If You're Not Using Soju In Your Cocktails You're Missing Out

K-drama fans are probably already well-aware of the existence of soju, which is Korea's flagship drink of choice — it's the one that gets poured out of the green bottle in drinking scenes. Soju is a neutral spirit that tastes sort of like vodka. Originally distilled from rice, these days it's made from other sources such as sweet potatoes. One of the fun things about it is that modern day versions come in lots of flavors like melon, strawberry, peach, and grape along with unexpected ones like calamansi and mint chocolate (which I've tried, to mixed internal opinions). And because it comes in so many flavors, it makes for a perfect ingredient to play with in your home cocktail-mixing sandbox.

Soju generally has an alcohol-by-volume (ABV) content of 12% to 20% (though some versions can be much stronger) and is normally enjoyed chilled and neat. Soju is great as a side to many Korean dishes, like bossam or tteokbokki. But because of its wine-like alcohol content and the fruit flavoring, it's an ingredient you can use as the base of a lighter type of cocktail.

Because soju isn't as heavy on the alcohol as vodka (I suddenly had flashbacks to Arby's french fry-flavored vodka, shudder), you can use it to mix some easygoing drinks that won't bowl you over after your first sip the way a dry martini might. One popular way to drink it in Korea is in a somaek, which is a combination of soju and beer. In fact, the name 'somaek' is a portmanteau of 'soju' and 'maekju', which means beer.

You simply start with a 2-ounce pour of soju and top it off with 3 to 4 ounces of your beer of choice (I recommend something light and crisp), which waters down the soju a bit and makes for a refreshing sipper. If you're all business, of course, you could rock a soju bomb by pouring yourself a mostly-filled glass of beer and dropping a whole shot glass full of soju into it before chugging that thing until the empty shot glass hits your face. I haven't been in college in 20 years, so I might pass on that one; but you go right ahead if that's what gets your party started.

One of my other favorite ways to enjoy soju is in a fruit cocktail that uses actual fruit in it. Popular Korean food blogger Maangchi has a solid recipe where she blends the flesh of a watermelon and mixes it in a 1:1 ratio with cold soju, serving it right from the hollowed watermelon itself, which makes not only for a fun presentation but a light and summery drink. Since soju's ABV floats right in the same neighborhood as wine, the final result isn't too boozy.

You can also take this approach with different types of fruit like honeydew, cantaloupe, and other juicy fruits that can be hollowed out to serve the drinks in. Or just use whatever you like, such as peaches or something similar. Plus, you can mix and match soju's fruit flavors with the base fruit (like lychee with watermelon or peach with honeydew) to get to a sweet combination you like. And if it's not strong enough to your liking, you can always supplement the alcohol content with an additional spirit.

Personally, I still like drinking soju as-is because there's almost always a social aspect to soju. Not to mention the fact that the Korean snack game that goes with it is strong. But it does make for a fun addition to beer and cocktails, and what else is drinking culture if not fun? Soju just helps add another dimension to your mixed drinks. And coming from this Korean-American, it's one you should highly consider trying sometime.