A guide to Korean alcohol
Published Mar 8, 2018 12:05 am
By Kaye Estoista-Koo
WINE TRADITION : The traditional way of making rice wine at home, starting with makgeolli then takju then yakju and ending with the final product, soju
When you think of Korean alcohol, one image instantly comes to mind: the green bottle. In just about every Korean show, you will find the main characters indulging in this ubiquitous drink. Sadly, the green bottle which we simply know as soju, is actually a very young, modern-day fabrication. Korean Rice Liquor Sommelier and Soy and Rice Modern Traditions founder Jisung Chun is on a mission to dispel the image of the green bottle soju as the only thing we think about when one says Korean alcohol. “In fact, there are over 2,000 different kinds of alcohol! Even Koreans are not familiar with it,” she says. “If you ask a Korean and ask what is the Korean national drink is, they will answer the green bottle soju. But there is so much more out there.”
Korean alcohol can be divided into makgeolli, takju, yakju, and soju. In one drink, one can actually make makgeolli, yaku, and then soju.
Makgeolli is usually less than 10 percent liquor content and comes in a plastic bottle or container. It is best to drink it from a bowl-size ceramic cup, a tin cup, or even a mug. It can be made from rice or wheat mixed with nuruk, a Korean yeast, and water and looks milky, off-white in color.
Takju, unrefined alcohol, looks just like makgeolli but is higher in alcohol content at 10 to 19 percent. Served in smaller cups, takju has the rice sediments at the bottom, making it cloudy. Once you shake it, it becomes makgeolli.
WINE TRADITION : the JooAnSang or drink table setting display showing four different ways that kings of old would entertain their guests
Jisung relates how women of old like takju. She says, “It’s so thick, you can drink it with a spoon so it does not look at all like you are drinking.”
Yakju, refined alcohol, is more of a clear liquid drink with no rice sediments and resembles wine, coming in at 12 to 19 percent liquor content. A yakju is best enjoyed in a small ceramic glass or even a wine glass. Soju is made when you distill the beverage, creating a drink with up to 73 percent alcohol content, and because it is quite potent, soju is best sipped slowly in a shot glass.
To achieve this deeper appreciation of Korean alcohol, Jisung partnered with the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines (KCC) for a special exhibit called Korean Sool “to show that there are more to Korean drinks than the green bottle, to show there are a lot of variety with a long history, and the first first step is to understand that with this exhibit.”
Sool, or alcohol, is a fundamental element of the country’s history, culture, and traditions. KCC director Chris Choi explains, “Korea has a long tradition of consuming liquor in celebrating holidays, ancestral rites, exchange of good will between co-workers and friends.” France has its wine, Germany its beer, Russia its vodka, and Choi wants the world to better appreciate this aspect of Korea’s tradition. “Korean Sool’s” main purpose is to let guests walk through the exhibit and experience the culture of Korea then and now through its food and drinks. It’s about seeing the people enjoy their sool and appreciating the whole process of brewing, the methods, the traditions, and the different types of drinks available.
It took the KCC and Jisung Chun a year to put together “Korean Sool," the first of its kind alcohol-themed exhibit outside Korea. The closest would be the Sool Gallery, a museum for Korean alcohol in Gangnam, Seoul where Jisung worked before. Already, New York, where Jisung’s family is based, is excited about bringing “Korean Sool” to life there.
With the spotlight firmly on Korea after the 2018 Winter Olympics, Korean culture is riding a huge wave of success also coming from last year’s consistent exposure of its food. Director Choi feels it’s a natural flow to go from food to drinks and understand this steady component of Korean history. “Sool has a deep-rooted meaning in everyday life and this exhibit helps everyone understand more of Korean culture and building a better appreciation of it.”
Jisung has already started the movement by coming up with pairing events and special menus to show how well different kinds of Korean alcohol work with a variety of cuisines.
Jisung explains, “In Korea, Cheontong-ju, or Korean traditional alcohol; has three categories: liquor produced by a person designated as an asset or Korean Intangible Cultural Assets; liquor produced by a person designated as a Korean Food/Drink grandmaster; or liquor produced by a farm organization or produced using local ingredients.”
A SOOL NEARLY LOST.
So if Korean alcohol is so diverse, what exactly is it and why have we not heard of all of these different kinds of Korean alcohol? For that, we will have to go back in history.
The reason, Jisung reveals, why Korean liquor traditions nearly disappeared is because during the Japanese colonization of Korea, there was a nationwide crackdown on homebrewing. During the Joseon dynasty, it was tradition that every home had its own recipe for making their version of sool at home. Recipes were passed down from generation to generation and homebrewing techniques and methods flourished.
