Sool · 술

Sool starts with nuruk.

Korea’s traditional alcohol, explained in five minutes. Then poured.

누룩 · Nuruk

The wild starter.

Nuruk is a cake of crushed grain, usually wheat, pressed and left for weeks while molds, yeasts and bacteria from the air move in. Stirred into cooked rice and water, it does two jobs at once: its molds turn starch into sugar, and its yeasts turn that sugar into alcohol.

Sake uses koji: one mold, chosen and grown on rice. Nuruk is a crowd. That crowd is why two makgeollis from the same rice can taste of yogurt, or of green apple.

You’ll find it in our kitchen too: the pyeonyuk comes with nuruk salt.

Nuruk and koji

	Nuruk 누룩	Koji 麹
Grain	Mostly wheat, sometimes rice or barley	Rice
Cultures	Wild: many molds, yeasts and bacteria	One mold, grown on purpose
Does	Sugar and alcohol, both at once	Sugar; yeast is added on its own
Tastes	Layered, earthy, sometimes funky	Clean, precise

발효 · Fermentation

From grain to glass.

Three steps, then a choice. What the brewer does at the end decides which sool you drink.

01
Steam the rice
Sticky or plain, whole or ground into a porridge. The first decision about character.
02
Add nuruk & water
The wild culture starts eating the starch. Warmth and time do the rest.
03
Feed it again
Once (단양주), twice (이양주) or three times (삼양주). Every feeding builds body, strength and calm.

↓ then the brewer chooses

탁Makgeolli & Takju