The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-06-20
A MANDARIN'S WINE LIST.
The Oriental Drinks HOmOeopathi-
caIIy and Only mt His Meals.

Inc OrlehtoI Drlnks homeopathic
caIIy and Only MT His Meals.
From the New York Post.
There is a dim analogy between the
Monaghan and Caucasian bill of fare
so far as the potables are concerned.
Each uses a mild narcotic the tea of
the East replacing the coffee of the
West. But the water, the carafe. and
the goblet of the latter are unknown to
the former. In place of water, tea is
the universal beverage. In wines, the
Chinese epicure has evolved his own
system, which has little in common
with that of any other civilization. He
loves vincus favors, but has horror
of inebriety. He therefore drinks
homoeopathically and only at his
meals. The large chalice of the Roman
bon vivant, the drinking horn of the
Norseman, are strangers to him. The
tumbler of England and the cham
payne glass of France would excite
his disgust on account of their large
capacity. His own drinking cup is a
mere film of porcelain, scarcely larger
than woman's thimble. When using
this, he sips the contents drop by drop
rather than by mouthfuls. At the end
of a long meal he seldom has consumed
half pint of spirituous fluid.
His wine list is long one, and is
much more varied than that Of Chris
tendon. His vim ordinaire is shoa-
shing, light reddish wine. of rather
pleasant flavor. something like a sher-
ry of agreeable aroma and small alco-
holic strength In stimulating quality
it may be placed on a par with ordi-
nary claret. At all meals this is the
first vinous fluid to be served and at
many it is the only one. When more
than one wine Is used, the fluids are
served in a regular sequence.
For a small banquet, the shoa-shing
is followed by four others, each OF a
different type. In a large banquet,
each guest selects one Of type OF
which there may be ten or twelve Of
fered by the stewards. The first
group are light distilIates, whose basis
is milIet brandy which are favored
afterwards. This group is very numer-
Gus, and comprises hundred or more
recognized varieties. The favorites are
fine in number-kao-liang, which bears
a resemblance to old Bourbon whisky;
,whdJ1chia-peh, which is similar to
the first, but favored with melon;
mew-kwai-loo, favored with rose and
often called rose dew; Yeng-toa or
Ting-toa, which Is favored with
cherry. Though this group Is distill-
ed, the distillate contains much wa
ter, so that the strength is about as
great as that of a well-fortified sher-
~ or port The second group is a
stronger distillate, and is made
by dlstilling rice wine. The four
leading varieties Of this class are tan
chins, shan ching, lao ben, shen ching
or suey gin, which are practically rice
brandies favored with spices, and
have their nearest prototypes In un-
sweetened liqueurs such as kirsch
wasser. khmmel, sloe gin, and slivo-
witch or plum brandy.
In the third group are the distillates
made from glutinous rice, or which
three varieties are distinguished by the
Chinese. These are bok-no-ma-jao,
hok-no-ma-Jao, and hung-no-ma-Jao
The fiavoring Is a combination of
fruits and spices, which is agreeable
to the Occidental as well as the Orien-
tai palate. The trio are exceedingly
popular In the southern provinces Of
China, where they are almost ay much
In vogue as the shoa-shing.
In the fourth group are the fruit
vines, or, better still, the essence wines