Ghost of Christmas past…

by Mark Forman on December 26, 2008

I was just thinking about my first Christmas in Taiwan some 21 years ago. I got roped into being Santa for a friends party. Some expat engineering guy at his fancy TienMu house. When it came time to some adult beverage refreshment he asked me, "Did you ever have KaoLiang?" I replied, "no" with quite a puzzled look on my face. He poured out a shot and got me a fresh Taiwan Beer. Before I touched my glass he explained to me that KaoLiang had a taste similar to rocket fuel. How is it that so many equate any paint peeling might strong spirit to "rocket fuel" just like any rarely eaten animal meat: snake, wombat, ant-eater,etc. is inevitably compared to chicken?

Anyway, my friend the host told me t take the shot of KaoLiang in one hand and the beer in the other. Once I downed it I needed to chug some taiwan Beer without breathing, passing Go, or collecting the $200 of Monopoly money. Fine, batter up! Whoaaah baby-hold the phone. That thing kicked like a mule on crack. I had discovered Chinese Tequila, or maybe even Mescal sans the worm. It burned like fire going down and bit like a pit bull. The oddest thing was about 15 minutes later I checked my watch thi9nking hours had past-in fact, it was only minutes. Wow-that stuff was pretty trippy and 116 proof. Another inebriated Santa hits the sleigh...

Nowadays I don't drink very much and KaoLiang has come out in the more palatable 76 proof variety, but I'm still more inclined to use it in cooking rather than straight down the hatch. It also is made into vinegar which is quite delicious. FYI-KaoLiang is the Chinese name for sorghum, a common cereal grain. Ho, ho, ho.