A Taiwanese liquor made of lychees and honey was awarded a gold medal at the just-concluded Concours Mondial de Bruxelles — Spirits Selection 2014 held in Florianopolis, Brazil.
It was the second major achievement for a Taiwanese liquor this year, after a golden muscat fortified dessert wine developed won a gold medal at the Vinalies Internationales wine competition held in Paris in March.
Both winning products were developed by Chen Chien-hao (陳千浩), an assistant professor at National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism.
Chen said the success of the lychee and honey liquor was another big step forward for the nation in the global alcoholic beverage market.
He said using honey as an ingredient for liquor is challenging because the moisture level in honey can vary by year and the natural phenols contained in honey may destabilize the fermentation.
After many failures, Chen said he succeeded by using a special organic yeast from Europe.
The technology was transferred to the Wu Feng District Farmers’ Association last year for mass production, he added.
The Concours Mondial de Bruxelles — Spirits Selection has been held for 14 years.
A total of 600 spirits from 40 countries were submitted for assessment by a panel of nearly 40 international and professional tasters during this year’s competition, which was held from Friday to Sunday.
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