But from 1916 to 1934, the Japanese made it so tough for Koreans to acquire homebrewing licenses such that by 1934, not a single household was making any form of sool. What used to be a commonplace sight of seeing women making kimchi and liquor in the home died swiftly and surely. The Japanese wanted to tax the sale of alcohol and commercialize it, and at its height, 30 percent of the nation’s taxes came from alcoholic beverage sales.
MODERN TWIST There is more than just the green bottle soju.
This was a dark period, says Jisung.
“The recipes, knowledge, and equipment were destroyed and fines were so heavy, that the penalty costs more than the cost of one’s house. No one wanted to be caught making liquor at home. Then, during the Korean War, men who were farmers were now in the battlefield. People were poor and the rice was not being harvested for alcohol but used for food.”
Only in the 1980’s, when South Korea had risen up from the ashes of its colonization and wars, did the tradition of alcohol get revisited. An intrinsic value of Korean culture is Anju, serving food with drinks and the JooAnSang, a traditional styled table giving rise once again to local and regional drinks.
1986 and 1988 were crucial years for Korea as they hosted the World Games and Summer Olympics. The tradition of serving guests food and drinks was needed and somehow, old recipes started surfacing in an attempt to show something representing Korea. By the 1990s, the Koreans found themselves with still so much rice, so they had to come up with ways to make makgeolli again. In the 2000s, the Korean government brought back homebrewing licenses to encourage Koreans to start bringing back the variety of rice wines that used to exist before the Japanese colonization.
Soju was actually a term coined centuries ago during the Goryeo era, as Mongolian soldiers who invaded the Korean peninsula started distilling alcohol which they called soju. The green bottle today is merely a creation of the modern period and it’s barely 50 years old.
The green bottle was something commercially created in 1965, when South Korea, after being liberated from Japanese colonization and the Korean War, had an excess of sweet potatoes. The government banned the use of rice for making liquor but not sweet potatoes. As the country prioritized rebuilding everything from scratch, the growth of the commercial soju rose.
Koreans love their drinking so much they came up with a drinking dice game. The original one has Chinese characters on each side offering an interesting punishment. This game called Juryung-gu was first made popular during the Three Kingdom Period, specifically the Shilla Dynasty, continues to be played today. Jisung had a dice manufactured for the exhibit, “It’s funny and still something we can do which shows enjoyment of drinking, having fun.”
GETTING STARTED WITH SOOL
Wangju, also known as the King’s drink, is a yakju made by the queen’s family for the King. At 13 percent alcohol content, this clear wine has a delicate, light, floral, and slightly sweet personality to it. Because of that, Jisung imagines pairing it with a Korean-style taco called Gujulpan.
The Horanggi Tiger Makgeolli is a drink with a sweet, silky, and smooth finish which goes with spicy pork.
The Tok Ssoneun Bokbunjah Makgeolli looks more like a sparkling wine and is fruity, with black raspberry flavor. At six percent alcohol, Jisung recommends this with a ddukgalbi. Yet another yakju, the Sangyang Sansam Gadeum Byul is smoky and slightly sweet and is infused with ginseng.
The Loah Red 19 is a soju that is spicy, sour, and sweet. At 19 percent alcohol content, there are notes of red apple in this, making this neat and soft, going well with a traditional Bossam.
It was during the Joseon period that a book on drinking etiquette came out as drinks were an integral way of saying thank you to one’s ancestors by means of food and drink offerings and one’s guests with the Anju.
Jisung, who was wearing a modern-day hanbok with shorter, tighter sleeves explained the drinking behavior oft noted in Korean dramas where the drink is poured with two hands. This has roots in the olden times when before, longer-sleeved hanbok meant one had to hold the sleeve while pouring so as to not dirty it with the food.
Another behavior commonly seen when two men drink together is the turning away of one’s body as the drink is consumed. Jisung explained how this action ensures that the person turning away, usually because he is younger in age, does not look down on his senior as he drinks. And as we may all have noticed, Koreans like pouring drinks for one another as a sign of respect as it is rude to let someone pour his own drink. In order to give a better idea of the JooAnSang prepared by the various Kings for their guests, Jisung set up a display which showed how each king had a different style and choice of food when it came to entertaining guests.
A king with diabetes but loved meat served a lot of meat along with his chosen drink, a takju. Another king whose palate bordered on the bland side chose to serve simple food and drinks.
Drinking, singing, and dancing are some things Koreans loved even before. This was documented by a Chinese ambassador who documented in everyday Korean life that people were playing and drinking day and night after planting and during harvest season.
With K-pop in virtually every corner of the world, Sool is now in the hands of the people. Jisung recalls, “I met a New Yorker making Korean alcohol, the traditional soju, so for me, this is the future, alcohol being made by anyone who is interested in this. In fact, once you know how to make makgeolli, you can be efficient because from it you make yakju then soju.”
