350 Years of Sweetness: Reviving Korea’s Gamhyangju (甘香酒)
Creatrip Team
23 days ago
Korea's historical sweet rice wine, gamhyangju (甘香酒, meaning “sweet and fragrant liquor”), dates back about 350 years and was made without added sugar—its sweetness came from concentrated rice sugars achieved by using more rice and less water during fermentation. Records of gamhyangju appear across several old texts (e.g., Samgayorok, Suun Japbang, Eumsik Dimibang, Gyuhapchongseo), though recipes and alcohol levels varied by era and household. Eumsik Dimibang’s version, notable for its low water-to-rice ratio, yields high residual sugar (measured in modern restorations as 41–49.4° Brix depending on method). Contemporary revival efforts include a project by chicken brand Kyochon and Yeongyang County at the restored Yeongyang brewery ‘Fermentation Workshop 1991,’ producing both traditional-style gamhyangju and a modern reinterpretation, “Milky Way: Counting Stars at Night” — a premium 12% makgeolli that won top honors at the 2025 Korea Traditional Liquor Competition and was selected as an official banquet drink for APEC 2025 meetings. Reviving these old recipes requires interpretation of sparse records and adapting techniques to modern brewing controls, linking past tastes and methods with contemporary palates and helping K-style liquors reach global audiences.
