Convenience Store Drinks in Korea

March 16, 2014

This evening, my friend Stephanie and I performed an experiment on many of the different kinds of drinks sold at normal convenience stores.  In Korea, alcoholic beverages can be sold at these establishments, so they sell everything from hard alcohol to beers and wines.  Stephanie and I mainly chose a good sampling of basic, everyday kinds of drinks, since there was A LOT of different drinks to choose from.  We bought some delicious chewy chocolate cookies to help cleanse the palette.  :)

We took a picture of each drink and then described the color, thickness, and smell, along with noting the calories, before taking a sip.  We then described the taste and rated the drink on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best.  We tried ten drinks overall, and photographed many more in the store, without purchasing them.  I will begin with the ones we tasted.



(1)  Mint Chocolate Milk
       - Pre-Drinking Instructions:  Shake Well
       - Color: Medium Brown
       - Texture: Thick
       - Smell: Chocolate Smell
       -Taste: Tastes like Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies!
       - Calories: 125 kCal
       - Comments: Very Good!  I am not much of a mint fan, but I still really enjoyed this drink.
       - Rating: Steph 15/10 (yes, she liked it!), Ash 10/10

 



(2) Banana Milk
       - Pre-Drinking Instructions: Does not come with a straw, however you typically poke a straw into the top and then drink.  Shake well.
       - Color: Light Yellow
       - Texture: Thick, looks like eggnog
       - Smell: Strong smell of bananas
       -Taste: Sweet and intense banana
       - Calories: 210 kCal
       - Comments: Good if you like bananas.  Comes in other flavors. 
       - Rating: Steph 6/10, Ash 7/10

 

(3) Coffee Milk



       - Pre-Drinking Instructions: Shake Well
       - Color: Tan
       - Texture: Semi-Thick
       - Smell: No Smell Present
       -Taste: Coffee taste present but not strong, slight BBQ smokey taste at the end
       - Calories: 120 kCal
       - Comments: Not very good.  Would not drink again.  Other flavors available such as strawberry and chocolate.
       - Rating: Steph 0/10, Ash 4/10

 

(4) Danish Drinking Yoghurt Strawberry



       - Pre-Drinking Instructions: Shake Well
       - Color: Light Pink
       - Texture: Fairly thick, but not as thick as the thinnest yogurt
       - Smell: Like Strawberry Yogurt
       -Taste: Tastes like thinner strawberry yogurt
       - Calories: 100 kCal
       - Comments: Great for breakfast with a hard-boiled egg.  Has probiotics and says on the label "55 Years of Danish-Korean Relations".  Comes in many different flavors.
       - Rating: Steph 10/10, Ash 10/10

(5) Soy Milk
       - Pre-Drinking Instructions:  Just open  :)
       - Color: Light Tan
       - Texture: A Little Thick
       - Smell: NOT a Good Smell when opened.  Smells of cold tofu.
       -Taste: Definite soy taste. 
       - Calories: 145 kCal
       - Comments: Similar to soy milk in the U.S. but this is thicker with a more pronounced soy flavor.  Had trouble reading the Hangul on the label (as you can see!).  Comes in different flavors. 
       - Rating: Steph 1/10, Ash 2/10

 

(6) Aloe Drink





       - Pre-Drinking Instructions:  Shake Well.
       - Color: Pale Green.
       - Texture: Thicker than water, has little bits of aloe plant floating in it.
       - Smell: Sweet Grass
       -Taste: Sweet and Refreshing
       - Calories: 80 kCal
       - Comments: Nice cold drink to have in the summer. 
       - Rating: Steph 9/10, Ash 9/10

 

(7) Apple Juice



       - Pre-Drinking Instructions:  Give a little shake.
       - Color: Pale Green Color
       - Texture: Fairly Thick for Juice
       - Smell: Faint Artificial Apple Smell
       -Taste: Thick Taste.  Nice Apple Flavor, still tastes artificial.
       - Calories: 65 kCal
       - Comments: Good summer drink, especially for children.  Also comes in peach.
       - Rating: Steph 7/10, Ash 7/10

 

 

(8) Bulhongsan  (We didn't know what it was when we bought it)

