We Tried Baijiu Flavored Pocky and it's Surprisingly Good

‘We Try It’ is a regular series where we try the latest off-beat food and beverage offerings.

Popular baijiu brand Jiangxiaobai has taken its youth-oriented marketing to a new low by teaming up with Japanese snack brand Pocky. The result is surprisingly delicious, regardless of your opinion on the fierce liquor itself.

When we first open the bag, we are met with the distinct aroma of the alcoholic elixir, sending shivers up our spines. The cookie has the signature snap from which Pocky gets its onomatopoeic Japanese name.

The crisp, somewhat fruity flavor of Jiangxiaobai baijiu is perfectly captured in the creamy coating. Without the swift kick of alcohol, the taste can truly be enjoyed and if the goal is to introduce more people to baijiu, then this would be an excellent first step. 

As far as letting your children try, we should note that the alcohol content is less than 0.1%.

READ MORE: We Tried Peach and Apple Baijiu and It Tastes like Candy

For those of you who don’t have a sweet tooth, Pocky came around in 1966 as a thin cookie stick dipped almost entirely in chocolate. Since gaining popularity around the globe, the chocolate has been swapped for more than 50 different flavor iterations from cheesecake to pumpkin apple. This is also not the first time that Pocky has released an alcohol-flavored cookie. In 2016, a lightly salted chocolate flavor called Adult Amber was released as a whiskey pairing.

Jiangxiaobai is a popular brand of baijiu in China that is heavily marketing its products to millenials in countries all around the world. The liquor itself is made from sorghum, fermented for 28 to 30 days in a stone pit and then distilled in traditional Chinese pot-stills. It is then aged for a further two years in a combination of ceramic and steel vessels. While boasting a somewhat traditional method of making the spirit, the brand is anything but traditional in its marketing towards young adults.

Price: RMB5.7 (on JD.com)
Who’s eating them: Baijiu drinkers

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[Cover image via Joshua Cawthorpe for That’s]