Korean Job Discussion Forums

[brento1138]

I'm sure many of you, upon arriving to Korea, tasted Korean milk and almost spat it back out. I've never tasted worse milk, and have tried all the brands. It's OK for cooking with, but for drinking? No way. For a while I settled on Pasteur brand milk (the one in the jug with a yellow cap), but even that still didn't taste like the milk back home in North America. No matter what the expiry date (especially with Seoul milk and ESL milk) the milk always tastes "bad" after the second or third day of sitting in the fridge. Even when you open it right away, it still doesn't have that refreshing taste.

I really don't know what is wrong with the milk here, but I've heard it is treated differently than milk back home, since more Koreans here are lactose intolerant. At first I thought it must not have been pasteurized, but then I was told it is, however, it lacks certain treatments the milk back home gets and instead goes through some different process. I think something must have been added or taken away. If anyone knows the details, I'd be very curious to find out what they are.

At my workplace, we usually get milk on three days of the week (Seoul Milk). Every time I've tried one, it always tastes like it has gone bad, or has sat in a warm place for three days... but my co-workers seem to disagree with me, and can't understand how I think it tastes so bad (they are all Korean).

Anyhow... onto the more positive aspect of this post. I wish I had found out earlier, but a friend recently told me to buy "Denmark" brand milk. It's available at Emart, and finally I can drink a milk that doesn't taste like it has gone bad in three days. It's quite good milk, tastes great upon first opening, and lasts past the expiry date. Also it often comes with a couple of free mocha or banana milks attached with tape! Cool! I heard that they follow the North American way of treating milk.

Sorry to sound like an advertisement, but fellow foreigners, if you're having Milk Woes like I was, Denmark is the milk for you!! Finally, good milk in Korea!!

[pdx]

Back home I drank a LOT of milk, but I'm not picky, so the only thing that bothers me about milk in Korea is that I can't seem to find non-fat. I think the low fat tastes just fine, but I prefer non-fat and can't find it. I know what "non-fat" is in Korean, but can't seem to find a container with that on it.

oh well.

[RACETRAITOR]

I've had that problem too. Lately I've been drinking a lot of yogurt drinks to keep up my dairy intake. Thanks for mentioning this Denmark milk.

[brento1138]

[kat2]

Denmark is great. They even have a skim milk, as well as 저지방 (lowfat). It comes in a pink and whie container. The low fat one is a blue and white container with a drawing of people jogging.I usually pick it up at Emart.
They also make the only plain yogurt i've ever seen in Korea and the only sour cream.

[Bibbitybop]

Does anyone know if the dairy cows here are pumped full of hormones like they are in the USA?

[JD1982]

What you're tasting in Korean milk is anti-biotics. I've heard that they inject lots of anti-biotics to farm animals to prevent sickness.

Sometimes you will taste it on their beef and pork as well.

[billybrobby]

i honestly don't know what you're talking about. i mean, i'm not a huge milk fan so maybe I just don't notice, but i've never had a problem with the milk

[faster]

Korean milk isn't pasteurized, iirc. The lone exception is Pasteur milk, which is why I get it delivered weekly. It doesn't smell funny and tastes like the regular milk in the US. I drank organic milk for a long time here, but don't have a local source anymore since I moved.

[andrew]

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[thebum]

[thebum]

[faster]

[sadsac]

I've always found it to be a little less appealing than milk back home. I did try the low fat milk one time and it was foul.

[SPINOZA]