Today is the big day: Takjoo Journals turns one year old! I have to say that I feel pretty good about this accomplishment. I never tried my hand at blogging before this because I didn’t have anything that I was passionate enough to write about, or, if I was passionate enough (Korean baseball!), someone was…
KOREAN NAME: 부안 참뽕 막걸리 REVIEW: Dong Jin Brewery’s Buan Champpong is much like its counterpart Carbonated Rice Makgeolli: it doesn’t use aspartame (which I’m grateful for) but it has been over-loaded with stevia and sucralose. Buan Champpong is also flavored with Korean mulberry, or odi (오디). But my guess is this adds more to the sugar-content than…
Autumn is a wonderful season in Korea. The falling mercury signals cooling temperatures, the hues of the leaves change to burnt auburns and golds, and brewers rally together for the finest makgeolli events (ok, possibly the only makgeolli events) in the world. Here’s a list of the big three happening this year:
KOREAN NAME: 생택 생 막걸리 THOUGHTS: No matter where you go in Seoul, there’s one bottle you can’t avoid—Seoul Jangsoo. But the same cannot be said of those living in Gyeongsang-do. No, the ubiquitous green bottle that pops up everywhere is Saeng Tak Saeng Makgeolli. So far apart and yet so close in one profoundly similar aspect: they are both…
KOREAN NAME: 왕탁 LOCATION: Gyeongsangbuk-do, Daegu, Nam-gu (경상북도, 대구, 남구) OVERALL: For most people visiting Daegu (or even living in Daegu), Wang Tak is a bit off the beaten path. That being said, this place is well worth the trip. From the city-cabin architecture to the plethora of makgeolli options, this is the type of joomak I…
KOREAN NAME: 파주 탁주 생 막걸리 REVIEW: Stopping off at Paju after a trip to the DMZ, I wanted to pick up a bottle of the local stuff. Paju Takju caught my eye because it doesn’t use aspartame, something rare among small brewers. Which is not to say this bottle is faultless—in addition to being made with…
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