Bacchus (Korean: 박카스) is a non-carbonated South Koreanenergy 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 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 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]
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.
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