What Is Soju, Korea’s National Liquor?

As the temperature rises, our collective palate starts off to change in the direction of light-weight and refreshing types of beverages. Enter: soju, the beloved countrywide liquor of option in Korea that need to be on your radar.

For a prolonged time—at least in the U.S.—soju was generally affiliated with Korean barbecue joints and Korean dining establishments in typical. But it’s now popping up in liquor shops across the state, with a assortment of makes and flavors. This aromatic and crisp liquor is simple to consume, still will still certainly give you a excitement. And now, like many areas of Korean tradition, it’s making its way throughout the Pacific Ocean in a massive way.

What Is Soju

Soju is a colorless grain-centered distilled liquor with an average liquor content of about 15 percent, with the exception of some higher-evidence sojus up to 50 per cent. Historically built with rice, soju can be distilled from other forms of grains, partly due to a ban that stopped utilizing rice in soju generation during past decades of hardship in South Korea. These days, soju is made mostly using rice with other grains combined in, this sort of as wheat and barley. Its flavors vary based on the model, but common notes include sweetness accented with plum, malt, and a gentle hint of buttery richness, very similar to Japanese sake.

How to Drink It

Like in several Asian consuming cultures, soju is usually eaten neat as a sipping beverage to accompany foods. As the common soju is very low-evidence with a comparable liquor articles to Japanese sake, soju can be as mellow as a glass of purple wine, which is why it pairs so effectively with foods. In the common way, soju is offered by the bottle at restaurants in Korea. But a U.S. legislation forbids these apply and demands eating places to market soju by the glass. To find a middle floor, restaurant personnel normally bring out the bottle and pour the first round of soju for you.

There are quite a few soju brand names, some of which are out there in the U.S. sector. Jinro is the most perfectly-recognized manufacturer producing soju, with its quadruple-filtered Chamisul line remaining the most common soju merchandise in Korea. Other makes, this sort of as Cheoeum-Cheoreom (the maker of Soonhari flavored soju) and Very good Working day, are also broadly distributed and liked by quite a few enthusiasts throughout the world.

In contrast to soju’s extensive record in the Korean peninsula, flavored variations are additional of a modern day iteration of the aged spirit, and some may possibly see them as an try to market place the consume to youthful Koreans, who are drawn to the reduced liquor material and fruity sweetness. Well-liked flavors have been formulated mostly based on fruits that are well-known in Asia, with mango, lychee, and pear topping the popularity record. As the flavors of plain soju are mostly neutral with a delicate hint of sweetness, the added fruit flavors are inclined to choose dominance, ensuing in a playful, fruit-ahead, and clean drink that might get you drunk ahead of you know it.

Then there’s the yogurt-flavored soju, which has witnessed unmatched level of popularity in overseas marketplaces outside South Korea, this sort of as Australia, at any time considering the fact that its debut. As in contrast to western yogurt, the “yogurt” replicated in this soju is a fermented, probiotic beverage that takes advantage of a distinctive pressure of microbes and is lighter in texture and sweeter. Yakult, a Japanese company that is credited with the first formulation of this yogurt consume, is the most preferred brand. As numerous individuals throughout East and Southeast Asia started off drinking this yogurt as little ones, its taste is synonymous with their childhood memories.

To make it uncomplicated on the nose and refreshing for the hot summer months time, chilling soju prior to serving is an strategy popular in Korean restaurants. Due to the fact of its liquor articles, you really don’t have to fret about the beverage freezing effortlessly, except you have a specially cold freezer. Following chilling, the robust alcohol flavor becomes subdued and the refreshing fruity and sweet notes choose middle stage.

In addition to ingesting it straight, soju has a spot in cocktails, too. One of the most common soju cocktail types is the refreshingly mouth watering soju slushie, which blends soju with Yakult yogurt, lime juice, and ice, identical to a smoothie.

For those who want a thing fizzy and more robust, 7 elements beer and three areas soju place alongside one another will make a new drink called somaek, which merges two words—soju and maekju—together and is basically translated as “soju and beer.” No matter of what route you’re having, grab a bottle of soju following time you take a look at a liquor keep and make positive to take pleasure in it with spouse and children and friends as it is a social drink in Korea.