Joe and his determination in life and in his project related to the passion for Makgeolli, the traditional Korean alcoholic drink
Joe welcomes me to his small studio in Seoul, where he’s about to bottle his new alcoholic product: a delicious Makgeolli (the traditional Korean rice wine) which is ready to be filtered. In the meantime, he explains a little about how this drink he’s producing and tells me about his life:
“Lately I’ve been studying the commercial and business part to launch and grow my new Makgeolli manufacturing business. It all started with taking a basic class, where I tried for the first time to create my first Makgeolli, I was 33 or 34 years old. From here I started to get passionate and to prepare this alcoholic drink over and over again, using the simplest tools I had at my disposal. I was also interested in brewing beer, but Makgeolli took over as a passion. In the meantime, I enrolled in a specialized school and I still continue to study. After about a year, as I was producing more and more for myself and for my friends, I began to gain experience and become familiar with the use of various techniques, this passion became a business idea and my current project.
For seven years I worked for some radios here in Seoul, an experience that I liked, but I felt like I was like in limbo, I wanted to change my life and do something different, something more related to manual creation.”
Joe is filtering the alcoholic liquid derived from the maceration of rice and nuruk (a kind of yeast to start the alcoholic fermentation of the rice) into the water, which after a few weeks has created the desired product.
“On a large scale, when you want to get serious, things start to vary a little from the original design. To make an industrial product, the one you usually find in stores, I would have to compromise the quality of my Makgeolli, but that’s not something I want to do. Often the big factories do not use Korean rice nor nuruk, everything is based on different chemical ingredients. The rice wine market here in South Korea is quite small and very competitive, one of the most difficult things I have found is that the various producers do not help each other, they do not exchange ideas nor opinions, they keep everything to themselves. I like this business of alcohol production, so I started thinking about how to make money from this passion of mine. In addition to making rice wine, I’m also finishing writing a book and creating videos on this topic to promote my business and share this passion from the Korean tradition with the rest of the world. I want to organize courses where I will teach the preparation of Makgeolli and try to make more people passionate about this Korean drink.”
Meanwhile, the Makgeolli is ready and we taste the good rice wine with its deep white color.
“This Makgeolli has about 16 or 17 degrees of alcohol, usually people add water to decrease the power. The nuruk I use is also my own production, it is an extra job and it is also demanding to do, but for me, it represents the most exciting part: it’s the element that gives my Makgeolli character! I want to have control over the whole process of making my rice wine.”
“I was born here in South Korea, when I was about one year old my father emigrated with my family to South America. At the time he was a naval engineer and spent a lot of time at sea, it was around the 70s when he returned to his hometown. Here he didn’t see many opportunities and didn’t want to stay, so he decided to go and start a new life in Ecuador: a rather brave move as he didn’t speak Spanish, he had to start all over again and had 2 children and a wife. The generations at that time were very different from the present ones! Today a person would think more than twice before starting such a life.”
After years of living around the world, I know what it means and I see that very few nowadays would like to risk…the risk is no longer part of our lives, if on the one hand it can be seen as a good on the other it is something that it makes our lives rather more sterile, unfortunately.
“I stayed in South America until I was 18 when I finished high school. My first language is Spanish, even though I went to an international school and spent a lot of time in America, people now think I’m a native English speaker. I grew up in a very hot city, not too easy and safe, a really South American style place. I had a great childhood, many of my friends in Ecuador were Korean, their relatives were immigrants, good friends with whom I am still in contact now. We were a good group, we spent days skating, drinking and enjoying our free time. After high school, I went to study in New York, at the University of audio and radio production. The first choice was to enroll at the university of economics, but the idea did not particularly appeal to me. My parents weren’t opposed but not too happy with my school choice, they never hindered me though. I graduated from New York in 4 years and then I moved to California, where I started working for one of Virgin’s stores, for about 2 years. The music business began to have problems and start to shake: with the massive use of the internet by people, sales of CDs and music in general decreased dramatically and I thought it was time to change.
I went back to Ecuador, and my father said to me: why don’t you try to go and live in Korea?
So, for the first time, I went back to my hometown, I was 26 and I was quite scared of the new experience: I had no problem integrating, there was no culture shock as I am Korean, even though I grew up elsewhere and I speak the local language. At home, my parents always communicated in Korean and educated me in the cultural style of South Korea. But the problem that worried me was having to start all over again, start a new life, find a new job, without securities or supports here. But little by little I settled down, I initially found a job as an English teacher and then I started working in the radio, I was able to put into practice what I had studied at university. Many people find themselves doing a job that has nothing to do with the university path they have chosen, at least I can say that I did it! I enjoyed this radio experience for about 7 years, I was sort of a freelancer, the job wasn’t safe, as each new season of the show ended I didn’t know if it would resume or if I would be reconfirmed again. So 7 years was a good time for this kind of project, I was lucky.
