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Tasty Trails Travel Pod

Tasty Trails Travel Pod

#91 How to Actually Drink Like a Korean ft. Chef and Author Irene Yoo

Aug 26, 2026 · 26m

Coming soon to iPhone. Already have it? “Listen in Starcast” takes you straight there.

About this episode

In part one of this Tasty Trails Travel Pod x Finding Korea crossover, I sit down with chef, author, and Orion Bar co-owner Irene Yoo — who literally wrote the book on this one, *Soju Party: How to Drink and Eat Like a Korean.*We get into what soju actually is: the difference between the traditionally distilled version (rice, nuruk, water) and the mass-manufactured version most people know, how flavored soju went from "tastes like cough syrup" to genuinely good, and danggeumju — infusing high-proof soju with herbs or fruit, which is basically Korean cocktail culture. Her samgyetang-infused soju recipe alone is worth the listen.Part 2 drops in two weeks — that's where it stops being about…