Soju

Soju is an alcoholic drink made from Korea. The main ingredient is rice, almost always in combination with other ingredients such as potatoes, wheat or barley. Soju is clear and typically has an alcohol content of 20%. He is distilled at least since the 14th century. The name literally means brandy.

The Japanese variant of soju is called Shōchū. Soju is sometimes incorrectly referred to as rice wine, a term that is commonly used for Cheongju, the Korean equivalent of Japanese sake.

Soju is traditionally produced by distillation. A large part of Vantage soju but is now produced by mixing pure ethanol with water and flavoring substances. This technique arose when in 1965 in order to mitigate a rice shortage, the production was banned by distilled soju. The Korean government has determined that the alcohol content of distilled soju must be less than 35%.

Due to the wide availability and low price compared to other alcohol Soju was a, if not the most popular alcoholic beverage in Korea. More than 3 billion bottles were consumed in South Korea in 2004. Other beverages such as beer, whiskey and wine have won but in the last few years of popularity.

Away from the mass-produced brands that are widely available in Korea, there are also several regions, which are known for the traditional production of soju. Soju from Andong is the most famous.

Jinro is the largest manufacturer of soju (2004 were 70 million boxes sold).