SEOUL: Jeong Mi-hee used to buy a lot of whisky in airports. When the coronavirus pandemic brought her business travel to halt, she started paying more attention to local drinks she had overlooked.
South Korea’s craft makgeolli revival has been underway for at least a decade, but the drink’s popularity took on new dimensions during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Makgeolli, a rice wine made by Korean farmers for centuries, has become a cosmopolitan sensation over the past decade. The buzz grew during Covid lockdowns.