"Korean Sool" is open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Korean Cultural Center in BGC, and is free for all.
WINE TRADITION : The traditional way of making rice wine at home, starting with makgeolli then takju then yakju and ending with the final product, soju
When you think of Korean alcohol, one image instantly comes to mind: the green bottle. In just about every Korean show, you will find the main characters indulging in this ubiquitous drink. Sadly, the green bottle which we simply know as soju, is actually a very young, modern-day fabrication. Korean Rice Liquor Sommelier and Soy and Rice Modern Traditions founder Jisung Chun is on a mission to dispel the image of the green bottle soju as the only thing we think about when one says Korean alcohol. “In fact, there are over 2,000 different kinds of alcohol! Even Koreans are not familiar with it,” she says. “If you ask a Korean and ask what is the Korean national drink is, they will answer the green bottle soju. But there is so much more out there.”
Korean alcohol can be divided into makgeolli, takju, yakju, and soju. In one drink, one can actually make makgeolli, yaku, and then soju.
Makgeolli is usually less than 10 percent liquor content and comes in a plastic bottle or container. It is best to drink it from a bowl-size ceramic cup, a tin cup, or even a mug. It can be made from rice or wheat mixed with nuruk, a Korean yeast, and water and looks milky, off-white in color.
Takju, unrefined alcohol, looks just like makgeolli but is higher in alcohol content at 10 to 19 percent. Served in smaller cups, takju has the rice sediments at the bottom, making it cloudy. Once you shake it, it becomes makgeolli.
WINE TRADITION : the JooAnSang or drink table setting display showing four different ways that kings of old would entertain their guests
Jisung relates how women of old like takju. She says, “It’s so thick, you can drink it with a spoon so it does not look at all like you are drinking.”
Yakju, refined alcohol, is more of a clear liquid drink with no rice sediments and resembles wine, coming in at 12 to 19 percent liquor content. A yakju is best enjoyed in a small ceramic glass or even a wine glass. Soju is made when you distill the beverage, creating a drink with up to 73 percent alcohol content, and because it is quite potent, soju is best sipped slowly in a shot glass.
To achieve this deeper appreciation of Korean alcohol, Jisung partnered with the Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines (KCC) for a special exhibit called Korean Sool “to show that there are more to Korean drinks than the green bottle, to show there are a lot of variety with a long history, and the first first step is to understand that with this exhibit.”
Sool, or alcohol, is a fundamental element of the country’s history, culture, and traditions. KCC director Chris Choi explains, “Korea has a long tradition of consuming liquor in celebrating holidays, ancestral rites, exchange of good will between co-workers and friends.” France has its wine, Germany its beer, Russia its vodka, and Choi wants the world to better appreciate this aspect of Korea’s tradition. “Korean Sool’s” main purpose is to let guests walk through the exhibit and experience the culture of Korea then and now through its food and drinks. It’s about seeing the people enjoy their sool and appreciating the whole process of brewing, the methods, the traditions, and the different types of drinks available.
It took the KCC and Jisung Chun a year to put together “Korean Sool," the first of its kind alcohol-themed exhibit outside Korea. The closest would be the Sool Gallery, a museum for Korean alcohol in Gangnam, Seoul where Jisung worked before. Already, New York, where Jisung’s family is based, is excited about bringing “Korean Sool” to life there.
With the spotlight firmly on Korea after the 2018 Winter Olympics, Korean culture is riding a huge wave of success also coming from last year’s consistent exposure of its food. Director Choi feels it’s a natural flow to go from food to drinks and understand this steady component of Korean history. “Sool has a deep-rooted meaning in everyday life and this exhibit helps everyone understand more of Korean culture and building a better appreciation of it.”
Jisung has already started the movement by coming up with pairing events and special menus to show how well different kinds of Korean alcohol work with a variety of cuisines.
Jisung explains, “In Korea, Cheontong-ju, or Korean traditional alcohol; has three categories: liquor produced by a person designated as an asset or Korean Intangible Cultural Assets; liquor produced by a person designated as a Korean Food/Drink grandmaster; or liquor produced by a farm organization or produced using local ingredients.”
A SOOL NEARLY LOST.
So if Korean alcohol is so diverse, what exactly is it and why have we not heard of all of these different kinds of Korean alcohol? For that, we will have to go back in history.
The reason, Jisung reveals, why Korean liquor traditions nearly disappeared is because during the Japanese colonization of Korea, there was a nationwide crackdown on homebrewing. During the Joseon dynasty, it was tradition that every home had its own recipe for making their version of sool at home. Recipes were passed down from generation to generation and homebrewing techniques and methods flourished.
