ditdajow question for dale (and other tcm blokes)...

[Dale Dugas]

Pretty much you can use any form of booze. Some people like to use Rice Wine whether Bai Jiu(which is Rice Vodka basically. . .

Spoken like someone who has never truly "known" bai jiu.

Aside from the taste, Baijiu is almost never made from rice. So far, and I have sampled many, none of the baijiu that I have drank even has rice as an ingredient. It's made mainly from sorghum but often blended with wheat, barley, corn and other grains. Baijiu is more of a northerners concoction (Except for Sichuan where they make the best in the nation and a few Shanghai brands not worth mentioning) so they generally have not had rice available to make it from. Rice is usually made into huangjiu which is sort of like sherry but not as sweet. . . ok, a dry sherry. That stuff is sort of vaguely like Sake.

Most people think baijiu is made form rice because the only other Asian liquor they are acquainted with is Sake which is typically made from rice. Not baijiu. The best baijiu I have had comes from Manchuria but all my "regular" brands come from either Sichuan or from Shaanxi where they do their best to copy the Sichuan style.

For tie da jiu I use either vodka or, if it's available, everclear. Depends on the formula. I got one formula online that I really liked that went well with vodka but it also included ingredients that were illegal in the states, mainly "she xiang" aka "musk", the musk glands of a certain kind of deer. The other formula I have is Yip Man's and also has a few illicit ingredients but you can get it made in Chinatown in SF. The Richmond district stores won't make it for you. Down on Grant St., if you speak Chinese or are at least a regular in the shop, they will mix if the herbs for you.

Everclear and vodka.

Omar,

I lived in Japan and their Shochu is Rice Vodka. They do not make it out of wheat, as they do not grow much of it, but grow rice.

anything can be distilled from weak booze to stronger alkie.

I was trying to just make the distinction between rice wines, and distilled versions which can remove paint, and your stomach lining.

Its all good brother.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

[bailewen]

All if well my friend.

I'm pretty sure that Shoju is not the same thing as baijiu. I'd need to see the label to know for sure but just based on the impressions that the local baijiu seemed to make with the local Japanese foreign exchange students, I'd say that baijiu is as foreign to Japanese as it is to Americans. Ed would know better than I.

Regardless, I don't think there's any magic to it with regards to which alchohol you use for did da jow. The magic is in the drinking. and then

Your actual point is well taken though. Rubbing alcohol is chemically different from the alcohol produced by yeast.

[ashe]

I thought rubbing alcohol was basically just wood grain alcohol and that any distilled liquor could become wood grain if the distillation wasn't done right.

[bailewen]

I failed organic chemistry and that's part of why I changed my major to Chinese but even us chemical failures learned enough to know that one gets you drunk and the other gets you dead.

Rubbing alcohol is isopropyl (C3H8O ):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol

Drinking alcohol is C6O2Na4

"Alcohol" covers a WIDE range of VERY different chemicals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol

I thought the gif about half way down the page was pretty illustrative of just how different different alcohols can be.

[Peacedog]

For what it is worth I've used dark rum with some of Dale's kits and the results were excellent.

[ashe]

I failed organic chemistry and that's part of why I changed my major to Chinese but even us chemical failures learned enough to know that one gets you drunk and the other gets you dead.

Rubbing alcohol is isopropyl (C3H8O ):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol

Drinking alcohol is C6O2Na4

"Alcohol" covers a WIDE range of VERY different chemicals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol

I thought the gif about half way down the page was pretty illustrative of just how different different alcohols can be.

See, I didn't think that woodgrain was even potable.

Just in case people thought otherwise, I certainly wasn't suggesting that it ever be ok to put rubbing alcohol in an internal formula. My question was strictly in regards to external formulas.

[Dale Dugas]

From Wiki:
"Isopropyl alcohol is oxidized by the liver into acetone via Alcohol dehydrogenase. Symptoms of isopropyl alcohol poisoning include flushing, headache, dizziness, CNS depression, nausea, vomiting, anesthesia, and coma. Use in well-ventilated areas and use protective gloves while using. Poisoning can occur from ingestion, inhalation, or absorption."

Like I said before. rubbing alcohol is dangerous to use in any form of dit da jow formulae. Internal or external.

[ashe]

or absorption."