Cups of makgeolli raised in a toast above jeon, sundae and other anju (snacks served with drinks)

Sul, fermented or brewed Korean alcohol, has nearly infinite combinations of traditions and recipes. While many have been lost to time, what remains is still more than enough for anyone to enjoy.

The three main types – takju, cheongju and soju – can all be produced together using similar processes.

As its name suggests, Takju (cloudy alcohol) is a silty concoction with an alcohol content that can range between 6 percent and 12 percent, similar to that of beer. It is made by fermenting a grain, usually rice, with a type of yeast known as nuruk. It was originally supplied to agricultural laborers, and so one of the early names for takju was nongju (farmer’s alcohol). The best-known takju is makgeolli (unrefined rice wine), which can taste sweet, fruity, sour or bitter, depending on the recipe as well as the time from fermentation.

A Canadian, who has lived in Korea for nine years and now hosts an eponymous YouTube program “Kevin Grabb’s Korean Brewing Adventure,” described makgeolli as having a “Wild West” feel to it. “The individual brewers really know how to put their own stamp on their brews,” he said. “Makgeolli varies wildly in flavor and mouthfeel from province to province and from brewer to brewer. The unpredictability of the nuruk you’re using, and the sonmat (literally hand-generated taste) of the individual brewmasters really add to a fresh bottle every time, even from batch to batch from the same brewery over just a few months.”

If takju is left to sit, the rice sediment may settle to the bottom, revealing a clearer liquid on top. This higher-alcohol-content layer can be strained or scooped out and consumed separately, to produce cheongju. A more refined drink, cheongju (clear alcohol) was originally produced for those above farmers in the social hierarchy. It typically has an alcohol content similar to or stronger than wine, around 14 percent.

Cheongju can be refined further by distillation to make soju (burned alcohol), a clear liquid with an alcohol content ranging from around 13 percent up to 53 percent, but capable of going much higher. Soju was reserved for special occasions and to serve honored guests.

Now it should be clear how one batch of rice and nuruk could be used to provide enough alcohol for a whole village, from the lowliest laborers all the way up to the highest aristocrats, and mirroring that social pyramid, takju took up the bulk of sul production on the bottom with far less soju produced up at the top.

But to make this situation even more complicated – and delicious – we have to keep in mind that nearly every village had its own recipes. Sul-making techniques were typically passed down from mother-in-law to daughter-in-law, creating a jagged matrilineal path of inheritance in a society that was increasingly patriarchal since the late 17th century.

Among this diversity, there are even more traditions that are unique to certain regions.

In Jeonju, Jeollanam-do Province, there’s a local specialty called moju, which is made with the leftovers that are filtered out from makgeolli. The resulting concoction has a low alcohol level of about 1.5 percent and is considered a hangover cure. Meanwhile, a fascinating variety of takju is called ihwaju (plum blossom alcohol). It’s a little stronger than makgeolli, but also thicker, with the consistency of yogurt. It can be eaten with a spoon or used as a salad dressing or even a dip for such foods as fresh fruit, vegetables and dark chocolate.

There are also various ways to infuse sul with other ingredients, including fruit and ginseng, which is commonly done with cheongju.

The strongest known sul by alcohol volume is called hongju, a reddish soju that can reach alcohol concentrations as high as 90 percent. When presented in pure form, it will make your eyes burn before it even reaches your lips.

This rich heritage of fermenting and brewing alcohol has had a rough modernization period. During the 1910-45 Japanese occupation, sul production was suppressed along with many other traditions. And the situation did not improve after liberation. In the 1960s, due to rice shortages, laws were made to prevent its use in sul production and also to limit competition to only a few major breweries and distilleries, wiping out a deeply rooted cottage industry nationwide.

For decades, the domestic alcohol industry had to compete with foreign imports. Prices fell but so did quality. Soju became known as a drink almost as cheap as water after artificially flavored ethanol supplanted the distillation and rice that were once crucial to its production. Makgeolli also diminished in quality, with wheat favored over rice.

It wasn’t until the 1980s – as the nation raced to embrace Koreanness ahead of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul – that any attention was given to this dying tradition. During a search for classically trained sul masters, Cho Ok-hwa, an elderly resident of Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, was discovered keeping the old traditions alive. In 1987, she was declared as the 12th intangible cultural asset of her province. When Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom came to Korea in 1999 for her 73rd birthday, Cho played host during her trip to Andong. The following year, Cho was designated the 20th grand master of Korean food. 

Then around 2011, drinking makgeolli became a fad in Japan, and the small, quiet craft sul industry received a significant boost. Soon alcohol-makers were on a mission to rediscover and restore Korea’s sul traditions. Makgeolli enjoyed a renaissance, and soju showed signs of following after. Over the years, Koreans who had studied fermenting and distillation techniques, as well as foreigners who came here and learned them, started fanning out around the world, spreading the knowledge of how to make alcohol from basic ingredients such as rice and nuruk. Soon, sul was being made in all corners of the world.

In the United States, soju brands like Tokki and West 32 started winning awards and getting attention for their mindfulness of quality over quantity. In Germany, Isae Soju was created in compliance with that country’s strict Purity Law.

Korean American hip-hop artist Jay Park, after releasing the 2018 track “Soju,” which featured 2 Chainz, went ahead and created his own distillery, Won Spirits, in April 2021. Earlier this year on February 25, it came out with a luxury brand Won Soju.

“There is a genuine curiosity from younger people about makgeolli,” said the YouTuber Grabb. He has been brewing for about six years and has a few advanced brewing certificates from Seoul’s Susubori Academy. “This isn’t a ‘cool’ metric, but the selection of makgeolli varies way more than it did even three or four years ago. It’d be great if this trend of ‘better and easily available’ continues to spread.”

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