Spirits in Chinese Medicine - Roots tonics and other delights
A few days ago I came into some peculiar homemade alcoholic mixtures - one in particular looked like it had rosebuds in it and indeed, it smelled of roses. The label read "Calms the spirit". Another was a "Move wind-damp bi" and another simply listed the ingredients.
The only herbal concoctions I've made only give me a headache... I need something to cool my constitution down a bit rather than heating it up more.
Anybody got any favorite recipes?
I hear 100 grams of gou qi zi (chinese wolfberry) soaked in 2 liters of brandy for a month yields a good tonic for keeping your kidney essence in place :rolleyes:
peace
herb ox
Just stay away from the Flying Fairy jiu, herb ox...
...I know it's your favorite, but it's simply not good for you. You'll go blind.
Jack and the flying fairy
Yeah, thanks for that, bro. Now that freakin' Flying Fairy wine is taking up space in my liquor cabinet. Not enough room for my JD now and that's just wrong. That reminds me - my JD bottle is empty; I'm due for a trip to BevMo.
I don't care for Gentleman Jack...
...and I do like JD. The idea of a high end JD is funny to me, like a premium budweiser or something. Don't get me wrong, I love JD.
But surely every form of alcohol has slightly different qualities, just like any medicine may elicit different side effects in different people. It's personal chemistry mixed with external elements. Everyone has their liquor of preference, which is not only the result of conditioning (my dad was a JD drinker) but also each individual's personal constitution. You may have good results with Shaoxing, but it might make some one else puke their guts out. I could tell an absinthe story here, but I won't. ;)
I'm sure some people - chemists, brewers, vinters, distillers and many of our armchair know-it-all members here - could wax poetic and rant scientific about reasons for one alcohol being superior as the non-hangover elixer, but you should know from experience that's just their ego talking. One of my relatives collects wine; he's an anesthesiologist by trade and a gourmet by fashion and will endlessly expound on the superiority of wine to any other alcohol on the planet. I appreciate fine wine, but it tends to give me a headache a few hours after drinking it. That's just my weird body chemistry, gleened from years of failed experiments. As any alchemical researcher knows, a man's got to know his limitations.