Korean cuisine has a wide variety of traditional alcoholic drinks, known as sul (). Many of these drinks end with the Sino-Korean word -ju (), and some end with the native Korean word -sul. The Sino-Korean -ju is not used as an independent noun. There are an estimated 1,000 or more kinds of alcoholic drinks in Korea. Most are made from rice, and are fermented with the aid of yeast and nuruk (a wheat-based source of the enzyme amylase). Fruits, flowers, herbs, and other natural ingredients have also been used to craft traditional Korean alcoholic drinks. There are six distinct flavors: sweet, sour, pungent, roasted, bitter, and spicy. When the flavors are balanced, the alcohol is considered of good quality. Etymology There are several hypotheses regarding the origin of the word Sul, for one it is thought to have come from Chinese characters or Su-eul meaning Korean milk porridge (Korean word Tarakjuk). It can be understood that Sul must have derived from the fermentation of leftover milk porridge. The most prominent origin for the word comes from boiling appearance while fermentation, as if fire was coming out of water and thus combining Korean word for fire-Bul and water-Su abbreviate over time to become Sul. History Mythology The first story of alcohol appeared in Jewang-Ungi, a Korean historical archive book. Goguryeo kingdom The records compiled in 1145, Samguk sagi (history of the Three Kingdoms) is one of the oldest record of Sul. The presence of Sul was given out in a story about the founding of the kingdom, Goguryeo. The story when translated to English: “Haemosu, the son of the god of heaven invited the three daughters of Habaek, a water deity, and treated them to Sul. When the three daughters were about to return home, he seduced the eldest daughter, Yuhwa, and they spent the night together. Thereafter, Yuhwa gave birth to Jumong, the future founder of Goguryeo.” Archaeological study indicates that there are records that show that these brewing skills and techniques were learned by Chinese and Silla dynasty; during the Wei dynasty of China, the governor Gasahyop of the Sadong region transferred the techniques to China and the liquor came to be known as Gokaju. Baekje There are records that show that these brewing skills and techniques were learned by Japanese from Baekje; Gosagi an old Japanese book on historical stories notes that the brewing techniques were transferred