Baekseju (; sold under the brand name Bek Se Ju) is a

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

glutinous rice Glutinous rice (''Oryza sativa var. glutinosa''; also called sticky rice, sweet rice or waxy rice) is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast and East Asia, and the northeastern regions of South Asia, which has opaque grains, very low amylose ...

-based fermented

alcoholic beverage An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...

flavored with a variety of

herbs In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

, ginseng most prominent among them. The name comes from the legend that the healthful herbs in baekseju will result an individual to live up to 100 years old. The drink is infused with ginseng and eleven other herbs, including

licorice Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted. The liq ...

, ''omija'' ('' Schisandra chinensis''), ''gugija'' (Chinese

wolfberry Goji, goji berry, or wolfberry () is the fruit of either ''Lycium barbarum'' or ''Lycium chinense'', two closely related species of Lycium, boxthorn in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. ''L. barbarum'' and ''L. chinense'' fruits ar ...

), ''

Astragalus propinquus ''Astragalus propinquus'' (syn. ''Astragalus membranaceus'', commonly known as Mongolian milkvetch in English; 'Хунчир' in Mongolian; ''huáng qí'' (), ''běi qí'' () or ''huáng huā huáng qí'' (), in Mongolia, is a flowering plant i ...

'' root,

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

, and

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

Overview

Baekseju is brewed using traditional methods, and has a mellow flavor, with a hint of ginseng. It is often consumed with ''

gui The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

'' and other spicy dishes which are main flavors of Korean food. However, baekseju is considered to be a more old-fashioned variety of alcoholic beverage than soju or

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

, and is less popular, possibly due to its image and high price. Baekseju is made by a company named

Kooksoondang Kooksoondang () is a Korean brewery, founded in 1952. The name translates in English to "house of good yeast and wines." Kooksoondang is a major producer of natural beverages and health-related products. In 1994, Mr. Jung-Ho Bae, CEO of the com ...

. It was a pocket recipe wine before its popularity. It had its traditional recipe but in order to make it sell on a broader market, some adjustments were made with new ingredients. It was first launched in 1992 along with the name of Jibong'yuseol. This was a success for the company. The reason behind the success was that at the time of its release there were only a couple of alcoholic beverages namely beer, soju and whiskey. This drink was perfect for those who wanted to drink without becoming inebriated.

References

* {{Rice drinks Rice wine Korean alcoholic drinks

Overview

See also

References