With the current bingsu craze in Singapore (yes, we’re slow) and the dying down of the honey butter trend in Korea, it’s the perfect time to usher in another trend for the oncoming hot summer season. And what can be more refreshing than chilled alcohol – in the form of light, fruity flavours?
Actually, I came across this trend when reading through recent fan accounts from SHINee’s fan signing events (yes, I’m a shawol!) and came across one tweet that was along the lines of a fan gifting the members with Soonhari (순하리), which was apparently some popular fruit soju and their faces all lit up upon seeing the bottles. And off I went to do some research about this particular beverage that was able to attract my idols’ attention… and it turned out that this is not just ordinary popular, but it is indeed very, very, very popular in Korea nowadays.
In my own opinion, I think pure soju tastes like crap – I don’t understand how ahjusshis can down shots and shots of soju non-stop, like those seen in dramas – without throwing up halfway. Drinking soju just feels like drinking pure ethanol, it burns your throat and it’s so bitter and not enjoyable. I only drink soju when mixed with other drinks, like beer (soju + maekju = somaek), cider and fruit juice because they mask the nasty taste of soju.

Whoever came up with this idea of a fruit-flavoured soju must be a genius. Chumchurum (처음처럼) came up with Soonhari (순하리), a yuzu-flavoured soju with 14% alcohol content.

Likewise, competitors will ride on the bandwagon while the craze is still raging. Another fellow liquor producer, Joeun Day (좋은데이) has followed suit but came up with not only one, but three fruity flavours! There’s the Blue flavour (blueberry), Red flavour (pomegranate) and Yellow flavour (yuzu). The alcohol content for this is slightly lower, at 13.5% – but I guess 0.5% doesn’t really make much difference right?

For people like me who don’t have the chance to go to Korea to lay their hands on these soju bottles, or in case the bottles are totally wiped off shelves such as in the case of honey butter chips, fret not! Here’s a method to DIY your own yuzu-flavoured soju (or beer) at home:
– Mix yuzu juice and a bottle of soju to a 1:1 ratio
– Mix 2 bottles of yuzu juice and 500ml of beer together
The yuzu juice recommended above is the 280ml Woongjin My Love Yuja/Yuzu C (웅진 내사랑유자C) and the recommended soju serving is 360ml for a bottle.
Cheers~ 건배~! Happy drinking but don’t drink too much! Also, please don’t drink if you are underage and reading this!
Read more at “KAvenyou: Your Avenue to Non-Stop Entertainment, Lifestyle and Fashion“
Article by: Zhen @ KAvenyou.com