Tibetan wine (Tibetan-made shochu) is a low-alcohol shochu made from wheat or highland barley through fermentation. It has a light and mellow taste, about 20-30 degrees. The shochu in Mangkang County in eastern Tibet and Yadong County in the border area is famous for its uniqueness.
Tibetan wine does not only refer to highland barley wine, which is just a type of Tibetan wine. Tibetan wine, as the name suggests, means "the wine produced in Tibetan areas", such as "Sichuan wine". Tibetan wine includes: highland barley wine, health wine prepared with Tibetan medicine and ecological grain wine produced in Tibetan areas, etc. Among them, highland barley wine is divided into puree highland barley wine and modified highland barley wine (commonly known as "secretly brewed highland barley wine", such as Tangfanqing series Tibetan wine).
Ancient Tibetans drank many types of alcohol. According to the ancient Tibetan scroll "Bon Religion Funeral Rituals" unearthed in Dunhuang, the wines that Tubo drank in the early days included rice wine, wheat wine, wine, honey wine and highland barley wine. The Sino-Tibetan cultural exchange that developed with the marriage between Tang and Tibet enabled the Tibetans to master the double-fermentation winemaking method introduced from the inland.
Singing wine songs is a major feature of Tibetan drinking. On important occasions (such as wedding banquets, village gatherings, etc.), when toasting guests with wine, they should first sing wine songs with the wine glasses in their hands. The lyrics are mostly improvised, and the content is all words of praise and blessing. When singing wine songs, the body must dance to the rhythm, but the wine in the cup must never be spilled. Sometimes the guests also sang wine songs in return, and the atmosphere was very lively, pushing the banquet to a climax.
