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1.
From a Beer to a Gourmet Drink
Beer consumption is falling worldwide, but the number of new gourmet beers is continuously rising ...read more
2.
Hidden Pearls of Provence
An eccentric Brazilian woman was the driving force behind the foundation of the Luberon-based winemaking cooperative ...read more
3.
Biserno – Lodovico Antinori's Youngest Child
The Antinori family is Italy’s largest producer of quality wines. The new “Biserno” should continue this success story ...read more
4.
Glenfiddich’s Crown Jewels
Every two to three years since 2003, the Scots have been producing “Vintage Reserve” whiskys ...read more
5.
A Caffè Conquers the World
In 1933 Francesco Illy founded a coffee roasting business in the northern Italian port city of Trieste ...read more
6.
Awoken From Slumber
Slovakia boasts a long tradition of wine making, and since the founding of the republic ...read more
7.
“Smell is the Sense of Memory and Desire.”
Among wine connoisseurs the Sommelier line of gourmet stemware developed by Claus Riedel ...read more
8.
Kalterer See 2.0
20 years ago wine from Kalterer See was still viewed as a cheap, if dubious pleasure. For the first time this year ...read more
9.
Realistic Idealist
Whatever Dieter Meier turns his hand to, he’s successful at it. His organic wines in Argentina, for instance ...read more
10.
Vinho Verde – the light Portuguese
The white wine from Portugal’s northwest province has quietly and secretly evolved from an insignificant ...read more
11.
Trendy Beverage: Masala Chai
Tea is among the oldest and most widely drunk beverages in the world ...read more
12.
Soju
Soju (not soya!) is the top-selling alcoholic beverage in the world ...read more
13.
Sherry, down under
Without a doubt Penfolds produces some of Australia’s best wines ...read more
14.
Valley High
Trentino is Italy’s northernmost wine-growing region and is the home of Grappa and Spumante ...read more
15.
The Renaissance of Cognac
No way is it “out”. Every second four bottles of cognac are purchased worldwide ...read more
16.
A bite to eat and a quick drink
In northern Spain’s Navarra, fine food and wine is as much an everyday part of life as ...read more
17.
The Renaissance of Grappa
People used to drink grappa to warm themselves up ...read more
18.
Southern Comfort – The Grand Old Drink of the South
The idea is as simple as it is ingenious: Over 135 years ago a barkeeper mixed whiskey ...read more
19.
Chablis
When the question arises about which wine goes well with fish and seafood, many people think of Chablis first ...read more
20.
We don’t want to make more wine, we want to make better wines
Torres, the Spanish family business, was recently placed atop the British “Green List” of environmentally friendly winer ...read more
21.
Noblesse oblige
Within just a few years the Schloss Proschwitz winery has become the hallmark of Saxon wine culture ...read more
22.
Cocoa – the Bittersweet Temptation
No matter whether it’s a bar or cake, biscuits or confectionary, pudding or praline ...read more
23.
Milk
One of humanity’s oldest forms of natural nutrition, milk is the universal ...read more
24.
Silvaner – Goethe’s Favourite Drink
Up to the 1970s Silvaner was the most widely cultivated grape variety in Germany ...read more
25.
Off to Hungary for the wine
Goethe had an appreciation for Tokay, the Hungarian dessert wine, but he was not the only one ...read more
26.
Sparkling Freshness: Crémant d’Alsace
With sparkling wine from France everyone first immediately thinks of Champagne ...read more
27.
Federweißer – New Wine with Lots of Flavour
The wine harvest just coming to a close bestows us not only new wine ...read more
28.
Harvesting Cava in Penedès
Once the grapes are fully ripe at the end of August ...read more
29.
Punches – fruity thirst-quenchers
Along with summer comes thirst – and the time for punches ...read more
30.
Noilly Prat – more than just an aperitif
It is used extensively in making sauces because it goes well with fish ...read more
31.
Beer – a very special juice
Hardly any drink is as versatile and old as beer ...read more
32.
Sake – Diversity of Aromas
"Good sake is like the water of a pure mountain spring,” say the Japanese ...read more
33.
Wines of Madeira
Madera wine, often shortened to 'Madeira' ...read more
34.
Eco wine – mystic power plants
In this era of globalization increasing ...read more
35.
Hope at the Cape
In spite of a century-old tradition, many successful periods ...read more
36.
Model pupil from the Languedoc
No wine coming from the family of the Baroness Philippine de Rothschild ...read more
37.
A Lot New in the West
No country in the world has as many separate varieties of grapes as Portugal ...read more
38.
Vineland South Tyrol
For a long time wine from South Tyrol (Trentino Alto Adige) had a bad name ...read more
39.
Portugal’s red wines – moving up to the top
“Every Portuguese has his vineyard”, goes the saying in Portugal ...read more
40.
Franciacorta – effervescent Italy
Franciacorta is to Italy what Champagne is to France ...read more
41.
Prosecco – the sparkling Italian
A summer without Prosecco? Inconceivable ...read more
42.
Sherry – proud and elegant
It is as pale as straw and young, or as dark as toffee ...read more
43.
A place with plenty of time
In Lynchburg, Tennessee, bourbon is being made the same way ...read more
44.
Things are happening in Languedoc-Roussillon
Almost 40 per cent of French wine comes from the Mediterranean region of Languedoc-Roussillon ...read more

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SLAINTE: IN EVERY LANGUAGE!
Soju (not soya!) is the top-selling alcoholic beverage in the world.
Photography: A. Stelter
Soju
Soju (not soya!) is the top-selling alcoholic beverage in the world. Worldwide more bottles of the South Korean distilled beverage are drunk than vodka, rum or whiskey. And yet hardly anyone outside its homeland knows about it.


Soju (literally “burned liquor”) is clear and colourless – like vodka. And like vodka diluted with water soju also smells slightly sweet with a trace of cereal aroma, similar to German Korn [schnapps, usually made from rye or wheat], but distinctly weaker.

The reason for this being that like Korn, soju is usually distilled from cereals and potatoes.

The market leader, the Jinro distillery in South Korea, uses barley and sweet potatoes in its soju called “Chamisul Jinro”.

The more expensive brands are in fact made from rice as the base product, just as in the 14th century when soju was first distilled in Korea.

In the cheapest brands, industrial alcohol (ethanol) is mixed with flavouring agents and water. This method was developed in 1965, when the government prohibited distillation from rice to alleviate the rice shortage. The Korean government regulates the alcohol content of soju to less than 35%, but it is normally 20%.

Four soju brands are among the top liquors sold worldwide: Jinro with 578.52 million litres sold, Lotte Liquor (203.4 million litres), Muhak White (116.64 million litres) and Charm (99.63 million litres).

By comparison: In the same period Smirnoff Vodka (2nd place) sold 218.7 million litres and Bacardi Rum (5th place) sold 173.52 million litres.

Soju is by the way (in addition to kimchi and tae kwon do) one of the few Korean words to appear in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary (the most important American dictionary of the English language).

Text: Rainer Meier


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