The Chinese herbal medicine, NPI‐028, has been used for centuries in China to counteract alcohol intoxication. The present study used a number of different experimental conditions to determine whether NPI‐028 and its derivatives might selectively influence alcohol intake in rodents that naturally exhibit high alcohol intakes. It was determined that intraperitoneal (IP) injections of NPI‐028 (0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 g/kg) suppressed alcohol intake by up to 30% in both alcohol‐preferring P and Fawn‐Hooded (FH) rats during a continuous access schedule. These injections did not significantly affect food or water intakes, nor did the highest dose of NPI‐028 (1 g/kg) alter blood ethanol levels after an IP injection of 2.5 g/kg of ethanol. In P rats, it was found that NPI‐028 was orally active with the dose of 1.5 g/kg having a greater effect on ethanol intake than the 1.0 g/kg dose; once again, food and water intakes were not significantly altered. In FH rats maintained on a limited access schedule (1 hr/day), alcohol intake was completely abolished by 1.5 g/kg of NPI‐028. Chronic IP administration of NPI‐028 (0.75 g/kg) for four consecutive days in FH rats maintained on a continuous access schedule did not lead to any diminution of its alcohol‐suppressant effects. Thus, NPI‐028 has significant effects on alcohol intake without much effect on water and food intake, and tolerance does not readily develop to these effects. The IP administration of a partially purified extract (NPI‐031) of NPI‐028, obtained by countercurrent chromatography, also dose‐dependently suppressed ethanol intake in FH rats, but the highest dose (200 mg/kg) also significantly decreased food intake. Finally, the IP administration of puerarin (NPI‐31G), an isoflavone isolated from NPI‐031 by countercurrent chromatography, significantly reduced ethanol intake in FH rats without affecting food or water intake. Therefore, NPI‐028 and one of its pure components, NPI‐031G, selectively reduced ethanol intake in alcohol‐preferring rats.