Korean Soju

Ahh....i tot it was suppose to be Shoju.....i was mistaken. Anyways, back when i was entertaining some Korean counterparts. They were drinking Soju.

Here is a little history about the Soju from Wikipedia.

Soju is a distilled beverage native to Korea. Nowadays, soju is generally considered as alcoholic beverages manufactured by brand companies in South Korea but the latter is a derivative of Korean traditional soju mainly made with rice. The main ingredient for the brand soju is potato, almost always in combination with other ingredients such as wheat, barley, sweet potato, or tapioca (called dangmil in Korean). Soju is clear in color and typically varies in alcohol content from about 20% to about 45% alcohol by volume (ABV), with 20% ABV being most common. Its taste is comparable to vodka, though it is often slightly sweeter due to the addition of sugar in the manufacturing process.

Extracted from wikipedia.

History

Soju was first distilled around A.D. 1300 during the Mongol war with Korea. The Mongols had acquired the technique of distilling arak from the Persians during their invasion of Central Asia/Middle East around 1256, then it was subsequently introduced to Koreans and distilleries were set up around the city of Kaesong (Hangul: 개성). Indeed, in the area surrounding Kaesong, soju is known as arak-ju (Hangul: 아락주).

Editor : che......like i know so much hahahaha......

Korean government policy

From 1965 until 1991, in order to alleviate rice shortages, the Korean government prohibited the traditional methods of distilling soju from pure grain. Soju was then made primarily through dilution by mixing pure ethanol with water and flavoring. The vast majority of inexpensive soju available today is produced in this manner. Soju produced through dilution from ethanol is known as diluted soju, while soju produced by distillation from grain is known as distilled soju. The Korean government regulates the alcohol content of diluted soju to less than 35%.

Popularity in Korea

Because of its ready availability and its low price relative to other alcoholic beverages, soju has become one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in Korea. More than 3 billion bottles were consumed in South Korea in 2004. ^[1] However, other drinks such as beer, whisky, and wine have been gaining popularity in recent years.

Along with the mass-produced brands, which are widely available in Korea, there are several regions which are famous for making soju in a more traditional way, with the soju made in Andong being the most famous. Soju is typically consumed in small shot glasses.

Anyways....its kinda sweet and also smooth to swallow, and after then 3rd bottle hahaha everything is abit woozy then heheheh !


J