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 ...
n
glutinous rice-based
fermented
Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food p ...
alcoholic beverage flavored with a variety of
herbs,
ginseng
Ginseng () is the root of plants in the genus '' Panax'', such as Korean ginseng ('' P. ginseng''), South China ginseng ('' P. notoginseng''), and American ginseng ('' P. quinquefolius''), typically characterized by the presence of ginsenosides ...
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
''Schisandra chinensis'' (common name: magnolia-vine, Chinese magnolia-vine, schisandra), whose fruit is called magnolia berry or five-flavor-fruit (from Chinese 五味子 ''wǔwèizi''), is a vine plant native to forests of Northern China, the ...
''), ''gugija'' (Chinese
wolfberry), ''
Astragalus propinquus'' root,
ginger, and
cinnamon.
Overview
Baekseju is brewed using traditional methods, and has a mellow flavor, with a hint of ginseng.
It is often consumed with ''
gui'' 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
(; Hangul: ; Hanja: ) is a clear and colorless Korean distilled alcoholic beverage. It is usually consumed neat. Its alcohol content varies from about 12.9% to 53% alcohol by volume (ABV), although since 2007 low alcohol soju below 20% h ...
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. 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.
See also
*
Korean wine
Korean cuisine has a wide variety of traditional alcoholic drinks, known as ''sul'' (). Many of these drinks end with the Sino-Korean word ''-ju'' (), and some end with the native Korean word ''-sul''. The Sino-Korean ''-ju'' is not used as an ...
*
List of Korean beverages
This list of Korean drinks includes drinks, traditional or modern, which are distinctive to or closely identified with Korea. Brands and companies are South Korean unless noted.
Alcoholic drinks
* Baekseju
*Beolddeokju, herbal rice wine believ ...
References
*
{{Rice drinks
Rice wine
Korean alcoholic drinks