# Fire Water for Dessert? Chinese Brand Moutai Launches Baijiu-Infused Ice Cream > Chinese brand Moutai has opened an ice cream shop featuring a 53% liquor and is winning over a younger crowd. Here's the scoop on this fiery dessert. - URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/ohnennaia-voda-na-desert-kytaiskyi-brend-moutai-sozdaet-morozhenoe-s-dobavlenyem-baitsziui/ - Language: en - Published: 2025-12-20 - Categories: Culture, Leisure, Restaurants, Hotels, China, Food & Drinks --- Moutai, a clear and potent spirit known for its remarkably strong flavor, is famous as the drink of choice among many Chinese politicians and businesspeople looking to impress their peers. And now the prestigious brand is hoping to reach a younger crowd by opening its first Moutai ice cream shop, selling sweet treats laced with the notoriously strong spirit, which clocks in at 53% alcohol. The first Moutai ice cream shop opened on May 19 in the lobby of the Moutai International Hotel in the city of Zunyi, in the southwestern province of Guizhou. It is home to the headquarters of the Kweichow Moutai group, which produces the spirit. Moutai is the priciest kind of baijiu, often called China's "national spirit." It is drunk almost exclusively within the country, yet it is the most consumed hard liquor in the world. It is served at practically every celebratory event across the nation, from wedding receptions to business banquets. While the cheapest bottles of baijiu cost as little as $1 in Chinese stores, a bottle of Moutai ranging from 500 to 700 milliliters (18 to 24 fluid ounces) typically sells for anywhere from 1,499 yuan ($223) to over 16,000 yuan ($2,390) for rare vintage bottles. In 2021, a rare case of Moutai sold for over $1 million in London, the highest price ever paid at auction for a single lot of the spirit outside China. ![](https://test.langandtrip.com.ua/wp-content/uploads/de_import_uploads/june-article-image-206-1-2025.jpg) ## What does it taste like? Given that Moutai's powerful flavor has earned it the nickname "fire water," plenty of people in China were curious about what ice cream flavored with the liquor might taste like. The ice cream shop will reportedly offer 14 flavors of Moutai-infused ice cream, including matcha, chocolate and green plum, with prices ranging from 39.9 yuan ($6) to more than 100 yuan ($15) per serving. Those who have already tried the ice cream describe it as having a "light Moutai taste," according to local media reports. Distilled from sorghum and rice, a batch of Moutai goes through eight rounds of underground fermentation over the course of a year, a process that gives the spirit an almost savory flavor reminiscent of soy sauce. Notes of mushroom, caramel and bitter herbs round out its surprisingly rich taste. The shop officially opens on May 29, but for now two Moutai ice cream flavors are available: original Moutai ice cream and vanilla Moutai ice cream, each priced at 39 yuan per serving. ![](https://test.langandtrip.com.ua/wp-content/uploads/de_import_uploads/june-article-image-206-2-2025.jpg) Moutai ice cream is more expensive than Haagen-Dazs, arguably the best-known ice cream brand in China. But while brands like Haagen-Dazs offer cold-chain distribution options, for now Moutai ice cream can only be sampled at the flagship shop. That has left foodies across the country eager to try the baijiu-infused ice cream. "It looks like Moutai ice cream is going to be a sensation. I can't afford the liquor, but I can definitely afford the ice cream. I have to try it someday," read one post on Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging platform. "When will the Moutai ice cream shop open in Beijing too?" asked another. ## Don't eat and drive The Kweichow Moutai distillery is now China's second most valuable publicly listed company, with a market capitalization of over $338 billion. The brand's foray into the world of ice cream has sparked both excitement and debate. A hashtag that translates to "Moutai ice cream costs 39 yuan per serving" racked up over 180 million views on Weibo. But while some considered Moutai a strange choice for an ice cream flavor, many welcomed the innovation. "Why can't there be Moutai ice cream if there's rum ice cream?" wrote one Weibo user. "Moutai's makers could also release ice cream to match the Moutai vintage series. Salted baijiu-flavored ice cream could also become a market worth watching," said another. Some are already looking forward to the next crossover, hoping for chocolate, coffee and milk tea infused with Moutai. Even so, netizens were quick to question the potential effects of eating alcohol-infused ice cream. "Will a person get drunk after eating one cone if they can't handle alcohol at all?" Produced jointly by the Kweichow Moutai group and one of China's largest dairy companies, Mengniu Dairy, the ice cream contains 50 grams of Moutai per kilogram of milk, staff from the Moutai International Hotel's customer service told local media. Because it has an alcohol concentration of 3%, the research and development team advises consumers not to drive after eating it, and minors are barred from buying it. Moutai is not the first brand to get a little adventurous with China's national spirit. Baijiu-infused pizza and gummy bears have already hit the market, and one chef in Beijing invented a baijiu-laced fried pie.