Bacchus-F

Bacchus (Korean: 박카스) is a non-carbonated South Korean energy drink, launched in 1963 and manufactured by Dong-A Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., part of the Dong-A Socio Group. Its two variants Bacchus-D and Bacchus-F have been popular in South Korea for many years.

In the United States it is distributed by Dong-A America Corporation in a 3.3 oz glass bottle (approximately 1/3 the size of a Red Bull).^[1]

Bacchus contains the following ingredients:^[2]

• Water
• High fructose corn syrup
• Sugar
• Taurine
• Inositol
• Guarana extract
• Royal jelly
• Nicotinamide
• Pyridoxine HCl
• Riboflavin sodium phosphate
• Thiamine
• Nitrate preserved with sodium benzoate
• Ethanol
• Citric acid anhydrous
• Sorbitol
• Apple juice
• Sodium chloride
• Natural essences (orange pineapple, strawberry)
• Artificial flavor

Bacchus was developed with a strong influence from Lipovitan-D, by Kang Shinho, who had studied medicine in Germany in the 1950s. He named the product Bacchus after the Roman god of wine, of which he had seen a statue inside of the Hamburg City Hall. Bacchus was introduced in 1961 as a tablet (박카스-정), sold in pharmacies as an 'herbal medicine' to prevent colds and cure hangovers.

In 1963 Kang turned it into a drink.^[3]

In particular Bacchus-F, with its higher content of 2000mg of Taurine, has been a favourite of Korean university students.^[4]

With the worldwide rise of energy drinks as fashionable mixers in alcoholic drinks like Vodka-Red Bull, Bacchus also has gained a place in American culture. The most common form of consumption is the "Bacchus Bomb", which is produced by pouring a full 3.3 oz bottle of Bacchus into a cup and subsequently dropping a shot glass filled with vodka into the cup, with the resulting mixture being consumed as rapidly as possible.^[5][6]

The Bacchus Lady is a South Korean film that was presented in the Panorama section of the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. The film depicts the life of an elderly Bacchus Lady, which is a Korean prostitute selling the Bacchus energy drink.

In the 2009 Korean film Mother, directed by Bong Joon-ho, the protagonist is given a bottle of insecticide by his mother in a Bacchus bottle as a child.

• Official site