Brought to Korea by the Mongol invasions of the 13th century — the still came from Persia via the Yuan dynasty. Andong became the production center; the 1909 Japanese-imposed liquor tax law forced consolidation, and the 1965 rice-ban during food shortages shifted commercial soju to tapioca and sweet potato.
Jinro has been the world's best-selling spirits brand by case volume since 2001 — over 86 million cases in 2022, more than the next four (Smirnoff, Bacardi, etc.) combined. Andong-soju was designated Important Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 12 in 1987.
Modern green-bottle (Jinro Chamisul, Chum-Churum) is clear, slightly sweet from added sugar/aspartame, 16-17% — drunk neat in a single shot from a small glass. Andong-soju is 45%, rice-forward, with a clean grain finish; sip it.
Traditional soju: nuruk-fermented rice mash distilled in a copper soju-gori, single-pass, yielding 35-45% ABV. Modern dilute soju: continuous-column ethanol from tapioca/sweet potato, water-cut to 16-17%, sweetener added to soften the burn.
Variations
Andong-soju (Gyeongbuk, 45%, rice, copper still — heritage), Jindo-hongju (red, infused with jicho root), Munbaeju (pear-aromatic, distilled twice). Flavored modern variants — yogurt, peach, grapefruit — are post-2010s marketing pushes.
On the Palate
Where Soju sits in the Korean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 1How it's made
4 steps · 10 min active + 10 days 5 hours waiting
- 160 min
Steam 1 kg short-grain rice; cool to room temperature.
Watch outCool the steamed rice fully to room temp before mixing — hot rice kills the starter's live cultures.
- 214400 min
Mix with nuruk (fermentation starter) and water; ferment 7–10 days into a wash.
Watch outThe wash is ready when it smells winey-sour and stops bubbling — that's the sugars spent out.
- 3240 min
Distill the wash in a pot still; collect the spirit at 35–45% ABV.
Watch outCut the head and tail, keep only the clean middle — the first and last runnings carry the harsh, off notes.
- 410 min
Optional: dilute to 17–20% ABV with water + sweeteners (modern green-bottle style).
