Korean Soju – Spirit of the Soul

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Is Korean soju really as smooth as they say? We’ll tell you what you need to know about Korea’s iconic spirit, the Korean soju.

Soju holds a prominent place in Korean culture. It’s the go-to alcohol in the best of times and the worst of times. You can’t have a celebratory Korean BBQ party without soju because it’s needed to lift your spirits. And you can’t go through a breakup without soju either because it’s needed to soothe your soul. When you’re in Korea, you drink the spirit of the soul – soju.

What is Soju?

Soju, or Korea’s national spirit of choice, is a clear, distilled alcohol. It’s traditionally made from rice, but depending on the maker, other grains like barley and wheat were added.

Soju actually means “burned liquor” and rightfully so, since, after careful fermentation of the rice or other grains, it goes through a distillation process. During distillation, they use fire/heat to vaporize the alcohol, which then is collected in liquid form as condensation occurs. Through technology and master craftmanship, the liquid actually goes through a continuous distillation process, creating an ethanol of 95% ABV (alcohol by volume). But don’t worry – this isn’t where they stop!

This ethanol, or simply, alcohol, is then diluted with pure water and flavored with different ingredients, like sweeteners, or other infusions (even aspartic acid, which can aid in liver detoxification! What?!), creating the modern day soju.

What Does Soju Taste Like?

So is Korean soju really as smooth as they say?

Soju has many tastes, and not because of the new, fancy, fruit-flavored ones. I’m talking about the Korean saying, “Soju tastes like life.” They say soju tastes sweet if you’re in a great mood – maybe your soul is in great spirits. On the other hand, they say soju tastes bitter – maybe you’re going through rough times and your soul needs healing.

On a normal, non-emotional day, soju has a smooth and clean flavor profile, much like vodka but sweeter and with less kick due to its lower alcohol content!

Soju Alcohol Content

Soju used to be made with 30% alcohol content back in the 1960s, then dropped to 25% in the 1970s. In 1995, the soju abv dropped again to 23%, after a 25-year run. In 2006, the abv dropped again – this time to 19.8% abv. Then in 2022, we saw the lowest abv yet at 16% abv!

As you can see, soju’s alcohol content has lowered over the years. Nowadays, you can find soju with 16-25% abv in stores.

What about the fruit-flavored soju? Those are even lower at 12% abv!

Soju Flavors

There are so many different soju flavors in stores nowadays. Some favorites are grape, melon (honeydew melon), apricot, and apple. These soju flavors especially makes soju more accessible to folks who like a little more sweetness to their drinks. Try them out in cocktails or just neat next time!

APT Drinking Game

Through Rosé’s hit song, APT., featuring Bruno Mars, the Korean drinking game was popularized internationally. APT stands for apartment, but is pronounced ah-pah-tu, the Korean way.

APT is a drinking game where everyone at the table stacks their hands together in random order, forming the floors of an imaginary, tall apartment building (which is a prominent housing structure in South Korea). At the same time, the “game leader” calls out a number – which correlates to the apartment floor number and the losing number.

Starting from the person with their hand at the bottom of the stack, each person calls out their floor number (starting at 1) and puts it back on top of the stack. Each person calls out their floor number, stacking it on top, until someone says the losing floor number.

The penalty of saying the losing number? A shot of soju.

Korean Drinking Games

Apart from APT, there are other drinking games. Mainly, drinking games are used to break the ice and create a fun environment throughout the gathering.

Another popular old-school one is Flick the Cap – all about trying to get the little tail part of the bottle cap off of the main cap part.

You play this simple drinking game by taking the soju bottle cap and passing it around the table for everyone to get a turn in flicking the cap tail. The goal is to be the one to get the tail off the bottle cap.

The penalty of sitting on either side of the winner? A shot of soju.

Korean Soju

So take a leap and try the spirit that’s made for the soul, the Korean soju. And let me know in the comments how you like to enjoy it!

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