Korean cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in Korea and southern Manchuria, Korean cuisine reflects a complex interaction of the natural environment and different cultural trends.
Vodka is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is made by distilling liquid from fermented cereal grains, and potatoes since introduced in Europe in the 1700's. Some modern brands use corn, sugar cane, fruits, honey, and maple sap as the base.
Soju is a clear and colorless distilled alcoholic beverage popular in the Korean Peninsula. It is usually consumed neat. Its alcohol content varies from about 12.9% to 53% alcohol by volume (ABV), although since 2007 low alcohol soju below 20% has become more popular.
There is a long history of alcoholic drinks in China. They include rice and grape wine, beer, whisky and various liquors including baijiu, the most-consumed distilled spirit in the world.
Smirnoff is a brand of vodka owned and produced by the British company Diageo. The Smirnoff brand began with a vodka distillery founded in Moscow by Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov (1831–1898). It is distributed in 130 countries. Smirnoff products include vodka, flavoured vodka, and malt beverages. In 2014, Smirnoff was the best selling vodka around the world.
Monopolowa, originally a Polish brand, is a vodka made in Austria by Gessler. It is distilled from potatoes and is marketed under the brand name of J. A. Baczewski.
Baijiu, also known as shaojiu (烧酒/燒酒), is a colorless Chinese liquor typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). Each type of baijiu uses its own type of qū for fermentation to create a distinct and characteristic flavor profile.
Makgeolli, sometimes anglicized to makkoli, is a Korean alcoholic beverage. The milky, off-white, and lightly sparkling rice wine has a slight viscosity that tastes slightly sweet, tangy, bitter, and astringent. Chalky sediment gives it a cloudy appearance. As a low proof drink of six to nine percent alcohol by volume, it is often considered a "communal beverage" rather than hard liquor. In Korea, makgeolli is often unpasteurized, and the wine continues to mature in the bottle. Because of the short shelf life of unpasteurized "draft" makgeolli, many exported makgeolli undergo pasteurization, which deprives the beverage of complex enzymes and flavor compounds. Recently, various fruits such as strawberries and bananas are added to makgeolli to drink in new forms.
HiteJinro Co., Ltd. is a South Korean multinational drink, brewing and distiller company, founded in 1924. It is the world's leading producer of soju, accounting for more than half of that beverage's domestic sales. It also manufactures a variety of other alcoholic beverages including red wine and whiskey. Distilleries are located in Icheon, Cheongwon, and Masan, with the Masan plant geared toward exports. In addition, Jinro produces the Soksu brand of bottled water at a factory in Cheongwon. In 2006, the company was acquired by Hite, a popular beverage company whose main product is beer.
Korean cuisine has a wide variety of traditional alcoholic drinks, known as sul (술). Many of these drinks end with the Sino-Korean word -ju, and some end with the native Korean word -sul. The Sino-Korean -ju is not used as an independent noun.
Beer, called maekju in Korean, was first introduced to Korea in the early 20th century. Seoul's first beer brewery opened in 1908. Two current major breweries date back to the 1930s. The third brewery established in Korea, Jinro Coors Brewery, was founded in the 1990s. It was later acquired by Oriental Breweries (OB). Hite Breweries's former name was Chosun Breweries, which was established in 1933. The company changed its name to Hite Breweries in 1998. OB Breweries established as Showa Kirin Breweries in 1933. The company changed its name to OB Breweries in 1995.
Flavored liquors are liquors that have added flavoring and, in some cases, a small amount of added sugar. They are distinct from liqueurs in that liqueurs have a high sugar content and may also contain glycerine.
Baekseju is a Korean glutinous rice-based fermented alcoholic beverage flavored with a variety of herbs, ginseng most prominent among them. The name comes from the legend that the healthful herbs in baekseju will result an individual to live up to 100 years old.
Korn, also known as Kornbrand or Kornbranntwein, is a German colorless distilled beverage produced from fermented cereal grain seed. The production of Korn uses only five grains: most of the production is based on rye or wheat; barley is mainly used to obtain the required malt for the brewing process; oats and buckwheat are rarely used. The addition of food colorings, flavorings, or sweeteners is not permitted. Korn is distilled to lower alcoholic proofs and less rigorously filtered than vodka, which leaves more of the cereal grain flavor in the finished spirit.
Pinnacle is a brand of vodka owned by Beam Suntory It is distilled in France from French wheat then exported to the United States where it is flavored and bottled by Beam. It is currently available in around 30 flavors. The brand was launched by the White Rock Distillery in Lewiston, Maine in 2002. On April 23, 2012 it was announced that Beam Inc. would acquire the Pinnacle brand for $600 million. In January 2013, Beam announced that it would close the former White Rock distillery plant and shift production to Kentucky. The Lewiston bottlery and a portion of the White Rock brands were subsequently acquired by Sazerac Company.
Fruit soju is a flavored form of soju, an alcoholic drink originally from Korea. In 2015, Sunhari, the first fruit-flavored soju brand was released by beverage manufacturer Lotte Chilsung.
Tōkki Soju is a brand of soju founded in Brooklyn, New York in 2016 by master distiller Brandon Hill. The company prides themselves on quality over profit, using expensive ingredients that contribute to taste such as glutinous rice.
Some dishes are shared by the two Koreas; however, availability and quality of Northern cuisine is much more significantly affected by sociopolitical class divides.
