By Andrian Putra
It has been a whirlwind two years for two young entrepreneurs who are launching the first Korean soju distillery in the Southeast U.S.
Minhwa Spirits is located off Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in the former shopping center popularly known as Friday's Plaza in the old days. The center has since been redeveloped and rebranded.
From the initial licensing to commercial production, the project took two years to materialize.
Georgia Asian Times sat down for an interview with the founders of Minhwa Spirits at their new tasting room location.
“I was born in Georgia Baptist Hospital located in Atlanta,” said James Kim in a sit-down interview with Georgia Asian Times.
“I think for many of us born here, there's a bit of a journey back to our roots. Having grown up in the U.S., I've felt that disconnection from my heritage,” he said.
“This disconnect isn’t unique to Koreans in Atlanta or even just Koreans. It's something many Asian Americans can relate to. For us, Minhwa Spirits is more than just a business. It's about reconnecting with and holding onto our heritage.”
James Kim and Ming Han Chung met at a local high school and quickly became close friends with similar interests. They shared a passion for artistic pursuits and ventured into other business endeavors before pursuing the soju business.
After high school, Kim studied Industrial Engineering at Georgia Tech and he kept in touch with Ming. Both of them work full-time professional jobs but still crave for an entrepreneurial pursuit.
“We decided to start a soju distillery business after much discussion.”
During his younger days, Kim remembers a summer trip to a family home on an island off the coast of Korea.
“I remembered watching my uncle preparing the rice for making makgeolli,” said Kim.
Kim was inspired by his uncle's work, who brewed alcohol from scratch at a makeshift brewery at a shed located next to his house on the island.
His uncle brewed Makgeolli, a traditional “raw rice wine”. Makgeolli is a rice wine with a light, milky, off-white color consumed widely in Korean households.
The founders of Minhwa Spirits see their work as more than just producing spirits, but about bridging cultures and generations.
Kim and Chung first started their distillery endeavor at a warehouse facility in Doraville. They experimented with the fermentation and the selection of the finest ingredients to make the perfect soju.
They soon discovered a rice producer in the Southeast that produced a specialty rice blend that matched their taste and quality standards.
“We realized early on that we must use the highest quality ingredients to produce our soju. We will not compromise on quality or standards. We use only North Georgia mountain spring water, “nuruk”, yeast and rice with no artificial sweeteners, or added preservatives,” said Kim.
Understanding the importance of traditional components such as “nuruk,” a fermentation starter, they embarked on more extensive testing.
After much experimentation, they successfully produce two different levels of alcohol content ranging from 17% ABV to 40% ABV.
“Dokkaebi” has a low 17% ABV soju which draws inspiration from Korean goblins and “Yong” is a 40% ABV soju showcasing dragons. Both varieties will come in 375ml sizes with Yong also available in a 750ml size bottle.
“We chose 40 percent as it's a standard worldwide and great for cocktails. We hope that we can get enough people to try soju, enjoy it, and understand the aromas and flavors that they will be able to integrate it into cocktails in the U.S. It's not a very common cocktail ingredient, probably even in Korea, but we want that to happen,” Chung said.
Minhwa recently produced a unique craft gin branded “Queen Huh,” using botanicals with chai from The Chai Box, a Georgia-based chai brand. It carries a hearty 45% ABV. It was inspired by the legendary Princess Huh Hwang-ok, an Indian princess whose beauty was enchanting and who married a powerful Korean King during the first century.
Kim also reminiscences on the old time spent with Chung and other friends hanging out in community “third spaces” during his younger days. He defines it as a common gathering space other than work and home.
“I like to think of this space as the “third space” for folks to relax and to connect,” said Kim. They also envision the new space being an “incubator” for other Asian American food and beverage startups to launch their venture.
The tasting room is set to transform their business, blending Korean food, drink, and culture into a vibrant communal space.
Currently from 7:00 am-4:00 pm on weekdays, the tasting room offers Postern Coffee, a coffee and pastries company offered by three young Asian American founders. In the evening hours on weekdays from 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm and on weekends, the tasting room offers food by Ganji, a food company by two young Korean chefs.
A unique cultural touch to the tasting room is a colorful outdoor mural painted by Korean American artist Julia Chon, who is also known as Kimchi Juice.
“One of the reasons we thought this business would work is because of the Korean wave that's hit the U.S. It's incredibly popular,” Kim said.
The mainstream, along with Asian Americans, have widely embraced K-pop and K-dramas, adding further interest in Korean culture.
“We believe the next big cultural wave are Korean food and beverages, which we hope to build on,” added Kim.
MinHwa Spirits
2421 Van Fleet Cir, Ste 124
Doraville, GA 30360
Tel: 470.391.2840
www.minhwaspirits.com
