Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Daithi]

Okay i was thinking of bringing over a few small bottles (75ml) of Jameson Whiskey as presents for people over there. For example my co-teacher and principal.

Is this a good idea or could it be a bad idea to give alcohol as a present? Or to give such a small amount as a present? Can anyone recommend anything else that may be suitable?

ps. I'm Irish and Jameson is my favourite whiskey so serves a double purpose as a gift

[FDNY]

Jameson is OK. Bring the regular, not the 12YO. The 12YO would be wasted on Koreans. I don't mean to be racist or anything, but I'm Scottish and I have let various Koreans sample some of my rarer scotches. They either want to slam it with a Hite chaser or drop it into a warm mug of OB.

[Daithi]

Plain old Jameson will do them so. Just wanted to make sure that it's an acceptable/suitable gift to give.

Thanks!

[Gorf]

Agreed. for the most part, the only whiskey you'll find outside of the black market is watered-down Jack Daniels. Most Koreans have never even had whiskey.

[nukeday]

[northway]

[tiger fancini]

[eamo]

Koreans drink a lot of whiskey! Mostly in room salons. But it's only those mediocre blended international brands. You know. The usual culprits. Chivas Regal. Ballintines. Johnny Walker.

The know nothing of the wonderful world of single malts. Shame.


As for giving small bottles of whiskey to your employers....sure. They'll appreciate that. But only if they're male. Whiskey is firmly a man's drink here. Bottles of wine would be much better for female bosses.

[Koreadays]

[lawyertood]

Not to sound like an apologist, but I have had to educate a few non-Koreans in proper Single Malt drinking here, as well.

[Kennyftw]

get your boss a six pack of Colt 45 and that'll be good.

[Steelrails]

For whiskey (or cognac) it seems there's a 95% majority that is Ballantine's/Johnnie/Chivas. Then there's the 5% (or less) that does appreciate the good stuff.

My favorite memory is our principal took us over to his house to crack open a bottle Remy Martin XO and a bottle of Royal Salut (I know, a blend, but its alright stuff). All of us cheered and all of the Korean teachers proceeded to slam it/drop it into their beer. I took a smooth sip with the principal. He then proceeded to lecture the other teachers on how to drink fine whiskey/cognac and kept on pointing to me as an example while berating them. Since then, me and him were on great terms. Every time I took a vacation I made sure to come back with a nice bottle. Every time I wanted my vacation to work the way I wanted to, when I wanted to, I was approved in spite of my co-teacher's objection.

So yes, bring regular Jameson or a normal bottle of whatever. But you might want to bring a reserve bottle of the good stuff. Find out if your boss drinks good booze and offer the good bottle as a "delayed by customs" gift. If he doesn't, well you have a nice bottle to yourself.

And if you do have a favorite, be sure to bring it over for yourself. It might be hard to find here/suffer from ridiculous markup. 150,000 won for 10 year Laphroaig?!?!?!

[morrisonhotel]

[isisaredead]

i would personally never give alcohol as a present here, as i would be afraid it would give the wrong impression.

and yes, i've been here a long time and i'm well aware of the drinking culture.

i understand what the OP is trying to do - i just would never do it.

[schwa]