Sool Searching at Seoul’s Hottest Sool Bar
with Dustin Wessa of Namsan Sool Club
We’re back with another edition of Sool Searching — our ongoing dive into the world of sool, Korea’s traditional alcoholic drinks.
This time, we’ve landed in Seoul, just a short walk from the buzz of Itaewon, where you’ll find Namsan Sool Club — an intimate, quietly iconic bar dedicated to all things sool.
Run by Dustin Wessa and his team, Namsan is more than a bar — it’s an experience. Think of it like a high-end cocktail tasting (but without the pretense), focused entirely on rice wine. Guests are guided through a personalised flight of sool, curated to their flavour preferences: dry or sweet, floral or funky, tart or smooth.
With over 100 bottles of premium sool on hand, it’s a haven for anyone curious about Korean fermentation culture. And for us at Yunguna, Namsan was a big part of our early inspiration.
We caught up with Dustin over a few bottles to talk about the past, present, and future of sool.
On a Seoul-bound plane
Dustin, what brought you to South Korea?
“It was a good dose of wanderlust, a childhood me happily munching on sheets of roasted seaweed (gim), and a desire to major in Korean Studies.
Back in 2005, credible Korean studies programs were rare. The University of Washington had one of the few — headed by Scott Swaner, a young professor with an overwhelming passion and a brain the size of a planet. His courses explored Seoul’s LGBTQ+ culture, modern Korean cinema, poetry — topics that were, at the time, completely unheard of in academia.
After just one quarter under his guidance, I was all in. I wrote up a proposal to study abroad at Seoul National University. A few signatures later, I was on a Seoul-bound plane.”
Opening a sool bar
What inspired you to open a bar dedicated to Korean traditional alcohol?
“I’ve been in the sool industry for over a decade, and I’ve seen growth, trends, and change. I wanted to create a project that could uplift this niche — to give sool the exposure it truly deserves.Too often I heard, ‘I tried it once or twice... not really my thing.’
That always felt like a missed opportunity. We needed a space where people could really experience sool — find their own style, ask questions, talk to trained sool sommeliers.So we went for it: 100+ premium sools by the glass, no artificial ingredients, nothing pasteurised. Just a space built for discovery, conversation, and fermentati
A complicated mistress
What are some of the challenges in curating sool?
“Namsan Sool Club is a complicated mistress. Curation is a rewarding craft, but serving over 100 unpasteurised sools by the glass — with no additives — is intense. Every open bottle needs to find a face pretty fast, ideally the same day.
But the reward? Pouring for guests from all over the world, including our local regulars, and sharing a sip of something rare and expressive. That’s the magic.”
Takju — the gateway pour
What drew you to your first sip of Takju?
“Back in Seattle, near the university, there was this sleepy pocket of late-night pojangmachas. My friends and I would go for a last round when everywhere else had closed. The owners would pull out their ‘personal stash’ — usually bottles of mass-produced makgeolli (a diluted takju).
It was creamy, sweet-yet-dry, with this lactic tang. Dreamy stuff. I had no idea at the time that this was just the tip of the iceberg… or the bottom of the barrel, depending on how many buckets you’ve cleared. Any takju direction from there is up.”
“Traditionally, takju is made from just three ingredients: rice, water, and nuruk — a wild fermentation starter packed with enzymes and yeast. High-quality takju is flavour diversity incarnate. From that simple base you can get a full explosion of aromas and flavours. Done well, it’s the kind of thing that changes how you think about rice wine entirely.”
For sool searching people in Europe — where should they start?
“Shameless plug for Yunguna here — your line of sools is absolute fire. I savour those sips and share them sparingly. How you managed to make your takju so dry, complex, subtly bright and shelf-stable without pasteurisation... I’m still trying to figure that out.
With Korean cuisine booming globally, more restaurants are starting to swap sake for takju — keep an eye out. Bottle shops and bars abroad are still few and far between, but there are trailblazers.
The Sool Company in Rotterdam runs events across Europe. Sool brew clubs are popping up internationally. And homebrewers — they’ve always been the original explorers. Find them online.
But really? Start with Yunguna. Or hop on a Seoul-bound plane and come find us at our little 10-seater. We’d love to fill your glass.”
Planning a visit?
📍 Namsan Sool Club
228-2 Noksapyeong-daero, Yongsan District
Seoul, South Korea @namsansoolclub