“Ttongsul” is a Korean rice wine mixed with the fermented turd of

“Ttongsul” is a Korean rice wine mixed with the fermented turd of a human child. It has an alcoholic content of around 9 percent. Little is known about the origins of what is surely one of the world’s most bizarre and gag-inducing medicines. A quick “Ttongsul” Google search will provide you with little more than internet-land hearsay and a flimsy Wikipedia page.

It’s worth pointing out that the average person in modern-day South Korea would have have no clue what Ttongsul is. The drink is believed to have pretty much disappeared by the 1960s as South Korea began its long journey towards First World modernity and Western medicines became more popular.

Even so, old habits die hard and it’s rumored that a small number of Koreans still swear by the pungent booze. VICE Japan correspondent Yuka Uchida travelled from Tokyo to Seoul in order to sample some vintage feces wine for herself. As far as we know, this is the first time that the making of Ttongsul has ever been documented on film.

Click on CC for the English subtitles

via www.vice.com