Soju (hangul: ??; hanja: ??), a clear, slightly sweet distilled spirit, is by far the most popular Korean liquor. It is made from grain or sweet potatoes and is generally inexpensive. It typically has an alcohol content of 40 proof (20% alc. by volume). There is a version with top notch ingredients distilled using traditional methods that hails from the city of Andong that is 90 to 100 proof. This version has a government protection/regulation seal, as Andong has historically been known as a fine soju center among other things. While all soju in Korea are priced almost identically (inexpensively as previously mentioned), Andong soju commands more than 20 times that price. It is the cognac to commercial soju's vin du pays. In the late 20th century soju flavored with lemon or green tea became available. The Japanese version is called Sh?ch?.
In Korea, the major crop has historically been rice, and thus most Korean traditional alcoholic beverages have been made from rice, of both the glutinous and non-glutinous variety, which are fermented with the aid of yeast and nuruk, a wheat-based source of the enzyme amylase. Additionally, Koreans often use fruits, flowers, herbs, and other ingredients to flavor these beverages, to a much greater extent than Chinese wines.
There are six main types of Korean alcoholic beverages: yakju, distilled liquors (including soju), takju, fruit wines, flower wines, and medicinal wines.