samshoo or samshu is the Western name, of dubious etymology, for the rice baijiu sailors and merchants encountered in southeastern China beginning in the seventeenth century. It was both prized and feared. The term, first attested to in William Dampier’s 1697 New voyage Round the World, fell out of use in the twentieth century, most likely because in many Chinese ports then under colonial rule, Western sailors were able to drink spirits more familiar to them. See baijiu.
Sandhaus, Derek. “Don’t Drink the Samshoo.” 300 Shots at Greatness, September 18, 2012. https://300shots.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/dont-drink-the-samshu/ (accessed April 1, 2021).
By: David Wondrich