Traditional brewing techniques for blended liquor (traditional brewing techniques for chrysanthemum liquor)
Chrysanthemum wine is a must-have drink for the Double Ninth Festival, and its brewing history is long. The imperial chrysanthemum liquor of the Ming and Qing dynasties was a precious liquor created on the basis of folk chrysanthemum liquor and combined with the special needs of the court. It uses chrysanthemum as the main ingredient, supplemented by more than 20 precious Chinese medicinal materials such as ginseng, wolfberry, and agarwood, and is mixed and distilled with the base wine. It has the effects of nourishing the liver and improving eyesight, dispersing wind and clearing heat, invigorating qi and strengthening the spleen, and nourishing yin and tonifying the kidney. The time-honored brand "Renhe" founded in the mid-18th century specializes in making imperial wine for the court. During the Tongzhi period, it obtained the secret recipe for making chrysanthemum liquor from the palace, which has been passed down for seven generations. The brewing technique of chrysanthemum liquor inherits the traditional process of solid-state fermentation and solid-state distillation of distilled liquor, combined with the production process of dew liquor, to form a set of special distillation processes that mainly focus on aroma enhancement and impurity removal, solid-liquid combination, and segmented wine extraction. This kind of wine has a long brewing cycle, which takes about eight months. The main processes include pretreatment, distillation, blending, and aging. The brewed chrysanthemum liquor is crystal clear and colorless, and combines the fragrance of chrysanthemum, medicine and wine, with an attractive fragrance. The brewing technique of chrysanthemum liquor has strict requirements on the materials and the craftsmanship. Its formula is scientific and rigorous, in line with the theory of Chinese medicine prescriptions, and embodies the practical experience of traditional Chinese medicine. It advocates health care with wine and health care with medicine. It has high scientific value and plays a positive role in improving the physical fitness of the people and improving the quality of life of the people. Chrysanthemum liquor is based on the Double Ninth Festival and has a certain seasonality. In addition, due to the high brewing cost and low efficiency of manual production, the relevant brewing techniques have developed slowly and the inheritance has been hindered, which needs protection and rescue.