# Does Taiwan have anything like Virginia moon shine? Is it like 38/58 wine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Food & Drink\ **Tags:** booze\ **Created:** [April 7, 2021, 11:43am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201 "2021-04-07T11:43:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PeiHua-Connie](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@PeiHua-Connie](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/PeiHua-Connie)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 11:25am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/21 "2021-04-09T11:25:58Z")
> [@crusher](#): > > In Taiwan they have a distilled drink made from Asian Giant Hornets. It is pretty expensive. One way to get rid of pest, if it is a pest (not sure how much bother they are to people or they just mind their own business) ---
**Author:** ![Explant](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/explant/32/130551_2.png) [@Explant](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Explant)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 11:28am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/22 "2021-04-09T11:28:52Z")
Correct me if im wrong, bu moonshine tends to have deep roots with illegal likker. probably all distilled high proof is moonshine, but when.legal it gets a fancy name with taxes. ---
**Author:** ![PeiHua-Connie](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@PeiHua-Connie](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/PeiHua-Connie)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 12:51pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/23 "2021-04-11T12:51:45Z")
> [@DrewC](#): > > Arkansas Diner in Kaohsiung sells some drink they call moonshine, but it sounds a lot weaker (only 40 proof) compared to the real stuff. Be careful with real moonshine if your tolerance is low. I visited but did not try it this afternoon, maybe if I go back in the evening I will try as worried it was too strong. Food was good, different from other American places but good. ---
**Author:** ![PeiHua-Connie](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@PeiHua-Connie](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/PeiHua-Connie)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 10:33am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/24 "2021-04-12T10:33:02Z")
> [@Explant](#): > > Correct me if im wrong, bu moonshine tends to have deep roots with illegal likker. probably all distilled high proof is moonshine, but when.legal it gets a fancy name with taxes. I guess so in some places. In Taiwan I saw Moon shine bar in Hsinchu and Moonshine Motel B&B so here maybe = strong drink. ---
**Author:** ![PeiHua-Connie](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@PeiHua-Connie](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/PeiHua-Connie)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/25 "2022-01-30T23:58:04Z")
I saw this place, but maybe not real Moonshine > **[台北大安\_Moonshine Coffee Roasters 相見恨晚的好喝咖啡、澳洲式早午餐 - Banbi 斑比美食旅遊](https://banbi.tw/moonshine-coffee/)** > > Moonshine Coffee 在遠企附近開了二店，新的「Moonshine Coffee ---
**Author:** ![crusher](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/crusher/32/235005_2.png) [@crusher](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/crusher)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2022, 12:30am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/26 "2022-01-31T00:30:50Z")
> [@PeiHua-Connie](#): > > I saw this place, but maybe not real Moonshine > > [台北大安\_Moonshine Coffee Roasters 相見恨晚的好喝咖啡、澳洲式早午餐 - Banbi 斑比美食旅遊](https://banbi.tw/moonshine-coffee/) That is a coffee house. Taiwan has illegally distilled beverages often with hornets added. It tastes terrible. “A friend” of mine once had some illegally distilled rice wine and “he” cannot remember if it was good , as it got him drunk too fast. There is not a huge demand for that kind of thing , some of the indigenous mountain tribes distill. ---
**Author:** ![Explant](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/explant/32/130551_2.png) [@Explant](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Explant)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 6:02am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/27 "2022-02-02T06:02:56Z")
What he said. But its still pretty common. Old guys especially like it. Its not super super high proof, its essently gaoliang~like. Inlaws here get i t delivered every 2 weeks. 1200/5 liter water jug i think they pay. They say its good. I disagree. We all agree its cheap. ---
**Author:** ![finley](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/57b2e6/32.png) [@finley](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/finley)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 6:16am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/28 "2022-02-02T06:16:23Z")
There used to be some guys in Nantou distilling pineapple liquor. It was only about 20something percent, but it was very nice. Actually tasted of pineapples and none of the vile off-flavours that they seem to deliberately add to gaoliang. You had to know people who knew people to obtain it. ---
**Author:** ![nz](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@nz](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/nz)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 3:19pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/29 "2022-02-02T15:19:39Z")
> [@Brianjones](#): > > The problem with real moonshine is they might add methanol or any kind of adulterant I thought the concern there was that you can’t tell alcohol from methanol based on taste, and that homebrews/ distilled have a not low chance of producing methanol. I don’t think people add it on purpose but rather that it’s a mistake that isn’t hard to make but will kill you ---
**Author:** ![Explant](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/explant/32/130551_2.png) [@Explant](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Explant)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/30 "2022-02-02T19:16:18Z")
> [@finley](#): > > There used to be some guys in Nantou distilling pineapple liquor. It was only about 20something percent, but it was very nice. Actually tasted of pineapples and none of the vile off-flavours that they seem to deliberately add to gaoliang. You had to know people who knew people to obtain it. Quite the opposite problem. They dont add that ahit, the simply dont separate it. It would be counter productive to add extra distilled alcohols…makes no sense. Thats why Gaoliang is so nasty, they include more heads and tails to the ethanol which gives it that distinctive flavor (and anger/hangover). For those that dont follow. Google the temperatre distillate charts that describe whichcommon things evaporate at various temperatures to see how that works. Distillation is simply a form of chromatography that uses temperatures. Note methanol, isopropyl, ethanol, acetone water etc are all normal products from simple feremntations. ---
