Current trends indicate that beer consumption is declining in South Korea, while the popularity of highball cocktails is on the rise and leading to a rapid increase in licenses for liquor and distilled spirits.

According to the National Tax Service on Thursday, the total number of licenses for liquor manufacturing was 3,160 at the end of 2023, up by 275 licenses from a year ago.

The growth in these licenses was predominantly driven by distilled spirits, liquors, and other spirits. Among them, licenses for liquors saw the highest growth rate, and were up by 23.4 percent to 169 licenses from 137 licenses the previous year. Licenses for distilled spirits and other spirits also increased by 19 percent and 16.4 percent respectively during the same period.

The common denominator among these categories is that they are all required for the production of highball cocktails. Highballs are a type of cocktail made by mixing whiskey, distilled spirits, or other alcoholic beverages with soda water or juice.

Distilled spirits refer to alcohol fermented from corn or starch and then distilled, while liquors are spirits mixed with flavorings. The remaining spirits that do not fall under the categories specified by the liquor tax law are classified as “other spirits.”

By Lee Hee-jo and Minu Kim

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