But from 1916 to 1934, the Japanese made it so tough for Koreans to acquire homebrewing licenses such that by 1934, not a single household was making any form of sool. What used to be a commonplace sight of seeing women making kimchi and liquor in the home died swiftly and surely. The Japanese wanted to tax the sale of alcohol and commercialize it, and at its height, 30 percent of the nation’s taxes came from alcoholic beverage sales.
MODERN TWIST There is more than just the green bottle soju.
This was a dark period, says Jisung.
“The recipes, knowledge, and equipment were destroyed and fines were so heavy, that the penalty costs more than the cost of one’s house. No one wanted to be caught making liquor at home. Then, during the Korean War, men who were farmers were now in the battlefield. People were poor and the rice was not being harvested for alcohol but used for food.”
Only in the 1980’s, when South Korea had risen up from the ashes of its colonization and wars, did the tradition of alcohol get revisited. An intrinsic value of Korean culture is Anju, serving food with drinks and the JooAnSang, a traditional styled table giving rise once again to local and regional drinks.
1986 and 1988 were crucial years for Korea as they hosted the World Games and Summer Olympics. The tradition of serving guests food and drinks was needed and somehow, old recipes started surfacing in an attempt to show something representing Korea. By the 1990s, the Koreans found themselves with still so much rice, so they had to come up with ways to make makgeolli again. In the 2000s, the Korean government brought back homebrewing licenses to encourage Koreans to start bringing back the variety of rice wines that used to exist before the Japanese colonization.
Soju was actually a term coined centuries ago during the Goryeo era, as Mongolian soldiers who invaded the Korean peninsula started distilling alcohol which they called soju. The green bottle today is merely a creation of the modern period and it’s barely 50 years old.
The green bottle was something commercially created in 1965, when South Korea, after being liberated from Japanese colonization and the Korean War, had an excess of sweet potatoes. The government banned the use of rice for making liquor but not sweet potatoes. As the country prioritized rebuilding everything from scratch, the growth of the commercial soju rose.
Koreans love their drinking so much they came up with a drinking dice game. The original one has Chinese characters on each side offering an interesting punishment. This game called Juryung-gu was first made popular during the Three Kingdom Period, specifically the Shilla Dynasty, continues to be played today. Jisung had a dice manufactured for the exhibit, “It’s funny and still something we can do which shows enjoyment of drinking, having fun.”
GETTING STARTED WITH SOOL
Wangju, also known as the King’s drink, is a yakju made by the queen’s family for the King. At 13 percent alcohol content, this clear wine has a delicate, light, floral, and slightly sweet personality to it. Because of that, Jisung imagines pairing it with a Korean-style taco called Gujulpan.
The Horanggi Tiger Makgeolli is a drink with a sweet, silky, and smooth finish which goes with spicy pork.
The Tok Ssoneun Bokbunjah Makgeolli looks more like a sparkling wine and is fruity, with black raspberry flavor. At six percent alcohol, Jisung recommends this with a ddukgalbi. Yet another yakju, the Sangyang Sansam Gadeum Byul is smoky and slightly sweet and is infused with ginseng.
The Loah Red 19 is a soju that is spicy, sour, and sweet. At 19 percent alcohol content, there are notes of red apple in this, making this neat and soft, going well with a traditional Bossam.
It was during the Joseon period that a book on drinking etiquette came out as drinks were an integral way of saying thank you to one’s ancestors by means of food and drink offerings and one’s guests with the Anju.
Jisung, who was wearing a modern-day hanbok with shorter, tighter sleeves explained the drinking behavior oft noted in Korean dramas where the drink is poured with two hands. This has roots in the olden times when before, longer-sleeved hanbok meant one had to hold the sleeve while pouring so as to not dirty it with the food.
Another behavior commonly seen when two men drink together is the turning away of one’s body as the drink is consumed. Jisung explained how this action ensures that the person turning away, usually because he is younger in age, does not look down on his senior as he drinks. And as we may all have noticed, Koreans like pouring drinks for one another as a sign of respect as it is rude to let someone pour his own drink. In order to give a better idea of the JooAnSang prepared by the various Kings for their guests, Jisung set up a display which showed how each king had a different style and choice of food when it came to entertaining guests.
A king with diabetes but loved meat served a lot of meat along with his chosen drink, a takju. Another king whose palate bordered on the bland side chose to serve simple food and drinks.
Drinking, singing, and dancing are some things Koreans loved even before. This was documented by a Chinese ambassador who documented in everyday Korean life that people were playing and drinking day and night after planting and during harvest season.
With K-pop in virtually every corner of the world, Sool is now in the hands of the people. Jisung recalls, “I met a New Yorker making Korean alcohol, the traditional soju, so for me, this is the future, alcohol being made by anyone who is interested in this. In fact, once you know how to make makgeolli, you can be efficient because from it you make yakju then soju.”
"Korean Sool" is open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Korean Cultural Center in BGC, and is free for all.