Cheongju

Cheongju belongs to the old family of Korean rice wines and is defined by its relationship to makgeolli: both come from one batch of fermented mash, with cheongju the clear wine taken from the top and makgeolli the cloudy remainder let down with water. The closely related yakju is another refined rice wine of the same clear type. As the cleaner, more refined drink, cheongju was the wine of ceremony, set out for the ancestral memorial rites that remain central to Korean ritual life. Several regional examples are held up as benchmarks of the craft, among them Gyeongju Gyodong Beopju, brewed by the Choi family of Gyeongju over many generations from glutinous rice and house-well water, and Myeoncheon Dujeonju in South Chungcheong, a cheongju scented with azalea blossom and honey; both are recognised as protected cultural assets.

Bright and clear in the glass, a pale straw to light amber, with a gentle nose of steamed rice and a soft fruity-floral lift. The taste is clean and smooth, the rice sweetness restrained and balanced by a dry, faintly tart finish, far lighter and more elegant than the cloudy tang of makgeolli. It is poured cool into small cups and slips down easily alongside food.

Cheongju relies on parallel fermentation followed by clarification. Nuruk, a traditional grain starter carrying moulds and yeasts, does two jobs at once in the mash: its enzymes break the steamed rice starch down into sugars while the yeast ferments those sugars into alcohol, over one to two weeks building a mash that is part liquid wine, part suspended rice solids. Left undisturbed, the heavier solids sink and a clear wine separates on top; ladling or straining off that upper layer gives cheongju, and stirring water back through the dregs gives the cloudy makgeolli. The clarity and lighter body of cheongju come simply from taking the settled, refined fraction rather than the whole mash.