Here's Exactly How You Should Store Soju For Tasty Sips

As Korea's most popular alcoholic drink, soju is inseparable from the country's food culture and social life. There are plenty of things to know about soju, but one of the most important is how it should be stored. When unopened, soju can be stored in a dark place at either room temperature or in the fridge. However, the drink should always be served cold to optimize its flavor, since it doesn't taste good when it's warm. 

Soju has an ABV (alcohol by volume) of 12% to 40%, though most bottles are usually at somewhere around 20%. The cold temperature helps mitigate the strong alcohol taste of the first sip and keep a smooth aftertaste. This is particularly true with flavored soju (which we don't actually recommend), since it usually has artificial fruit flavors that can become overly sweet and overpowering when the drink is warm.

If you're buying the spirit to enjoy at home, make sure that you put it in the fridge right away. This will ensure that the drink is ready whenever you want to enjoy it. Most liquor stores that sell soju will have cold bottles in the fridge that are ready for consumption. In case your soju is warm when you want to drink it, give it at least an hour in the fridge before serving. Or do as you would with drinks like Champagne or beer, and put it in the freezer for 20 minutes to chill it faster.

If you're at a restaurant, you'll either have to finish your soju bottle or leave whatever is left of it behind. But if you're enjoying the spirit at home, you can easily save an opened bottle for later. Because of its high alcohol content, soju can last for several days after being opened. The drink technically won't go bad even if left open for a long time, though it will start losing some of its flavor. 

As a general rule, we'd give an opened bottle of soju about a week. Afterwards, it'll become too strong and lose its smooth aftertaste. Store the bottle in the fridge for best results. Leaving it out will cause it to lose flavor faster, and you don't want to drink warm soju anyway. 

What if you completely forgot about your opened bottle of soju and found it after more than a week in the fridge? The easiest way to know if it's still good is to do a taste test to see if it's still pleasant to drink. If you take a sip and it doesn't taste good, you'll know it's past its prime and should be thrown out. Otherwise, go ahead an enjoy it by pouring it into clear shot glasses or making tasty soju-based cocktails, accompanied by some delicious classic Korean dishes like kimchi stew or pork belly BBQ.