**Author:** ![Steve4nLanguage](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/steve4nlanguage/32/180867_2.png) [@Steve4nLanguage](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Steve4nLanguage)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 2:08am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/31 "2022-02-03T02:08:27Z")
Speaking of gaoliang, I bought this three-bottle set recently, obviously for the mahjong bottles. I’ve drunk gaoliang half a dozen times since arriving in Taiwan and each time I swear never again 🤢 This time I mean it—I will _never_ open these bottles. ![IMG_20220102_180456](https://forumosauploads-12829.kxcdn.com/original/3X/2/c/2c382a22834c28b536fa07ea3175fb5f807cf8a8.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![finley](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/57b2e6/32.png) [@finley](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/finley)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 3:15am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/32 "2022-02-03T03:15:19Z")
> [@Explant](#): > > They dont add that ahit, the simply dont separate it. It would be counter productive to add extra distilled alcohols…makes no sense. Thats why Gaoliang is so nasty, they include more heads and tails to the ethanol which gives it that distinctive flavor (and anger/hangover). Usually when you distill anything though it comes off in a sequence of fractions that you keep separate, and then they’re blended back to make the final drink; that way you get a consistent taste. The foreshot is the methanol, the tails is just random off-flavours. Presumably they’re adding back a certain amount of heads/tails that they really shouldn’t - I guess they’re trying to emulate some long-ago moonshine flavour from the days when there wasn’t much science in making gaoliang. ---
**Author:** ![crusher](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/crusher/32/235005_2.png) [@crusher](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/crusher)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 5:38am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/33 "2022-02-03T05:38:06Z")
Popcorn explains [![](https://forumosauploads-12829.kxcdn.com/original/3X/c/8/c84982bbe4fbf5dc5bde2c58feca5f639ce4467c.jpeg "more moonshining with Popcorn Sutton") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ7b3EqsB6o) ---
**Author:** ![finley](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/57b2e6/32.png) [@finley](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/finley)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:01am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/34 "2022-02-03T06:01:05Z")
LOL cigarette in his mouth and a litre of neat ethanol between his knees. That’s one lucky old guy. ---
**Author:** ![crusher](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/crusher/32/235005_2.png) [@crusher](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/crusher)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 6:44am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/35 "2022-02-03T06:44:30Z")
> [@finley](#): > > LOL cigarette in his mouth and a litre of neat ethanol between his knees. That’s one lucky old guy. He did it for years, eventually about a year after that video was posted on Youtube the Feds busted him, and he was due jail time, so he suicided rather than go inside (Apparently) A large company has copied his recipee and put his name on the label “Sutton’s Moonshine” or something. I think he let them do that before he passed away , not.sure. ---
**Author:** ![Explant](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/explant/32/130551_2.png) [@Explant](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Explant)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 12:53pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/36 "2022-02-03T12:53:53Z")
> [@finley](#): > > > [@Explant](#): > > > > They dont add that ahit, the simply dont separate it. It would be counter productive to add extra distilled alcohols…makes no sense. Thats why Gaoliang is so nasty, they include more heads and tails to the ethanol which gives it that distinctive flavor (and anger/hangover). > > Usually when you distill anything though it comes off in a sequence of fractions that you keep separate, and then they’re blended back to make the final drink; that way you get a consistent taste. The foreshot is the methanol, the tails is just random off-flavours. Presumably they’re adding back a certain amount of heads/tails that they really shouldn’t - I guess they’re trying to emulate some long-ago moonshine flavour from the days when there wasn’t much science in making gaoliang. Your optimism inspires me. Usually ,though, a good many just extend the ethanol fraction on either end toget more volume . You are right but in these cases i think you may be giving the backwater black market industry here too much credit hehe 😉 ---
**Author:** ![PeiHua-Connie](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a4c791/32.png) [@PeiHua-Connie](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/PeiHua-Connie)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2022, 11:43pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/37 "2022-02-06T23:43:56Z")
> [@Steve4nLanguage](#): > > Speaking of gaoliang, I bought this three-bottle set recently, obviously for the mahjong bottles. I’ve drunk gaoliang half a dozen times since arriving in Taiwan and each time I swear never again 🤢 This time I mean it—I will _never_ open these bottles. > > ![IMG_20220102_180456](https://forumosauploads-12829.kxcdn.com/original/3X/2/c/2c382a22834c28b536fa07ea3175fb5f807cf8a8.jpeg) Nice find ! ---
**Author:** ![finley](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/57b2e6/32.png) [@finley](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/finley)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 12:42pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/38 "2022-02-07T12:42:46Z")
Trust the gubmint to create a problem where none existed in the first place (apart from the possibility of “great balls of fire” somewhere out in the woods). ---
**Author:** ![tempogain](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/tempogain/32/264650_2.png) [@tempogain](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/tempogain)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/39 "2022-02-07T14:55:14Z")
I once drank some from this guy who makes it from mangoes. It was amazing, hot going down but smoooth and nice fruity aftertaste. ---
**Author:** ![marasan](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/marasan/32/181721_2.png) [@marasan](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/marasan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 3:07pm UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201/40 "2022-02-07T15:07:18Z")
Go for anything “cask strength” and you start getting up there in the abv. Here’s some 60% Glenfarclas available at many liquor stores. Edit: 190 proof (or whatever it was) pure grain alcohol with orange juice. Stay away from that stuff. I still can’t stand all clear whiskies as a result of the bad memories. ![IMG_20210703_190343~2](https://forumosauploads-12829.kxcdn.com/original/3X/b/7/b7de27072b1d7e8203e67471fbd700a0d0a31319.jpeg) [Previous page](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201.md?page=1) [Next page](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/does-taiwan-have-anything-like-virginia-moon-shine-is-it-like-38-58-wine/205201.md?page=3)