Expert's Guide to Drinking Soju in Seoul
착석바
Finest bars in Gangnam. From the fanciest bars to warm izakayas. The best bars in Gangnam offer a broad option.
Specialist's Guide to Drinking Soju in Seoul:
Soju is Korea's most popular alcohol. You'll find it all over from convenience stores to elegant dining establishments. However "soju bars" are few and far between. Here's your guide to Korean drinking culture, and where you can discover soju in Seoul. Julia Mellor has made it her mission to bring conventional Korean alcohols into the global spotlight. She has actually studied conventional fermentation approaches at a few of the country's best-known institutes, worked with artisanal breweries, and got a fly-on-the-wall perspective of the country's sool (the Korean word for "alcohol") market. She's also a co-founder of The Sool Company, a service promoting traditional Korean alcoholic drinks, consisting of soju.
"The green bottle [mass-produced, industrial soju] is really iconic to Korea. Everyone thinks that it's the most standard representation of Korean alcohol, however it's really not," she states. "The green bottle was just presented to Korea in the 1960s when there was a rice starvation throughout the Korean War." If you return to more standard distillation styles, and there's an universe of sojus out there-- if you understand where to discover them.
In Seoul, soju is all over. But finding more "traditional" styles isn't typically as easy as going to a bar; in truth, the idea of a "soju bar" is fairly alien to many Koreans. You 'd be hard-pressed to find one in the South Korean capital, Mellor describes. There are 2 crucial reasons.
Firstly, Koreans frequently consume in a really different method to Westerners. Soju is intoxicated throughout the night and is normally paired with food in a dining establishment. Mellor explains. "It's not actually selected for its quality ... It's basically the conduit to be familiar with somebody." Secondly, it's not everything about soju. Korea is home to a host of other alcohols-- in particular, makgeolli and cheongju, the latter of which was once the preferred drink of the royal court. These beverages are less widely known abroad; they are harder to export, as they're drunk fresh and have a much shorter service life.
For a great quality soju experience, you'll want to strike the conventional alcohol bars. They're all over Seoul, and they'll typically serve the complete range of Korean alcohols, consisting of soju, makgeolli, takju and cheongju. Mellor notes that "the challenge is not where to go. The challenge is what to buy". Soju is not strictly specified, implying that it has a lot of variations. Generally it's made through rice fermentation. However mass-produced sojus typically utilize another starch such as sweet potato-- a hangover from the Korean War, when shortages caused the government to prohibit making use of rice in alcohol production. If you're just aiming to get drunk, then you can't go wrong with mass-produced, green-bottle soju; blend it with beer (a mix called so-maek) if you need to soothe.
Finest bars in Gangnam. From the fanciest bars to warm izakayas. The best bars in Gangnam offer a broad option.
Specialist's Guide to Drinking Soju in Seoul:
Soju is Korea's most popular alcohol. You'll find it all over from convenience stores to elegant dining establishments. However "soju bars" are few and far between. Here's your guide to Korean drinking culture, and where you can discover soju in Seoul. Julia Mellor has made it her mission to bring conventional Korean alcohols into the global spotlight. She has actually studied conventional fermentation approaches at a few of the country's best-known institutes, worked with artisanal breweries, and got a fly-on-the-wall perspective of the country's sool (the Korean word for "alcohol") market. She's also a co-founder of The Sool Company, a service promoting traditional Korean alcoholic drinks, consisting of soju.
"The green bottle [mass-produced, industrial soju] is really iconic to Korea. Everyone thinks that it's the most standard representation of Korean alcohol, however it's really not," she states. "The green bottle was just presented to Korea in the 1960s when there was a rice starvation throughout the Korean War." If you return to more standard distillation styles, and there's an universe of sojus out there-- if you understand where to discover them.
In Seoul, soju is all over. But finding more "traditional" styles isn't typically as easy as going to a bar; in truth, the idea of a "soju bar" is fairly alien to many Koreans. You 'd be hard-pressed to find one in the South Korean capital, Mellor describes. There are 2 crucial reasons.
Firstly, Koreans frequently consume in a really different method to Westerners. Soju is intoxicated throughout the night and is normally paired with food in a dining establishment. Mellor explains. "It's not actually selected for its quality ... It's basically the conduit to be familiar with somebody." Secondly, it's not everything about soju. Korea is home to a host of other alcohols-- in particular, makgeolli and cheongju, the latter of which was once the preferred drink of the royal court. These beverages are less widely known abroad; they are harder to export, as they're drunk fresh and have a much shorter service life.
For a great quality soju experience, you'll want to strike the conventional alcohol bars. They're all over Seoul, and they'll typically serve the complete range of Korean alcohols, consisting of soju, makgeolli, takju and cheongju. Mellor notes that "the challenge is not where to go. The challenge is what to buy". Soju is not strictly specified, implying that it has a lot of variations. Generally it's made through rice fermentation. However mass-produced sojus typically utilize another starch such as sweet potato-- a hangover from the Korean War, when shortages caused the government to prohibit making use of rice in alcohol production. If you're just aiming to get drunk, then you can't go wrong with mass-produced, green-bottle soju; blend it with beer (a mix called so-maek) if you need to soothe.
Replies