Yi Ethnicity's Traditional Liquor

Last updated 2026-11-13 — Yi Ethnicity's Traditional Liquor When talking about the traditional liquor brewed by the Yi people, the shop owner becomes very enthusiastic, explaining why the Yi’s homemade liquor has such a rich and mellow flavor. The Yi people have been drinking alcohol since ancient times, and their brewing tradition is said to have a history and culture spanning over a thousand years. As evidenced in the Yi drinking song: "If you like it, drink it; if you don’t like it, you still must drink it; whether you like it or not, you must drink it." — this shows the Yi people’s deep love for liquor. One cannot discuss Yi culture without mentioning liquor, because their passion for it has led the Yi ancestors to develop unique brewing techniques and create liquor with distinct flavors. The traditional Yi liquor is brewed using primitive methods involving nine steps: first, the grains (mainly sorghum, buckwheat, corn, and wheat) are washed; then they are placed in a wooden steamer for initial steaming; next, the grains are cooked in an iron pot; after that, they are steamed again in a wooden steamer; then cooled on a cooling bed. The first fermentation takes place in a fermentation box for 30 hours, followed by the second fermentation in a fermentation bottle for 9–12 days; the grains are then steamed in a wooden steamer to produce the finished liquor, after which the distilled grains are removed.