By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Korean drinkers pick beer for the good times, soju for serious conversations and whisky to impress somebody, according to a study Wednesday.
The report, based on a survey of 2,200 adults conducted by the Korea Alcohol Research Center (KARC), showed that the average drinker consumes seven bottles of soju, the country's traditional distilled beverage, and eight bottles of beer per month.
About 85.2 percent of the respondents, who were allowed to give multiple answers, thought soju was best for talking about personal concerns or other heavy topics.
Beer got 63.5 percent of the votes as the best choice for relaxing and relieving stress or watching sporting events, while the same number of respondents picked whisky for treating business guests.
Wine, which has been growing in popularity here over the past decade, seems to be saved for romantic purposes, with 70.8 percent of the respondents saying that the drink was best for "creating the mood."
In the mind of Korean drinkers at least, soju still reigns as king of all alcoholic beverages, according to the survey. About 74.2 percent of the respondents said that soju first comes to their minds when hearing the word "alcohol," while 55.5 percent of them picked soju as their favorite drink.
Beer was the beverage of choice when drinking at home or outdoors, getting more than 75 percent of the votes in both categories, while 76.8 percent of the respondents said they preferred soju when drinking with their colleagues at work.
When drinking alone, 56 percent of the respondents preferred beer.
"Soju was picked as best for drinking at work, while beer was the more preferred choice for drinking with family members. Wine seems to be saved for romantic companions, while premium distilled beverages were seen as the drinks of choice for treating business guests," said a KARC official.
"The survey didn't reveal much support for makgeolli, which seems to be the craze now. This is probably because the survey was taken during November and December last year, which was before the makgeolli boom took hold."
In the list of favorite drinks, beer followed soju with 32.6 percent support, followed by 5.6 percent backing wine and 3.5 percent for whisky. In comparison, makgeolli, the traditional rice wine that has suddenly become fashionable these days, got only 1.1 percent of the votes.
Picking soju for the more serious and intelligent conversations is an interesting choice, as the affection for the little green bottles seems to be connected with getting drunk cheap and quick.
When asked about the biggest strengths of soju, 40.4 percent of the respondents picked the cheap price, while another 28.1 percent of them liked the fact the drink doesn't fill them up like beer does.
About 24.6 percent of the respondents said that the best thing about soju was that it was a comfortable drink that could be enjoyed with "anybody." Another 22.2 percent said that soju was the best drink to share with a large number of people.
The best thing about beer was its "easiness," getting 34.4 percent of the votes, being a lighter drink than soju, which generally contains around 20 percent alcohol.
About 48 percent of the respondents connected whisky with "atmosphere," while around 49 percent of them said they liked wine because of its taste.
More than 63 percent of the male respondents said they were habitual drinkers or drank to relieve stress, which hints that much of the alcohol consumption among men is work-related.
However, only 17 percent of the women said they rely on alcohol to relieve stress, while 31 percent of them said they pick drinks according to their individual taste and preference.