It’s no secret that Koreans drink a LOT. They often go drinking after work or university even if it's a workday, and it’s common most early morning to see people struggling their way home. Refusing to go drink can make you an outcast from social groups because of how popular it is.
South Korea consumes the largest amount of alcohol in Asia (10.9L per capita aged over 15). The second is Vietnam with 8.7L and the third is Thailand with 8.3L which puts Korea ahead by quite an amount.
Soju is a hard liquor and South Korea is the number one country for hard liquor consumption in the world with an average of 13.7 shots per week per person of legal age in 2014. (Russia has 6.3 shots, less than half of what Korea consumes).
You never pour for yourself.
The first drink is usually poured by the eldest/most superior.
When someone older/more superior than you is pouring for you, you must hold your glass with two hands and you shouldn’t drink until the older person cheers (geon bae!!!)
After that, the youngest person pours for everybody. They must pour with both hands.
You should always accept the first drink offered to you unless you have a medical or religious reason.
The first drink should be downed in one. After the first, you can start pacing yourself or refusing in a polite manner that won’t offend anyone - the easiest way to do this is to leave your cup partially filled.
Cups should only be refilled when they are totally empty.
Younger people can’t look at the older people when drinking, they must turn the other way and cover the view of your mouth and glass with your hands.
Turn it upside down and hit the bottom of the bottle with your elbow.
Then open the bottle and take the lid off
Some people make a ‘V’ with their index and middle finger and hit the neck of the bottle with the gap between the V. They say this will get rid of the impurities in the drink
Do you want to get a drink?
(informal) 한잔할래? - han jan hal lae?
(formal) 한잔할래요? - han jan hal lae yo?
(formal) 한잔해요? - han jan hae yo?
(more formal, more polite) 한잔받으세요? - han jan bad eu se yo?
(informal) 이차가자 - e cha ka ja
Jumak (주막) - bar based on korean culture and sells traditional anju
Hof house - bar that sells relatively inexpensive alcoholic beverages and international dishes
Pojangmacha (포장마차) - tent bar
Convenience stores are usually open 24/7 as well
Popular Korean alcoholic drinks
Soju (소주) - has a 16.8 - 53% alcohol by volume. It is usually drank straight but can also be mixed with beer to make somaek (소맥).
Makgeolli (막걸리) - it’s the oldest alcoholic drink in Korean and is usually 6-9% alcohol by volume. In Korea, it is unpasteurized but exported makgeolli are pasteurized to have a longer shelf-life which makes it lose some of it’s flavour
Cheongju (청주) - clear refined rice wine. Is 14% alcohol by volume. In the 12th century, cheongju was made in the royal court whereas Takju - 탁주 (milky unrefined rice wine like makgeolli) was more common among commoners.
In the UK, we normally eat and drink separately. We may drink wine or beer while eating but we don’t usually take shots of vodka while eating, however in Korea, it’s common to eat when drinking. The food eaten while drinking is called anju (안주)
Different anju goes with different drinks.
Soju - stews (jjigae - 찌개), soups (tang - 탕), stir-fried food (bokkeum - 볶음), pork belly (samgyeopsal - 삼겹살), offal (gopchang - 곱창), chicken feet (dakbal - 닭발) and the last viscus of cattle (makchang - 막창)
Makgeolli - Korean pancakes (buchimgae - 부침개 or jeon - 전), kimchi dishes, pork shoulder (bossam - 보쌈), raw fish and oysters (any word with hoe - 회 at the end is raw)
Cheongju - confections (dasik - 다식 or jeonggwa - 정과), deep-fried vegetables (bugak - 부각), Korean Pancake, beef (like bulgogi - 불고기, hanu - 한우 and sanjeok - 산적), raw food and Korean hot pot (jeongol - 전골)
Maekju/beer (맥주) - dried jerky (po - 포) and dried seafood (like squid, nogari - 노가리 and jwipo - 쥐포), deep-fried food (twigim - 튀김), seasoned nuts, corn cheese, fried chicken and pizza. (Eating fried chicken with beer/maekju is called 치맥-chimaek)
Wine - cheese platter and steak
Anju is made to be shared, you don’t order a plate just for yourself. Everything is social when it comes to Korean drinking
Korean drinking games (suljari game - 술자리게임)
Participants take turns flicking the soju cap tail
The winner is the one who flicks the tail off the cap
All failed attempts must drink
Participants takes turn guessing the number on the soju lid and the winner of the bottle cap will be holding the cap and say whether it’s higher or lower
The winner is the one who guesses the number and everyone else (except the cap holder) has to drink
Taking turn, everyone says a number, counting up (so person 1 says “one”, person 2 says “two”)
However, for every number containing the digits 3, 6, 9, the person will clap instead of saying the number (so 12 will NOT have a clap but 13 WILL)
If the number has two of the number (e.g. 33, 36, 39) the player must clap twice.
The person who messes up will drink
Fill a tall glass about ¾ full with beer. Place a shot glass in the glass so that it's floating in the beer.
Take it in turns adding soju into the shot glass (you can add as much or as little as you want but you need to add something in there)
The person to make it sink will be the one drinking the whole glass.
In turns, each person says up to 3 consecutive numbers, the next person will carry on the sequence (e.g. person 1 may say “1”, person 2 may say “2, 3, 4”
The loser is the one who has to say 31
Sense (noonchi - 눈치) game
People in a random order, people shout out numbers in consecutive order.
The losers are the ones that both say the same number at the same time (so it person 2 and 5 both sound out 4 at the same time, they both drink)
OR the last one to say a number (so if everyone but person 3 says a number, person 3 has to drink)
The first person asks a question about “who is/who’s most likely to…”
Everyone else votes by pointing
The loser is the one who has the most votes
From a deck of cards, remove the King and a card for each person (minus the king). Each card must be a different number
Shuffle the pile of cards and each person chooses one.
The king will announce himself and order 2 random numbers to do anything without knowing who is what number
If the person doesn’t follow orders, they have to drink
There are many more games like Mandu, Bunny Bunny, Fool’s (babo - 바보) game and Frying Pan.
Researched by Vicki and Posted by Leo :)
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_culture_of_Korea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_alcoholic_drinks
https://www.90daykorean.com/drinking-culture-in-korea/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glWlwxgbwb4&ab_channel=sweetandtastyTV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJqeKTel7R0&ab_channel=BuzzFeedVideo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anju_(food)
https://matadornetwork.com/read/korean-drinking-traditions/
https://medium.com/@xreasons/8-reasons-why-south-koreans-drink-more-than-anyone-7267219feaa1
https://thesmartlocal.com/korea/korean-drinking-culture/
https://www.studocu.com/blog/en/the-best-south-korean-drinking-games
https://10mag.com/10-korean-drinking-games-you-have-to-try/
http://kissmykimchi.com/2011/04/kmk-korean-drinking-games.html/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f7d5VRhLls&ab_channel=SimonandMartina
