KOREAN NAME: 미몽 막걸리 REVIEW: According to Kooksoondang’s website, Mi Mong means “The Dream of the Rice”. The poetic name, the glass bottle, the label illustrated like a classic East Asian painting you’ve seen in a museum—everything bespeaks an upmarket product that should be sipped not swilled. On the bottom of the label, you can even find…
KOREAN NAME: 부자 16 REVIEW: Buja 16 was one of those bottles I heard about when I first moved to Korea as it seemed to be one of the few widely available, non-aspartame brews. Of course, when I went looking for it, it was nowhere to be found. (I will say I occasionally bump into Buja Purple,…
KOREAN NAME: 이백주 (이화에 월백 하고 주) REVIEW: There are a few oddities surrounding Eebaekju and they have nothing to do with the flavor: No expiration date is printed anywhere on the bottle, despite the fact that the label clearly states it has a shelf-life of 30 days. The only ingredient listed is hepssal, or new…
KOREAN NAME: 세종대왕 어주 약주 REVIEW: After lots of disappointment with the brews on offer at COEX’s Food Week Korea 2015, I was pleasantly surprised to run into “traditional liquor teacher” Jang Jung-su, the owner and master brewer behind Jangheui Doga. Jang explained that Jangheui has two main brews, a Yakju and Takju (read: makgeolli)…
KOREAN NAME: 자희향 탁주 REVIEW: Jaheehyang. It’s one of the ever-growing makgeollis that embraces visual appeal, packaging, and quality brewing with the hopes that its consumers do likewise. But, before I get to the review, I should say that I sampled Jaheehyang not as the brewer intended. That is, I bought this back at the end of August…
KOREAN NAME: 유기농 막걸리 REVIEW: Yuginong was a bottle I had earmarked for trying in the future but it wasn’t till I finally picked it up that I realized it’s made by Baesangmyun Brewery. Obviously a good sign as I have yet to try a bad brew from them. And with the appellation Yuginong—literally organic—this brew promised to…
KOREAN NAME: 고택 찹쌀 생주 REVIEW: For my birthday, I took my friends over to Sool Gaeguri (술 개구리) in the Hapjeong/Sangsu area for—you know it—makgeolli. One of the bottles we ordered was a bit different. Only 500 ml but packing a high ABV-punch of 13.5%, we weren’t sure what to expect from Gotaek Chapssal Saengju other…
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…
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…
takjoo journals 