Slow City Makgeolli, a hand-made Korean traditional rice wine, can have four different tastes by varying the level of aging or maturation. (image: Baesangmyun Brewery)
SEOUL, May 17 (Korea Bizwire) — Like choosing cosmetics after using a sample, a new trend is emerging of “liquor samplers” in Korea’s liquor industry.
According to the industry, Baesangmyun Brewery, a traditional Korean rice wine maker, offers four kinds of “Slow City Brewery Makgeolli” in the sampler course at its “Slow City Brewery & Pub” restaurants. Slow City Makgeolli, a hand-made Korean traditional rice wine, can have four different tastes by varying the level of aging or maturation.
For those who cannot choose what to drink for their makgeolli, the restaurant offers free samples of the four tastes and lets the customer choose their own.
A customer at the restaurant said, “This place is amazing as we can watch the brewery process with our own eyes and select the makgeolli we want after sampling various kinds.”
Soju samplers are also gaining in popularity, as it can be a burden to order top quality soju by the bottle.
Aoi Sora, a traditional soju pub in Itaewon, Seoul, is selling a sampler for soju-lovers. It offers two soju samplers with four soju brands each at 15,000 won (US$13.7) and 16,000 won (US$14.6).
In addition, craft beers are now selling in samplers. As they are brewed in different ways, a beer sampler can be the best fit for beer-lovers who want to try various tastes in beer.
An official at Baesangmyun Brewery said, “Liquor and beverage samplers are a natural development to meet the various tastes of customers. The samplers have received good response from first time visitors and younger customers who are not familiar with makgeolli, particularly women.”
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
