Fight the frigid weather with a glass of something warm and boozy

Another year of mask mandates and Covid restrictions has come to an end what better way to celebrate brighter days to come than with a cup or two of toasty warm booze? “Sipping away at a hot cocktail in the wintertime is such a comforting...

An image of eggnog, a staple holiday cocktail served warm [JOONGANG ILBO]

Another year of mask mandates and Covid restrictions has come to an end what better way to celebrate brighter days to come than with a cup or two of toasty warm booze?

“Sipping away at a hot cocktail in the wintertime is such a comforting experience where there is warmth not only in the drink but also in the act of drinking it,” Sean Woo, founding bartender of one of Asia’s 50 Best Bars Zest Seoul, told the Korea JoongAng Daily. “Warm cocktails are about spending time with loved ones during the holidays. It is more than just drinking your regular cool alcohol.”

Sean Woo is a founding member and bartender at Zest Seoul in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [ZEST SEOUL]

Hot cocktails actually precede iced ones.

The first record of the printed word “cocktail” was in 1803 in an article for the Farmer’s Cabinet, a local newspaper in New Hampshire, United States, some 50 years before the invention of ice makers.

“So unless you lived in cold northern regions, people back then most commonly consumed lukewarm or hot alcohol,” said Woo.

Hot cocktails are most commonly made by mixing in hot tea or coffee with room-temperature alcohol, or by heating the liquor on the stovetop, like with mulled wine. Mulled wine is usually made with red wine, mulling spices and fruits like raisins or slices of orange.

This classic wine and fruit concoction dates back to the Roman Empire. It is the most accessible type of warm cocktail in Korea, that is offered not only in bars but also in cafes.

Fruits and spices are brewed together with red wine to make mulled wine [JOONGANG ILBO]

OUL, a modern bar inside Four Seasons Hotel Seoul in Jongno District, central Seoul, is offering mulled wine with a Korean twist this holiday season.

Its mulled wine (27,000 won/ $21.20) is made with wine from Korea, a local species of blackberry called bokbunja, plum wine called maesilju and various herbs to produce a sweet, fruity drink with a slightly spicy fragrance.

“Warm cocktails often include lots of fruits and spices which makes them full of vitamin C and sugar,” said Violet Park, bartender at OUL. “They are effective in relieving stress and making the body warmer.”

It is also offering a warm cocktail called Boyag (27,000 won) which is made with Korean whiskey, honey and various spices such as cinnamon and licorice. It is topped off with whipped cream.

The two cocktails are heated through a sous vide machine which prevents the alcohol from evaporating, compared to heating it up on a stove.

Mulled wine (far right) and boyag (far left) are part of the seasonal menu at bar OUL in Four Seasons Hotel in Jongno District, central Seoul [FOUR SEASONS HOTEL SEOUL]

Eggnog, another holiday staple, is available at Charles H., also inside Four Seasons Hotel.

Its Chestnut Eggnog (33,000 won) is part of its seasonal alcohol listing this year. It blends chestnuts and custard cream with whiskey.

Cherry Manhattan (32,000 won), another one of the bar’s seasonal cocktails, combines warm whiskey with sweet cherries and festive spices.

Cherry Manhattan (second from left) and Chestnut Eggnog (far right) are part of the seasonal menu at Charles H. bar inside Four Seasons Hotel in Jongno District, central Seoul [FOUR SEASONS HOTEL SEOUL]

Zest Seoul, located in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, is also offering eggnog (25,000 won) as well as Irish coffee (25,000 won) as special winter edition drinks through December.

Irish coffee is a caffeinated alcoholic drink made with warm, filtered coffee, sugar and Irish whiskey then topped off with whipped cream. Zest Seoul's version includes a pinch of salt, soybean powder and a drop of sesame oil.

Irish Coffee at Zest Seoul in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [ZEST SEOUL]

Bartender Woo said that he included the drink on the menu after tasting it in San Francisco, where the cocktail is said to have been developed.

“You have to drink the coffee-based alcohol and the cream together to enjoy the cocktail to its fullest,” he said, adding, “Not many people in Korea have tried or know a lot about hot cocktails. Locals usually don’t order them unless we recommend them.

“Drinking warm cocktails with friends and family during the holidays is a Western culture that isn’t very present in Korea. So people have less interest in warm cocktails. I also think that the current social atmosphere plays into the lack of interest in these cocktails. Nowadays, people value individualism. It’s all about me and getting things done quickly, while warm cocktails are about being with other people.”

Though this particular cocktail culture may be unfamiliar to Koreans, warm liquors are not new in Asia.

Warmed sake, called kanzake in Japanese, is a widely accessible warm alcohol at the izakaya restaurants of Seoul.

Sake is heated by boiling it inside dokuri, a long earthenware bottle [SHUTTERSTOCK]

It is heated by boiling it inside dokuri [an earthenware sake bottle], most commonly to 50 degrees Celsius. Heating it to over 60 degrees Celsius will cause too much alcohol to evaporate, affecting the balance of taste in the sake, according to Kim Jong-hyeon, a bartender at a sake bar named Hyeon in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.

“Drinking sake that is warmed enriches the taste and fragrance of the alcohol,” he said. “Sake that fares on the sweeter side tends to be consumed warmed because the increased temperature brings out the drink’s sweetness of the fermented rice and makes it more fragrant.”

He said warm sake goes best with food with a strong taste like grilled fish or hot pot.

“Warm sake tends to be richer in taste and lingers in the mouth longer so to enjoy that, it would be better to pick dishes that also have a strong taste, rather than light vegetables or sashimi [raw fish].”

Korea also has several different types of warm alcohol. One of them is called moju.

Korean traditional warm alcohol called Moju [JEONJU JOJU]

Moju is a traditional drink from Jeonju, a city that is about 194 kilometers (120.5 miles) south of Seoul. It is made by heating Korean traditional rice wine known as makgeolli with jujube (red dates), cinnamon and ginger.

The result is a sweet and herbal taste with a very light dose of alcohol, about 1.5 percent, according to makgeolli manufacturing company Jeonju Jujo.

Moju literally translates to “mother drink” ("mo" meaning mother and "ju" meaning alcohol in Chinese characters).

According to a book of records from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) called “Daedongyaseung” otherwise known as “The Collection of Tales from the Great Eastern Kingdom,” the name Moju can be traced to the mother of Queen Inmok (1584-1632) who is said to have heated makgeolli with all kinds of herbs for the hungry civilians of Korea. Because the queen’s mother made the drink, it was dubbed Moju.

The people of Jeonju have a culture of relieving a hangover by eating bean sprout soup with rice and Moju in the morning after drinking.

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]