Soju: the most popular booze in the world
烧酒：世界上最受欢迎的酒

The South Korean spirit is the globe'sbest-selling alcohol. But they're not just drinking it in Korea these days –you can try chilled shots or soju cocktails in New York and London

韩国烧酒是全球最畅销的酒精。不仅韩国人在喝，在纽约和伦敦，人们也喝这种酒。

Attention pub quizzers and booze geeks.There's a brand of one particular spirit that sells more than twice as much asany other in the world. Any guesses? If you said vodka, back of the class. Theanswer is soju, national hooch of South Korea. Jinro Soju – available at Waitrose and Amazon –has topped Drinks International's annual list of best-selling global spiritsfor years, notching up sales of 65mnine-litre cases in the 2013 list. That would be three times more thanSmirnoff.

爱喝酒的人注意了。有一种酒品牌是世界上卖的最好的烈酒，伏特加吗？当然不是，是烧酒，韩国的国酒。多年来真露牌烧酒一直占据国际饮料杂志的最畅销烈酒的头衔，2013年卖了6500万瓶。这是皇冠伏特加酒销量的三倍。

Soju now sells in 80 countries, with arising profile helped by Korean superstar Psy, who not only proclaimed soju his"best friend" but also lent his dark-glassed visage to variouscampaigns to get the rest of the world smitten too. "K-Pop K-Shot"billboards sprouted across America, showing Psy clutching a bottle of Chamisulsoju (available via Beers of Europe). A pioneering soju outlet at the LA Dodgers baseball arenasold out its supply after three games. In New York, bars hawk apple sojuaperitifs and lychee soju slushies to Big Apple hipsters. On YouTube, the Psy13 soju shot drinking contest may suggest how the star came up with his GangnamStyle schtick in the first place. I mean, who hasn't pranced around pretendingto ride a horse after a few?

烧酒目前在80个国家有卖，韩国的鸟叔功不可没，他说烧酒是自己最好朋友。K-PopK-Shot广告牌席卷美洲，内容是鸟叔握着一瓶烧酒。三场比赛之后，洛杉矶道奇队棒球场地上的烧酒专卖店就售罄。纽约的时髦人士也喜欢喝烧酒。在油土鳖上，鸟叔的喝烧酒比赛或许与他的骑马舞不无关系。我的意思是说如果没有喝过烧酒，他怎么可能以为自己是在骑马呢？

Psy is just sharing his countrymen'spassion. In a country with the world's highest per capita alcohol consumption(hey, it can't be easy living next door to North Korea), soju takes a whopping97% of the spirits market. But this is a drink embedded in Korean culture sincethe 14th century, when Mongol invaders taught the locals how to distill, withfermented rice as the traditional starter. Today, the final spirit ranges instrength from 45% ABV to more common varieties that hit your glass ataround 25%ABV.

鸟叔对烧酒的激情真是韩国人对烧酒的感情。韩国的人均酒精消耗量是世界第一（嘿，和朝鲜成为邻居可不是一件容易的事情啊），烧酒在韩国烈酒市场中的占有率是97%。但从14世纪以来，烧酒就是韩国文化的一部分，当时的蒙古侵略者教授当地人如何蒸馏，用大米发酵。如今，这种酒的度数在25-45度之间。

As with most spirits there's good stuff andbad stuff about – the latter being low-grade muck made from sweet potatoes andtapioca rather than artfully distilled fermented rice. Look for respectedbrands such as Chamisul or the delightfully named Chum-Churum. If you're inKorea, search out Andong – a 45% ABV beauty so highly regarded it has beenofficially designated as Korea's Intangible Cultural Assets No 12.

正如许多其他烈酒一样，烧酒有好的也有差的，差的烧酒是甜番薯和木薯制成，而不是由发酵的大米进行蒸馏。要喝就喝Chamisul品牌的烧酒。如果你在韩国，那么你可以找找Andong烧酒，这是一种45度的烧酒，非常受人待见，韩国官方还把它指定为韩国第十二号非物质文化遗产。

In my experience, soju sold in Korea isnormally around the 20% mark. I just checked the bottle in my fridge (in Korea)and it's 19%. Not quite sure where these super strong varieties are....I'venever seen them here!

在我看来，在韩国卖的烧酒一般是20度。我查看了自己冰箱里的烧酒（在韩国），只有19度。不知道度数更高的这种酒哪里有卖。。我没见过度数更高的了。

In my experience, soju sold in Korea isnormally around the 20% mark.
Agreed. Plus, Andongsoju is overrated, in my opinion...

“在我看来，在韩国卖的烧酒一般是20度。”
同意，还有，在我看来，Andong烧酒并没有那么好。

Totally agreed,Rogue... It's super priceyeven in Korea, and tastes at least TWICE as bad as 'regular' soju. I'd muchrather settle with a bottle of Smirnoff or Grey Goose any day or night.
Btw, the whole thing about 19% (and slightlylower) was the marketing craze that started around 2004-2005 targeted at theyoung ladies in Korea... something wacko about believing they wouldn't toleratedrinking as much if it got too close to/exceeded 20% - it's a bit like pricingpsychology (3.74, not 3.75, etc.).
All to hook more people into a shabby drinkthat's, 9 times out of 10, NOT distilled from rice mash.

