The numbers

Jinro soju’s landslide victory over a long roll of better-known global liquor giants might be something of a shock: the local Korean distilled rice liquor manufacturer outsold runner-up Smirnoff vodka more than twofold, the latter falling considerably short with 24.70 million cases sold.

Lotte Liquor soju was third on the list, at 23.9 million cases.

The latest advertisement for Jinro soju. It’s clearly working.

“As you know, there aren’t that many spirits with medium-level alcohol content,” said a Hite-Jinro representative. “That, along with the fact that Jinro’s Chamisul soju is a moderate 19 percent alcohol by volume, explains how Jinro has already made a name for itself by being substantially cheaper than other liquors.”

A bottle of soju costs around ₩1,450 (a little more than US$1) at convenience stores and around ₩3,500 (around US$3) at restaurants and bars.

The conclusion might be that the weaker and cheaper the alcohol, the better it sells — in Korea, anyway.

That and the fact that Koreans drink a lot.

Pricing aside, soju’s explosive popularity is also mind-boggling when you take the actual taste into consideration.

“Soju tastes like rubbing alcohol,” said one foreigner who declined to give his name. “I don’t know how Koreans drink it.”

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Where to try it

Forget the fancy soju-based cocktails at Seoul’s five-star luxury hotels.

To drink soju like a local, you need to head to a tent, whether it’s an actual orange tarp or a modernized version with “booking” — single-sex groups scoping out other single-sex groups and combining parties on the spot.

Here’s where to try the world’s best-selling liquor.

Hanshin Pocha (한신포차), 407-23 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul (서울시 마포구 서교동 407-23); +82 2 3143 0410

Shim Bbongs (심뽕스), 663-23 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul (서울특별시 강남구 신사동 663-23 ); +82 2 541 0270

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