As a Russian, I like pictures. The custom of infusing vodkas with herbs and botanicals, like punchy horseradish and tangy black currant leaves, is one which’s particularly expensive to me. That’s why on the just lately opened Orion Bar in Bushwick, Brooklyn, I felt significantly at dwelling because of a spread of equally advanced, infused soju pictures, that are among the many many Korean consuming staples taking middle stage within the bar’s beverage program.
One of the crucial fascinating pictures is the Samgyetang Ju, which is impressed by a Korean hen soup of the identical identify that’s made with ginseng and different medicinal herbs. Restorative and hearty, the stick-to-your-bones dish is eaten each on scorching scorching days to chill off and within the winter to heat up. As a shot, the serve—with notes of jujube, chestnut and licorice root—instantly appears like a heat hug.
To make the infusion, Orion Bar’s co-owner Irene Yoo makes use of Jinro 24 soju, chosen for its increased proof, which permits higher taste extraction. She combines it with samgyetang herbs, which could be discovered at Korean supermarkets as a equipment for the soup. From there, it’s a easy serve; “the toughest half about making this [soju] is getting a maintain of these herbs in bulk,” says Yoo. There isn’t any precise hen broth within the shot—“so it doesn’t style like hen soup,” she provides—however the infused herbs seize the identical comforting sensation nonetheless. They might even, she jokes, provide the similar well being advantages.
Yoo’s most popular approach to drink the shot is to chase it with the Korean vitality drink Bacchus D, which tastes like apple juice with a little bit of a medicinal tang. The pairing is out there on the bar’s menu because the Soju Power Bomb. “You may have that and you might be good to go for the evening,” says Yoo. “You might be energized, you’re vitalized, you’re like, ‘Let’s go!’” However even by itself, the Samgyetang Ju is ideal as a shot at first of a meal or for sipping alongside dinner.
Like its namesake soup, samgyetang soju could be loved in any season: It’s inviting, comforting and brings folks collectively. I’ll be making a bottle for my vacation desk this yr, and I counsel you do the identical.
