Lead Taster Choi Jung-wook Drives Development of Traditional and Local Korean Alcohols
Creatrip Team
4 months ago
Choi Jung-wook, a first-generation wine expert with 26 years’ experience and head of the Choi Jung-wook Wine Lab, led the five-person panel as Lead Taster for the 2025 K-Sool (K-alcohol) Trend Awards held in Yongsan, Seoul. The awards evaluated 66 beverages from 29 local breweries across five criteria—drink quality, marketability, food pairing, design, and price—shifting beyond typical blind tastings to include branding and consumer-focused product assessments. Panelists included a star chef, an agricultural economics professor, and branding and cultural project leaders. Choi emphasized strict tasting discipline (he abstained from alcohol for days and judges spat samples to avoid intoxication) and praised the event as a meaningful, repeatable platform to set standards and promote the growth of traditional liquor and regional drinks. Results will be announced at the upcoming K-Sool Trend Market at Yongsan I’Park Mall, where visitors can taste and buy featured products. The organizer plans to develop the awards into an industry platform to industrialize K-food and K-culture’s alcohol sector. (Note: sool - Korean word for alcoholic beverage; makgeolli and soju are examples of traditional Korean sool.)
