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19th Jan 2016

The world’s first hangover-free alcoholic drink has been invented (but there’s a catch)

Conor Heneghan

We wouldn’t be getting too excited about a hangover-free Sunday morning just yet.

Why? Well if you believe everything to come out of North Korea, you’ll believe that unicorns exist, that former leader Kim Jong-Il wrote 1,500 books in three years and that he claimed 11 hole-in-ones on his way to a 38-under par round in his first ever game of golf.

Now, the country that he once ruled is claiming to have invented the first hangover-free alcoholic drink, a drink made of ginseng called ‘Koryo Liquor’.

According to the Guardian, Pyongyang Times are reporting that consumers can drink Koryo Liquor with no fear of a hangover thanks to improvements made to the drink in the Taedonggang Foodstuff Factory over a number of years.

Barkeeper pulling a pint of beer behind the bar

The paper claims that by replacing sugar with scorched, glutinous rice, the bitter taste has been removed and there’s no need to worry about hangovers anymore either.

Not only that, it makes consumers look “suave” too.

Great as it sounds, however, there are a number of reasons for scepticism.

No strangers to making grandiose claims, it has previously been claimed in North Korea that ginseng, the principal ingredient in Koryo Liquor, is also contained in medical products that can cure Sars and Aids.

Like we said, we wouldn’t count on hearing the phrase ‘I had ten pints of Koryo Liquor last night and not a bother on me the next day’ anytime soon.

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