Chungju/Makgeolli for KPop Demon Hunters: Sulseam Gamsa Blue & Red Monkey, Shinpyeong White Lotus

My daughters have been screening KPop Demon Hunters and banging Golden in the car for the better part of two months now, so Korea's been on my mind and I've been hoping to finally review something. Soju would be most on brand for the channel, but getting traditionally made, actually good soju in Chicago is rather difficult so we're going with rice wine instead. It's makgeolli (unfiltered) versus chungju/yakju (filtered), going with what looked like the best options available from conventional distributors (i.e., stuff you can buy without hitting your local Korean grocery store). And yes, please tell me everything I'm wrong about down below. Stats:

Sulseam Gamsa Blue Chungju (rice and nuruk, no bottling date but circa early 2025; 14% ABV), 🫰🫰🫰🫰 out of 5
Sulseam Red Monkey Rice Wine/Makgeolli (rice, nuruk, and red rice yeast, bottled 2/6/25; 10.8% ABV), 🫰🫰🫰 out of 5
Shinpyeong White Lotus Makgeolli (Sinpyeong-myeon, South Chungcheong Province; rice, nuruk, and white lotus leaves, bottled 5/14/25; 7% ABV), 🫰+ out of 5

The White Lotus is still better than the plastic soda bottle jugs of makgeolli I've had in the past, but it's still just too sweet without enough complexity or even weight (it's somehow both creamy and thin) to balance it out. It's absolutely crushed by the Red Monkey which is just a bit more pricey: it looks terrifying but it's drier (which is to say, still off-dry), has way better mouth presence, and features some really interesting tomato paste meets yeasty lager characteristics. If you're a clairin fan looking for something to pair with jollof rice, this might be your thing. But my favorite thing here is the chungju, a style which I've never tasted before. Gamsa Blue is bone dry and somehow marries an Amontillado with the best malt liquor ever made; impeccably balanced, throw this stuff at salads or cheeses or mild spicy food (Jamaican beef patties came to mind after the fact).

Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  , who got this video first -

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