Julia Mellor provides information about traditional Korean alcohol during an event at Hamel House in the Netherlands, March 18. Courtesy of The Sool Company
Many people think of soju, Korea's iconic distilled alcoholic beverage, as a cheap, low-quality liquor that comes in a green bottle and causes a killer hangover. But Julia Mellor, founder of The Sool Company, has made it her mission to evangelize the traditional rice-based version of the drink.
Recently, she set up a booth at the International Dutch Distillers Festival, where she gave two soju masterclasses for 110 guests introducing 3 craft sojus paired with Korean snacks.
"It was a totally Dutch festival, so the audience was very green and probably 90 percent of attendees had never heard of soju, so it was a really great opportunity," Mellor said of the event. "The encouraging thing is that once people taste these premium Korean spirits without preconceived ideas, the quality speaks for itself. To have the opportunity to present Korean soju to such a new audience with no background knowledge was an exciting milestone and gave us a confidence boost that we are headed in the right direction."
Mellor, an Australian, spent 17 years living in Korea, where she discovered her love for Korea's alcohol traditions. Not only did she learn about the various drinks based on centuries-old recipes, she also studied the craft of making them. At The Sool Company, founded in 2012, she taught classes in making traditional Korean alcohol, known in Korean as "sool," and also led guests on tasting tours. In 2023, she decided to move on, taking her mission to the Netherlands.
