If anyone ever tells you they know about Korea or recommend something to do there and don’t mention soju slap them and walk off. To discuss Korea and not mention soju is downright negligent. Soju is part of being Korean like pork is part of being Cantonese, bacon is part of being English and a burger is part of being American. They are indivisable.
You might think I am overstating things to suggest that some rice based spirit is that central to the Korean zeitgeist but I am not. If Korea was Russia, this is their vodka. Life without it is barely conceivable.
And the soju I am talking about is not the classy stuff. It is definitely not the premium Japanese stuff known as shochu produced in a sensitive fashion akin to Western wine. It is the chemically prepared mass produced hangover inducing dross that costs KRW 1,000 a bottle. For those of you unfamiliar with the exchange rate that is about USD 1. So for USD 1 you can get a bottle of roughly 20% rocket fuel which tastes like alcohol with a slightly sweet tinge at the end. The most popular variety is one made by Jinro and every morning you will see thousands of them empty outside restaurants.
Also this is not something which is just drunk by old men. This is drunk by everyone at every occassion. It is ritual. Everybody has a small shot-esque glass. This is filled up by anyone other than you at the table. You then fill up their glass. You down it. And then continue. You can tell how much of a hero a person is by how many bottles of soju they have beside their table when they stumble out at the end of the evening and throw up or fall asleep in the street.
Given the above you might think I’m not a fan of soju. You would be absolutely wrong. As it is so much a part of Korean culture (which I love), to not drink it would be to slap Koreaness in the face. I obviously don’t want to do that. Also it somehow acts a perfect chaser to Korean food and beer. Those intense flavours which are present in all Korean meals of gochujang (Korean spice paste), pickling (the kimchi) and charcoal grilled meat and fish are cut perfectly by soju. Either on its own or as a ‘top’ to terrible Korean beer (Hite etc.) it is simply neecessary.
You can also get fancy and if you see the lineup of different types of soju picture above they go from USD 1 (the green Jinro bottle) to USD 50 (the black bottle). The black bottle is by Hwayo and won the “2010 Korean Liquor Contest” and is made in a traditional manner rather than the industrial production all chemicals and bells and whistles way of the Jinro. Another famous type is from Andong regiom and is similarly expensive.
There are also other varieties such as baek-se-ju or baekseju which is known as “100 year wine” as it is meant to help you live to 100. It tastes like a combination between normal soju and traditional Korean medicinally tasting stuff as it is stuffed full of the following herbs: ginseng, licorice, omija, gugija (Chinese wolf berry), astralagus Propinquus, ginger, and cinnamon. Over a bit of ice they taste like a slightly healthier whisky, almost a bit Germanic or schnapps like.
You can also get stronger osipseju or osip-se-ju which is known as “50 year old wine” and comes from mixing baekseju one to one with soju. Basically it is more alcholic so you live half as long :/ Of course, there are even “woman’s” style ones like the pink berry soju.
In the end, however, I’ld stick to the 1 dollar Jinro stuff and the mind boggling hangover it brings and keep it properly Korean.