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I'm an expat Californian who is obsessed with traveling to strange and exotic destinations in the former Communist Bloc. I also like tacos, beer, surfing, trapshooting, and the geopolitics of oil. I currently live in Arlington, Virginia and work in Washington, DC. Read more about me here, check out my photo album, or send me an e-mail.

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    North Korea: Ryongjin, the preferred soft drink of the proletariat


    This is a bottle of Ryongjin, which I believe is North Korea’s attempt to produce a beverage somewhat similar to Coca-Cola. Although you could buy Coke at our hotel and various other places in Pyongyang (I was a bit surprised to see an old lady selling cans of it in Moranbong Park, for instance) I really wanted to try this North Korean soda. I picked up a large bottle at the Yanggakdo Hotel gift shop for a little less than 50 cents. What a deal!

    But the taste? Ugh. It was like a flat version of Coke that had stayed out in the sunlight for several hours. Even Pepsi tastes better than this stuff!

    Perhaps I should have expected this, though, if only I had bothered to read the label more carefully before consuming it.

    Ah, that explains everything. It’s a cocoa crabonated, not carbonated, drink. No wonder there wasn’t any fizz.


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