You've Probably Never Heard Of The World's Most Popular Liquor

If we asked you, "What's the world's most popular liquor?" what would you say? To get a vague idea, we asked the editors here at The Daily Meal this exact question.

Keep in mind, the question was referring to the most popular liquor in the world, not in America. After gathering the editors' results (most of whom guessed vodka, whiskey, and rum), we figured there is a chance a few editors forgot about the hundreds of different of types of liquors enjoyed all across the globe. (Surprisingly, only one guessed Fireball. Who doesn't love Fireball?)

The world's most popular liquor is Baijiu. Baijiu, a Chinese liquor, is typically made from the grain sorghum. According to a research report from McKinsey & Co., it accounts about $23 billion in sales annually.

If you're wondering why the most popular liquor isn't an American one, here's the reason: There's 1.3 billion people in China.

China has four-times the amount of people than the U.S., and Baijiu is an important part of the country's rich culture. In other words, if you're in China, you'll rarely come across an occasion where Baijiu isn't at the table. If there's a bottle of Baijiu at every dinner table in China, and there's 1.3 billion people living there, the number of people sipping on it this spirit is through the roof.

Now that you know the world's most popular liquor, we have another question: Can you pronounce it? It's pronounced 'bye-jyoh'.