Wherever I’ve traveled and I’ve traveled considerably, the first thing I want to do is know what the locals drink. Not the high end stuff but the low brow, straight to the head, working stiff potion that gets you there and keeps you alive.
In Nicaragua, of course it was rum, cheap as hell. Flor de Cana. Guatemala, I had my own private moonshiner supplying me “cusha” - usually made from corn, mine was a barley blend of alcohol that believe it or not, was hangover free. In Africa, banana beer. Can’t go wrong, get it on most street corners, ladeled out generously. In E. Europe, I craved quality slivovice. Plum alcohol that is heavenly. Farmer’s fuel. And here in Korea, it is maekoli. Again, a farmer’s thing, delicious, divine, rice relaxant.
Recently, we visited an island I’d tramped to by bike last year - Gaudo Island. Beautiful, early spring day and of course, I had to get a bottle of maekoli into me. We were half way around the island and I needed something to get me all the way around.
Maekoli is a young rice wine. Easy to prepare but with endless variations. Doesn’t keep, you got to drink it right away. And of course, there are the real delicious deals - Dongdongju. You won’t find it in stores, not easy to get. But when you do find a restaurant wit it - bring your large coke bottles and get filled up. Divine!
Maekoli has always been a farmer’s drink. It’s old. Older than even the history of Korea. From time immemorial people have indulged in this drink.
Maekoli is kind of looked on with distane by the snobby, wannabee class. As I recount in the video - my first taste of this divine elexir was after an ultrarun. They simply laid a tarp in the middle of the parking lot, put a big bowl in the middle and poured large bottled of maekoli into it. Eachperson got a small bowl and you dipped it into the large bowl and drank your fill. Lovely! Said to be restorative after exercise!
Maekoli is traditionally made with three ingredients: rice, a wheat-based Korean fermentation starter called nuruk and water. Other grains such as barley, wheat and corn are commonly used as well. I like this Michelin Guide’s description of the taste;
People who have actually tried makgeolli use words like “sweet”, “slightly sour”, “fizzy”, “thick”, “refreshing”, “grainy” and “chalky” to describe its characteristics. All true – to varying degrees – depending on the recipe.
But recently, like everywhere in the world, maekoli has been “gentrified”. You now get all kinds of designer maekolis in the stores. Call me old fashioned but I like the real McCoy, forgive my burpin’.
You can get maekoli in most convenience stores here - many kinds. It’s about $1.50 a litre. Cheaper than bottled water … Milky, but with a semi-sour after taste, it can hit you if you drink a few bottles at once. A lovely buzz.
Anyways - just wanted to do a travel report. I’ll be bike touring lots in the coming months here in Korea and part of that will entail drinking many bottles of maekoli. We all need our sedatives.
What’s yours - in your part of the world? What the working men turn to?
Maekoli