Soju’s alcohol content takes a dive

Soju, Korea’s staple distilled rice liquor, has never been this light. Now local soju makers are rushing to make even lighter soju with lower alcohol content as consumers, including a growing number of female drinkers, seek lighter and easier-to-gulp soju.
Jinro, Korea’s largest soju maker, said yesterday it introduced a renewed version of its Chamisul Fresh, the popular soju-light product it introduced a year ago
Jinro, in its latest version, lowered the alcohol content to 19.5 percent from the previous 19.8 percent. The move came a month after industry rival Doosan Liquor BG rolled out a new version of its flagship soju, Cheoumcheorum, with its alcohol content lowered to 19.5 percent.
Korean liquor manufacturers have intensified the competition to lower the alcohol content of soju since 1998 when Jinro first introduced Chamisul. At the time, the drink’s alcohol content was 23 percent, down 2 percent from the then-prevailing 25 percent. Chamisul, which means real dew in Korean, turned out to be a mega success, selling more than 10 billion bottles since 1998. It became the leading soju in Korea with a market share of more than 45 percent.
The popularity of lighter soju did not go unnoticed. Since then, soju makers have competitively slashed alcohol content, pushing it far below 20 percent, once unthinkable for drinkers who loved soju’s traditional heavy, bitter taste.
“Now that the 20-percent barrier is broken, no one can exactly predict how much lower the alcohol content could go,” said one soju industry representative.

By Lee Hyun-sang JoongAng Ilbo [hawon@joongang.co.kr]