       - Pre-Drinking Instructions:  Just open

       - Color: Caramel Color
       - Texture: Thick like Liquid Caramel
       - Smell: Disgusting!!!  Flora smell, of plants and earth, but not in a good way.
       -Taste: We didn't want to try!!!  But, I did and I spit it out immediately.  Mild naturally fermented alcohol taste mixed with rotting wood and mold. 
       - Calories: 70 kCal
       - Comments: Steph compared it to cliff jumping.  It looks nice, but not something to partake in.
       - Rating: Steph didn't try, Ash -100/10 (yes, I gave it negative 100)

 

 

(9) Mojito



       - Pre-Drinking Instructions:  Comes with a straw.
       - Color: Pale Green
       - Texture: Kind of Thick
       - Smell:  PineSol Cleaner Smell.  Fragrant and sweet, but not too appetizing in a drink.
       -Taste: PineSol Cleaner!  Sweet and thick, but not too refreshing or minty.
       - Calories: 90 kCal
       - Comments: Would not try again.  Would rather mix my own drink than buy this.
       - Rating: Steph 3/10, Ash 3/10

 

 

(10) Fruit Drink



       - Pre-Drinking Instructions:  Just Open
       - Color: Dark red, like Merlot
       - Texture: Kind of Thick
       - Smell: Grape Juice Smell
       -Taste: Exactly like Welch's Grape Juice, sweet
       - Calories: 84 kCal
       - Comments: Great for a sweet fruity drink.  Good for kids.  Comes in MANY flavors.
       - Rating: Steph 7/10, Ash 8/10

 

 

Okay, so now we come to the section on drinks that we saw in the store, took pictures, but did not purchase and consume for various reasons.  Some drinks were pretty self-explanatory about what they were, others were a bit too pricey. 

 

To further fuel Korea's major addictions to coffee and coffee like products, one company created these drinks.  I have had the red one once at work.  It was like a chocolate milk, with a little latte flavor.  They are good and a nice cold-coffee substitute when you're in a bind at the convenience store.

 

 

 

Here are some more cold coffee products.  From the left there's Mild Caffe Latte, Caramel Machiato, and Mint Latte.  Come with straws and yet another quick, easy, and legal stimulant.

 

 

 



Dawn 808.  The quintessential hangover drink.  As described to me by Stephanie, you are to drink one of these before going to bed from a night of partying and it will prevent a hangover.  It's a small little can and inexpensive.  I like the picture of the man on the front smiling.  :)



 

 

Beta 500.  This little bottle if filled with some sort of either energy drink or vitamin C beverage.  It is a very small bottle, as are many bottle in Korea.

 

 

Hot 6.  As you can see, this is an energy drink, found right next to the Red Bull in the store.  If you say the name, it sounds like "Hot Sex".  Give it a try...it's fun to say!  It's a popular beverage and many people mix it with alcohol to make some interesting drinks.

 

 

 

Sprite in Korea.  I like the can and how it looks exactly like Sprite in the U.S. only the can is narrower and shorter, and the label is in Korean (so cool!).

 

 

 

Pine Bud Drink.  We are not sure what this is and wished we had bought it to try.  It just looked interesting.  Keep checking the blog to see if I gave it a try.  ;)

 

 

 

Bokbunjajoo, a Red Raspberry Wine.  This is a thicker wine, like a port, and is pretty tasty.

 

 

 

Dutch Latte.  I just like the name of this one, and the fact that it is  coffee drink in a can.

 

 

 

 Soju.  This is the drink of Korea.  It is very cheap (around $2) and can be found in every convenience store in Korea (practically).  It is a clear liquid with a lot of alcohol inside.  I have yet to try it, but I hear it is nasty.  Many people mix it with other flavored drinks, like vodka.  Steph tried it with Gatorade over the weekend and it wasn't so bad.  It can be used to clean windows and remove nail polish as well, in case you were interested. 

 

 

 

Makgeolli (spelled a million different ways) is the second quintessential drink of Korea.  It is made from rice and it between 5-6% alcohol and, like Soju, it is really cheap that the store.  I have had it a few times already and I prefer the homemade kind found in some restaurants. It is sometimes served in a communal way, with the drink in a large clay pot with a ladle that the youngest person dished out in small bowls for the table to all drink.  It is sweet, kind of thick, and can apparently give you a nasty hangover when too much has been drunk (I haven't had that much to know).  

 

 

 

So that about wraps up this edition of drinks.  I will post more blogs about food and drinks in the future.  Hope you enjoyed the sampling!

 

 

건배!