Badass Korean

1차, 2차, 3차, 붕괴!

Did you know that there are stages of Korean drinking?

1-cha, 2-cha, 3-cha, drop! 

Like a waltz for your weekend, weekday, or whenever! 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3 drink!

Let’s breakdown each stage of a night out drinking 

In Korean culture, it is actually rare that Koreans drink at home, except with their family.

So, when they decide they want to drink with coworkers or friends, they almost always go out.

The general idea is that when It comes to a night out drinking, there is usually a series of drinking rounds and different venues that go along with it.

• Round one, or 1-cha in Korean, of a night out starts mild with a meal and some soju.
• Next, 2-cha, or the second stage transitions to a little more intense and involves a change to a beer or whiskey or a combination of the two called ppoktanju.
• Finally, in 3-cha or the third stage, any kind of liquor goes and by this point. You might not remember everything you’ve consumed anyways.

Most people would think that having to go all three rounds just to get some drinks with friends or coworkers would be a lot to consistently recover from… 

Luckily, there is usually a chance to opt-out between stages, most likely between the second and third stages. Most people, if they didn’t, would have quite some trouble waking up the next morning for their business meetings or to show their face at work.

And interestingly, even if things got out of hand with coworkers the night before, NOTHING is said of it. (Kind of like “what happens in Vegas…”)

Culturally Speaking  

In Korean culture, it is also thought of as impolite to drink alcohol straight from the bottle, unlike casual American culture.

Even Soju bottles, which are about the same as a 12 oz. sized beer bottle, are still poured into small shot glasses, and are surrounded by a very specific set of customs.

Until recently, most Korean beers were in awkwardly large bottles, to encourage people not to drink out of them and pour the beer in short glasses to share.

Although Korean culture may have a few more rules and concepts that are viewed as impolite, clearly, through the three stages 1-cha, 2-cha, 3-cha, they know how to go out and have just as much fun as any culture.  

The Stages of Korean Drinking – If you want to do right when drinking, if you want to hang with the soju set, stick to the rulebook and don’t dance the Cha Cha!

See more at: A Sip of Soju: Your guide to Drinking in Korea