North Korea Claims to Have Created a Beer That Doesn’t Cause Hangovers

The DPRK’s Pyongyang Times article claims that Taedonggang Foodstuff Factory had been working on the drink, which “exudes national flavor,” for years, reports NK News.

“Koryo Liquor, which is made of six-year-old Kaesong Koryo insam [ginseng], known as being highest in medicinal effect, and the scorched rice, is highly appreciated by experts and lovers as it is suave and causes no hangover,” the article reads.

In place of sugar, the ginseng-derived liquor is made with scorched, glutinous rice, which supposedly rids the brew of bitterness and hangovers even though it contains 30%-40% alcohol, according to the BBC.

The insam liquor has been mentioned before by North Korean media. In August, a Korean Central News Agency article reported that the country’s Koryo Songgyungwan University was working to improve Kaesong Koryo Insam Liquor. In 1999, the outlet called it “the elixir of life.”

Far-fetched claims about domestic products are common in the country’s state-run media. According to NK News, it reported last year that medical products with insam extracts could cure Mers, Sars and Aids.