A new generation of Korean entrepreneurs is taking makgeolli, a sweet and milky Korean rice wine, global.
Kim Kyung-seop recalls going to cheap bars after class with his friends, where they binged on as much makgeolli as possible.Makgeolli, the milky and often sweet traditional rice wine from Korea, was chosen for its price, not flavor.
Two decades later, in bars across South Korea's capital, the lackluster drink from Kim's memory was becoming trendy, this time in the hands of a young generation of entrepreneurs and brewers."We worked very hard to get rid of the established images people hold of makgeolli," says Kim. While the name first appears in"Gwangjaemulbo," an encyclopedia presumed to have been written in the 19th century, the opaque alcoholic drink likely dates back a millennium."Makgeolli is inherent to Korean culture, it's the drink of Korean people," Kim Kyung-seop says.
The government also reversed course on its previous policy, embracing traditional alcohol as a proud heritage -- and potentially lucrative -- industry. Kim says that opening a makgeolli brewery is much easier than any other type of alcohol. While equipment for setting up a beer microbrewery is around 200-300 million won , equipment for a makgeolli brewery can be acquired for 10 million won , Kim says. Furthermore, it only takes four 3-hour classes to brew something that's better than the mass market makgeolli, he adds.An Australian citizen, Julia Mellor originally came to South Korea to teach English.
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