同意楼上的，这种酒即使在韩国都非常贵，比一般烧酒更难喝。我宁愿喝伏特加酒。还有这种19度的烧酒是2004-05年间为了吸引韩国女性而生产出来的，如果接近20度或者超过20度女性们可能就不喝了——这有点像定价策略（比如定一个3.74的价格，而不是3.75）。
只是为了让更多人喝这种低劣的酒罢了——10瓶里有9瓶不是通过大米蒸馏而来的。

What the hell is a 200ml beer glass?

为什么是200毫升的啤酒杯？

The size of every beer glass in Korea - atleast in restaurants.
To be fair, you wouldn't want to suffermore than 200ml of the piss we put up with at once.

在韩国，啤酒杯都是200毫升的——至少在饭店里是这样。
坦白说，这种酒你不会想喝超过200毫升。

I followed the link and couldn't find anylist on the site to support this claim?! I found a list that said Jonnie Walkerwas the best selling brand in the world.
http://www.drinksint.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/3851/Brands_by_Value:_full_results.html
I'd eat my hat if Scotch wasn't the mostpopular spirit in the world.

我看了提供的链接http://www.drinksint.com/，上面根本就没有说明烧酒是最畅销的，倒是找到一个清单说尊尼获加威士忌才是世界上最畅销的酒精。
http://www.drinksint.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/3851/Brands_by_Value:_full_results.html
如果苏格兰威士忌不是世界上最畅销的酒精，那我情愿受罚。

Actually, Chinese Baijiu sells by far themost, more than Soju, so I'd also like to see a better source for this claim...
Scotch is nowhere near by the way! Vodkadefinitely sells more than Scotch.

实际上，中国白酒是最畅销的，比烧酒还畅销，所以我倒想看看有没有这方面的证据证明我的看法。
威士忌酒根本不算啥！伏特加酒的销量肯定比威士忌多。

Worked on IT project for Seoul undergroundback in '95.
Local custom (or maybe our jolly hosts justwanted to get us ghosts suitably shitfaced in short order) appeared to be to tofill the shot-glass of the person sat opposite you and insist that you thenemptied said shot-glass. Well, The potplants in the local fish restaurants gotan undue, surreptitious, sousing of cheap formaldehyde-rich (at least, backthen) Soju. Loved that kimchee though.

95年我在韩国首尔工作。
当地习俗总是想给坐在对面的人满上酒杯，然后坚持要你喝完。所以客人们就偷偷的把喝不完的、廉价的、含有大量防腐剂（至少当时是这样的）的烧酒倒在了盆栽里。但是我很喜欢韩国泡菜。

It's foul, like crap sake.
And don't start me on this idea of it beinga novel accompaniment to food. Korean food is dreadful. It's like 1000 tinythings one after the other, all of which taste like shit.
No wonder they drink.

烧酒就像垃圾日本米酒，喝不得。
也不要作为配菜的酒来喝。韩国食物太恐怖了。韩国食物都小小的，一个接一个，可是难吃死了。
难怪他们喝酒。

Korean food is awesome. It's British foodthat's dreadful.

韩国食物很棒。倒是英国食物才是可怕的。

Soju isn't really like sake... well, maybea fortified version. I'm not the biggest fan but I like the drinking culture, especiallythe philosophy of pouring for each other.
As for the food... heresy! Yes, lots ofsmall, powerful dishes, very few for the faint of heart or wimpy of palate(sounds like Japanese is more your thing). Kimchi soup is god's own broth.

韩国烧酒和日本米酒并非一样。。。韩国烧酒像米酒与葡萄酒的混合物。我不是很喜欢喝酒，但是我喜欢酒文化，特别是互相倒酒的那种学问。
就食物而言，简直是异端啊！是的，韩国食物中有很多很小、很强大的食物，那些胆小或者喜欢清淡口味的人最好不要吃韩国食物（所以日本食物可能更适合你）。而泡菜汤简直就是上帝的肉汤。

Dirt cheap in Korea, you can go throughbottles of the stuff before you realise that your stocious, a greataccompaniment to food. Remember it's rude to pour it for yourself.

这种酒在韩国非常便宜，很适合和食物一起喝。记住，为自己倒酒是很不礼貌的。

i was chatting up a korean girl in town...isaid soju drink here often....she said yes thanks i'll have a double

我之前在市中心和一名韩国女孩聊天，我说经常来这边喝烧酒，她说谢谢，要我给她来两杯。

I had soju from Pyongyang once - a friendbought it from a shop selling North Korean produce in Seoul when relationshipswere a little better
I was sick for days and couldn't move amuscle.

我之前喝了朝鲜生产的烧酒——两国关系缓和时，一名朋友在首尔从销售朝鲜商品的店里给我买的。
喝了之后，我生病了几天，动都不能动。

I think they meant to say that the singlebrand "Jinro" soju is the best selling brand in the world - givencomment above about Johnnie Walker though I don't know. Maybe JW differentcolours are classed as different brands.
Either way it's not that clearly written.

我觉得文章的意思是真露牌烧酒是世界上卖的最好的牌子。不知道尊尼获加威士忌的销量怎样。或许尊尼获加每种颜色都是一个独立品牌。
反正这文章写的不是很清楚。

Yeah. Totally agree. Korea isn't a bigcountry. China has pretty big alcohol consumption per capita. What about Baijo,their national spirit?

是的，完全同意。韩国不是一个大的国家。中国的人均酒精消耗量很大。还有中国国酒白酒的销量是多少？

韩国烧酒：世界上最受欢迎的酒