I like my life here now, it has always been challenging but at the same time a good challenge with myself, especially now that, having got tired of my work on the radio, I wanted to change and start doing something of my own. My situation is special: I was born in South Korea but I grew up in South America, it’s like being between two worlds, people here see me as a Korean, but I don’t feel only Korean, I also have the feeling of being one foreigner. That’s not a bad thing at all, but it’s always a constant challenge.”
What I like and what I’ve noticed many times here in Asia is that many people have a strong spirit of adaptation, they do not shy away from challenges and changes, especially when they get tired of a job or a lifestyle that they do not like, they try to do something different, which unfortunately I know very little in my home country.
“The challenge, being able to overcome something that I did not have in mind that I would do or face, something that requires discipline and passion, something for which you must never give up and only move forward, are all things that I think are very important and stimulating in my life. I believe it is essential to know how to work with what you have, otherwise, you get lost in wanting to buy this and that, in needing more space and tools … in my opinion, you often waste time in this way. Sometimes a way to continue procrastinating, the best is to start with the means you have now! I work at home and with what I have here now, it’s a challenge, but little by little things are expanding and improving. See what I can do on my own and with my own power. For now, I continue studying and teaching part-time at the same time: this gives me the flexibility and financial security. Making, teaching and writing about Makgeolli is different from being able to market it, I don’t have enough knowledge in sales. The next step will probably be to hire some experts to help me expand my business.
I am satisfied with what I am developing now, I really like the creative part related to the production of Makgeolli, it reminds me of what I was doing with my music around the middle of my 20s, it is exciting and has helped me to develop my inner discipline: I sat down and finished an album, it took me about a year to compose it, mix it and prepare it to then play it in front of people, the following year I would repeat the same process, this thing made me develop my own personal order.
In addition to creating, I am very interested in sharing, I filter Makgeolli that I then let people taste and appreciate it.
The more I enter the traditional alcohol production market the more difficult it becomes. I started meeting entrepreneurs in the sector who pointed out to me how difficult it was for them and how much effort is required if you want to succeed in this type of business. In the future, I plan to open a brewpub: a restaurant where I produce and sell my rice wine at the tables. Or another idea is to build my own Makgeolli microbrewery, I will for sure, but not now. It’s difficult: you have to find a good location, which is not easy and here in Seoul where the rents are super expensive. For now I can produce about 40 liters of Makgeolli per month, but to start doing things more seriously you need at least 400: with this quantity I can start thinking about opening my own small rice wine brewery, it will be a great investment of time and money, but definitely doable. I have to develop my brand and my skills first. I have to break my neck…” Joe laughs thinking about the hard work that awaits him, a really interesting character focused on his goals!
“I’m looking for a unique identity for my products and developing my personal recipes, for now I have found the fruit Makgeolli interesting, I am well aware of the result and the flavor I want to obtain: for what I create the nuruk necessary for fermentation. The problem is that fruit here in South Korea is very expensive …
I hope what I’m doing is of interest to people. For now I share my rice wine with my friends, they usually like it and they give me the feedbacks I need to improve.
I’m developing my skills and then I want to start organizing classes: if things go well I want to travel next year for about 6 months in North America and try to intrigue, involve and make as many people as possible discover the delicious flavor of Makgeolli.
This is my goal and my path for now, which I have been working on for some time.
If you know where you want to go and have a plan you just have to execute it. Even if it gets difficult I still want to stay in this business for a while, I’m very determined and motivated. You have to work hard and work every day to build what you want. I don’t just want to sit and watch Netflix all day, although sometimes I do, for an hour…then I get back to work.
The things I want to achieve cannot be done in a day or a week: it is a long process, which despite being difficult pays off, in one way or another. It really takes discipline. I made a lot of sacrifices, like giving up weekends with friends or dating girls. I wish I had more time in the past for some good fun, I’ve always been pretty conservative and a serious person, I’ve always enjoyed spending time alone. Now I’m trying to change my habits and find ways to enjoy the rest of my social life even more.
For now I’m focused on success: I don’t mean financial success, but being able to achieve what I want and what I’m passionate about. I never imagined that I would make alcoholic beverages … but it finally came to this. And now I want to be successful in my project and introduce Makgeolli to those who don’t know it.
Having a purpose, a goal puts you in a condition that allows you to keep moving forward.
Many people don’t have it, they don’t know what they want, but I think it is enough to stop for a moment and grab a pen and paper and write what you have in your head, what you want. Every year I sit down and think about everything and plan: I don’t set big goals, but many small goals that will take me where I want.
If you want something good and that can last you have to commit and accept the failures, I am used to this, although it keeps hurting and pissing me off, I still manage to keep emotions under control more. This business cuts your throat: people criticize easily, many criticize negatively and in a completely destructive way, so I have to believe in my project to be able to move forward and as I said keep my goal firmly in mind.
I believe that people must learn not to be afraid to try something new, to realize what they feel like doing, they must really not be afraid to jump on new experiences and adventures.
Do not worry and follow your passions, find a way to realize them: better to try than have regrets or second thoughts…what would have happened if …? You can’t know, so it’s better to try and fail … and then continue!”
Follow Joe and his developments in Makgeolli‘s production on his Instagram! @baekusaeng
