.

“The plan is not just to copy Chinese Baijiu.

“It’s a blend of Chinese Baijiu with some western elements and some twists, it is an evolution of the Chinese spirit.”