Korean Job Discussion Forums

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

What is the best balance for a home buzz?

The balance is calculated from two factors: quality (e.g. taste) and cost.

Of course, soju is the cheapest, but it is rotgut, tastes terrible, and gives you diarrhea.

Commander Vodka is about 8k won. Not such a bad deal, but man, I've never not woken up still drunk after a night with the Commander.

Recently discovered Bacardi. Only 14k for a bottle, and does the trick.

What thinketh thee!?

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

Consider wine, some not bad stuff can be had for not too much.

Thunndarr · Joined: 30 Sep 2003

Bacardi 151 is probably the best deal I've seen for decent western hooch. It's about the same price as most other hard liquors (around 20k at Costco?) but roughly twice as strong.

beachbumNC · Joined: 30 May 2007 Location: Gumi

gyeongju beopju rice wine. 6500 a bottle, and has a nice refreshing taste. i think it's around 12 percent abv.

Hollywoodaction · Joined: 02 Jul 2004

Filipino rum at e-Mart, 6500won a bottle. Supply is sporadic at best.

Pak Yu Man · Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Location: The Ida galaxy

Commander gin or Vodka from Emart. Good kick for 6-7000k.

idonojacs · Joined: 07 Jun 2007

Well, soju would have to be the cheapest buzz around, if only you could find something interesting and palatable to do with it. My first bottle is still sitting unfinished. I wonder if there is any difference in qualilty to different brands? I did notice there is some variation in the proof. I was thinking of soju sunrises, but I haven't gotten around to getting an overpriced bottle of grenadine.

The cheap Korean gin is OK. But if the soju here bothers you, I would guess the gin would do the same thing, since the soju seems to be watered down gin without the herbs, and with some sort of sweetener added. And then you have to buy tonic water for the gin.

Without a doubt, the cheapest, most drinkable booze is CaptainQ. At 700 ml and 70 proof, for under 5,000 won, how can you beat it? It is smooth, but lacks the refined complexity of real Scotch scotch. Sometimes I wonder if they are cutting their Q scotch with some grain alcohol, though. Cheap scotch in the States sometimes used to do that. If they are, it is not as noticeable as the Stateside junk.

At 70 proof, Captain Q is not suitable to be watered down, unlike 80 or 90 proof whiskey. Say, whose bright idea was it to put the picture of a pirate on a bottle of scotch? Don't they know that pictures of pirates are supposed to go on rum? As in "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum?" I wonder if I should cover that in class?

My approach to drinking CaptainQ (and what does "CaptainQ" signify, anyway? Anyone read the label? I'm a little afraid to ask) is to put some shot glasses in the freezer and put some scotch in the glass, maybe with one ice cube. An alternative, I suppose, would be to put the bottle in the frig (no, we don't use "ice boxes" in the States anymore. We have electricity now). You might experiment with throwing a dash of real scotch in the Q to brighten it up.

Slightly more expensive is NapoleonV, which I correctly surmised is brandy. At 70 proof (again) and 640 ml for 5,900 won, it is a bit more expensive than the Q. But it is actually a quite tasty brandy. Might be worth getting a nice thin snifter. But brandy is not what usually comes to mind when I think of getting drunk. On the other hand, it may be more amenable to cocktails tails.

What is with this 70 proof thing? Is 80 proof too rough on their delicate taste buds? Is it a way of improving the profit margin? I got rather annoyed when another teacher warned me against asking for some soju during dinner, saying it was too strong. I double checked the bottle: 30 proof too strong?

So I say, have a bottle of Bacardi 151 handy for those visits by co-teachers. Give em a shot of that and show them what real Yanks drink!

Now if only I could find a bottle of Everclear. Then I could hyderize them.

But I shouldn't be too critical of Korean drinkers. Anyone who can drink that 1,500 won bottle "house wine," which is far sweeter than Welch's grape juice, my hat's off to them.

The Bobster · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Tokki1 · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:50 am Post subject:

Soju and juice.

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

discostar23 · Joined: 22 Feb 2004 Location: getting the hell out of dodge

best deal on alcohol is pick up a litre (or two) in duty free whenever you can! Otherwise there is a liquor store in namdemun that sells quarts for about 20,000won a bottle. I don't like cheap distilled alcohol...yes I am an alcohol snob.

sojourner1 · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 7:24 pm Post subject:

I am looking for Courvoisier cognac which usually sells for about $25 US a 750ml 5th bottle in the states. I have seen Hennessy here, but it's way over priced.

Anyone seen any reasonably priced cognac here? Brandy just doesn't cut it.

discostar23 · Joined: 22 Feb 2004 Location: getting the hell out of dodge

go to gate 1 in nandemun (best way to get there is go to seoul station exit 4 i think) then once u enter the market you will see a building on your left. It is almost directly across from the alpha. go down to the basement. there is a huge liquor stand and i believe the lady gets most of her liquor off base. you should be able to find it there or at least cheaper price on hennessy.

shetan · Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Location: In front of my PC.

Soju and Maeshil? 매실

its a green fruit juice.. goes well with soju.. mm mmm

butlerian · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Location: Korea

Taedongang beer from North Korea is good (about 2,300won a bottle in Homeplus) and stronger than what's made down south.

If you're looking for something stronger, try a bottle of wine from Homeplus or E-Mart - can't really go wrong with a wine from the new world countries between 7-10,000 won or so. I usually start with a beer or some wine and then move on to something harder (Forever vodka - 40% and triple distilled - is a bargain at just over 5,000 won at Homeplus) if I'm in the mood.