Soju Sessions: How To Survive Your First Korean Drinking Session

After work, on the weekends, on any available holiday, Koreans love their soju by the bottles. What do you do if you’re not used to it? Here’s a handy little guide to let you know what to expect and how to handle it.

Where you Soju:

They call it tented paradise.
They call it tented paradise.

Pojangmacha: If you’re brought to these little restaurants on wheels, expect heavy liquor drinking before, during and after dinner.

You'll need this spread in order to soak up that alcohol.
Don’t be fooled. Food is only the beginning…

Restaurants: These usually signal a regular meal, with soju only afterwards.

How you Soju:

One shot: This refers you downing the whole glass of soju or beer in one sitting.

Love shot: This refers to the crossing of hands and drinking.

Actual drinking: When drinking the shot, turn your head away. It’s only polite.

Two hands: Always hold the cup with two hands to show respect.

How to survive Soju:

#1 Pour for others 

Pour away!
Pour away!

A common tradiiton is that the youngest of the table will pour for everyone else, but pretend to not know this! This gives you the opportunity to pour for everyone else, conveniently missing out your own glass. Either that, or take only half a shot, pour everyone else a full glass and only top up your own. Everyone 2, you, 1.

#2 Opt for baekju (beer) 

This is just for starters.
Ummm… this is just for starters.

If you’re more of a beer sort of person, make it known. Koreans are cool with it, so long as you’re getting as drunk as they are. You may gambei!! (cheers) as many times as they do, but you’re effectively downing less alcohol.

#3 Order tteokbokki

Making you hungry? oops.
Are we making you hungry? oops.

Say you’re brought to a pochangmacha, and you foresee that the drinking is going to be much more intense. To adequately prepare your stomach (and not look like a sissy) order a tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) so that the carbs will help soak up the alcohol.

#4 Order a soup dish

Hot, spicy and a must-have.
Oops again? #sorrynotsorry

Really can’t deal with the alky? Feign sickness (it’s not uncommon) and order a soupy dish. A few glasses will be forced upon you, but you can probably get away with gambei-ing with a spoonful of soup.

#5 Suggest to go to a noraebang (karaoke) instead

This scene in k-dramas happens too often.
“I’m a light-weight, touched for the very first time…”

Chances are, you needn’t suggest since the normal procedure is to head to karaoke after drinking to drink some more. But, if you think you can’t drink much more, suggest this early. Koreans love singing as much as they do drinking, so your suggestion will be greeted with furious nodding.

#6 Never show any sign of weakness

Cuddy tells it like it is.
Cuddy tells it like it is.

What? Can’t drink? Don’t show it. If you let any weakness shine through, you’ll be plied with even more soju. Toss it out of the window or pour it under the table instead. Discreetly, of course.

#7 Dawn 808

*heaven sounds*
*heaven sounds*

Wonder how Koreans drink the whole bar and make it to work in the morning? This is the key. It tastes like cat piss, but it works. Don’t ask what’s in it.

#8 Black rose/knight

Sometimes a guy will do anything for a girl's affections.
Sometimes a guy will do anything for a girl’s affections.

At the end of your very last tether (remember, this country was built on iron will), you can call upon a black rose or a black knight, depending on your gender to help you out with the drinks you can’t take on.

Main photo: 1. 

Photo credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

The Luxe Nomad

Like you, we love to travel but we think that staying at beautiful places shouldn’t come with a hefty price tag. That’s why we’ve gone out there and snagged the best design and luxury hotels and resorts in the Asia Pacific region at rates you won’t believe. WanderLuxe is our little corner of the world where we share our inspirations and thoughts about travel!

1 Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.