I was passing by near Gunja Station when I spotted a place called Sul Market.
This is what it looks like.
Honestly, though, it did make me wonder whether Korean traditional liquor was doing well enough to support a shop this size on its own. It is the kind of setup that needs serious capital behind it.
Inside
They had all sorts of liquor.
Bottles of all kinds
One look and you will recognize pretty much every one of them.
Bottles like these
Looks like they sell a lot of cheongmyeongju…
They have Goundal too.
This place seems to sell on the premium side…
Bottles of all kinds
Quite a range.
Makgeolli
I had no idea Korea had this many kinds of liquor.
All sorts of bottles
And I do wonder whether all of this actually sells…
Sul Market’s top 10
Dohan cheongmyeongju seems to be popular as well…
Dohan cheongmyeongju
There are all sorts of rumors going around about cheongmyeongju. That the quality slipped as they expanded the brewery, for instance? Either way, if you scale the plants up like that, investment comes in and you have to sell the stuff, which is probably how the ties with bloggers and YouTubers come about… In other words, traditional liquor is no longer a small, quiet thing; it is turning into a huge business… That is presumably why a store this big can exist in Seoul… And as long as they can keep the quality of the liquor right, going that way is not a bad thing either… Still, Korean traditional liquor is made with nuruk, so making it consistent as you scale up cannot be easy, and I am curious how they will manage the quality.
A shot of one side
The place was really big…
The Sul Market bar
There is a space where you can drink what you bought at Sul Market right on the spot.
Sogongju in Gunja
A Chinese restaurant I came across while walking down the street, and it looked pretty stylish. I would like to visit next time I get the chance…
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