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Posts with tag soju

North Korean Soju to enter US market

Soju, the Korean distilled spirit, has long been the most consumed spirit in the world, especially throughout Asia. Low to mid-level brands from South Korea have been available in the US for years and I have enjoyed quite a few of them when out dining with friends at some of my favorite Korean restaurants in Queens and Manhattan, NY.

Soju is made in the most part from fermented rice, but also with other fermentable products like wheat, barley or sweet potatoes; then distilled an adjusted to 20-45% abv. / 40-90 proof. The North Korean brand would initially go on sale in the Eastern US states and should be available now.

Now North Korea is going to enter the playing field with one of their soju going to be sold in the US, Pyongyang Soju. This is quite rare for products from North Korea to be sanctioned for import to the United States. Many folks feel that products from North Korea shouldn't be allowed into the US or should be boycotted.

Personally, I will try one bottle of Pyongyang Soju if I run across it so I can review it, but after that I won't go out of my way. I much prefer the multitude of premium, Japanese distilled products called shochu to Korean soju. They are just so much better in taste and quality than soju. So much so, that they are now the number one alcoholic beverage consumed in Japan.

A-B dips a toe into soju with Ku

Move over Jinro. Doosan, your main competitor in the soju game, just teamed up with one of the big boys, Anheuser-Busch.

Who knows, if all goes well A-B might just make soju a household word. As you might have guessed, the Korean spirit brewed from sweet potatoes and rice, among other things, has long been a household word for me. The crisp spirit is a lower-octane, tastier version of vodka that's the libation of choice for Korean food, barbecue or otherwise.

A-B, will be taking over the distribution of Ku Soju, which is distilled by Doosan. I've tried more than a handful of sojus in my day, but I've never heard of Ku. The article I read makes much of comparing it to such premium vodkas as Belvedere and Chopin. Forget that noise, I want to know how this stuff stands up to a blazing bowl of
soon doo-boo jji-gae.

Jinro taps low-alcohol soju

I don't know about you, but I like Korean food vibrant – popping with peppers, kimchi and fresh garlic. This sort of fare commands a commensurate libation. Specifically soju, a spirit distilled from rice combined with other grains that typically weighs in at about 25 percent alcohol.

So I was shocked to learn that Korea's soju makers are waging a battle to produce lower-octane versions. Jinro, Korea's No. 1 soju maker, recently unveiled a lower-alcohol version to cater to young people who can't handle the real thing.

Jinro's new Chamisul Fresh comes in at just under 20 percent. I just don't get it. These kids need to eat more raw oysters rolled in pork belly.

No more flavored sojus, please

melon sojuWe've talked about Korean sojus here before, and even sang the praises of a strangely flavored "herbal" soju (the herb was ginseng). Now I am no stranger to the Korean spirit distilled from sweet potatoes (many a night and morning battling the stuff), and I am certainly familiar with mixing soju with different flavors to make the stuff that tastes like pure lighter fluid a little more palatable: strawberry soju (ddahl-ghee), peach soju (bohk-soong-ha), yogurt soju (yo-gu-rut), and even cucumber soju (oi).

I just tried a melon version at a cafe in LA's Koreatown and it was horrible. It was neon green, and tasted like a melon flavored body wash. I don't even know what "melon" flavored liquid they used to make it, but if ever you go out for a night on the K-town, stick with the originals. 

Tip of the Day

Drying fruit is easy, mostly hands-off and yields a sweet and healthy snack.

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