The endosperm of the sorghum grain is either waxy or non-waxy. Traditional Chinese liquors such as ‘Moutai’ and ‘Wuliangye’ are brewed with waxy sorghum as main feedstock. It is of great significance to clarify the waxy phenotype with efficient approaches in breeding and marketing. There are several methods such as staining and cooking, available for clarifying the waxy sorghum and non-waxy sorghum. However, these methods due to the limitation of efficiency might restrict the breeding for elite waxy sorghum varieties. In this study, four improved or newly-developed methods including cutting, hot water gelatinization staining, cold water smashing-staining as well as field-applicable pollen staining are suggested. We believed that deployment of these four methods is able to improve the efficiency on identification. The application of the four methods in waxy sorghum breeding program and their applicability are further discussed.