Most people visit North Korea for the history.

Some go because they're fascinated by politics. Others are curious about one of the world's most secretive countries. A few simply enjoy collecting unusual travel experiences and realise there aren't many destinations more unusual than North Korea.

I went because I wanted to know what people were drinking.

This may not sound like the most sensible reason to visit one of the most isolated countries on Earth. In my defence, I've spent most of my adult life chasing interesting drinks in unusual places. At some point, curiosity inevitably points towards North Korea and asks, "I wonder what the beer's like?"

Before long, I was on a plane to Pyongyang.

My life occasionally takes strange turns.

The World's Most Unusual Pub Crawl

Before travelling to North Korea, I assumed finding local alcohol would be difficult.

This assumption lasted approximately five minutes.

One of the biggest surprises of the trip was discovering that beer is actually quite popular. North Korea has breweries, local brands and bars where visitors can sample drinks produced within the country. Nobody had mentioned this beforehand, which seemed like an oversight considering I was specifically interested in the subject.

The first local beer I tried was perfectly respectable.

Not life-changing.

Not terrible.

Just a solid beer being enjoyed in a place where I never expected to be drinking beer.

That moment summed up much of the trip.

Nothing was quite what I expected.

Pyongyang Is Stranger Than It Looks

The first thing most visitors notice about Pyongyang is how orderly everything appears.

The streets are wide. The buildings are large. The monuments are enormous. Everything feels carefully arranged, as though an entire capital city has been organised by somebody with a strong preference for straight lines.

As a traveller, the experience feels surreal.

You spend years hearing about North Korea through documentaries, news reports and political discussions. Then suddenly you're standing there yourself, trying to decide whether you should order another beer while looking at a skyline unlike anywhere else on Earth.

The disconnect is difficult to explain.

It's a little like stepping inside a documentary.

Only with better refreshments.

The Hotel Bar Becomes Important

One thing I quickly learned is that hotel bars play a significant role in the North Korean travel experience.

Visitors spend much of their evenings there, discussing the day's experiences and attempting to process everything they've seen. Conversations often drift between history, culture, architecture and the universal question of whether anyone really understands what's going on.

The beer helps.

Not because it provides answers.

Because it provides context.

There is something wonderfully strange about discussing North Korean monuments while drinking local lager in a hotel overlooking Pyongyang. Every conversation feels slightly surreal, yet after a few days it starts feeling remarkably normal.

Human beings adapt quickly.

Particularly when beer is involved.

The Local Beer Scene Is Better Than You Think

If you're expecting North Korean beer to be dreadful, you may be surprised.

I certainly was.

The country's most famous brewery, Taedonggang, produces a range of beers that compare surprisingly well with many international lagers. The brewing equipment itself has an unusual history, having originally come from Britain before finding a new home in Pyongyang.

As a British beer enthusiast, I found this oddly comforting.

Halfway around the world, in one of the most isolated countries on Earth, I was drinking beer connected to British brewing equipment.

Travel occasionally produces plot twists.

The beer itself was enjoyable, refreshing and considerably better than many people would expect. It wasn't the best beer I've ever tasted, but it certainly wasn't the worst.

I've had worse at airports.

Looking For Local Drinking Culture

What fascinated me most wasn't the beer itself.

It was the role it played in everyday life.

Whenever I travel, I'm interested in how people gather, socialise and spend time together. Wine, beer and food often reveal far more about a country than guidebooks ever could. They provide small glimpses into ordinary life beneath the headlines.

North Korea was no exception.

Although visitors only see a carefully managed version of the country, moments involving food and drink often felt the most human. People laughed, shared meals and enjoyed time together just as they do everywhere else.

Travel has a habit of reminding you that people are usually more similar than they are different.

Even in unusual circumstances.

The Restaurants Were Unexpectedly Memorable

Some of my favourite memories came from meals rather than monuments.

North Korean dining often involves multiple dishes arriving at once, creating tables that gradually disappear beneath food. Local specialities, soups, meats and side dishes appear in generous quantities while conversation flows around the room.

Naturally, local drinks appear too.

As somebody who has spent years combining travel and alcohol, I considered this excellent news.

The food was often far better than I'd expected. Not because expectations were low, but because the country rarely appears in discussions about culinary travel. Yet several meals remain surprisingly vivid in my memory years later.

Perhaps because they felt so unexpected.

Unexpected experiences tend to linger.

Why I Love Unusual Destinations

Trips like North Korea remind me why I've always been drawn to unusual destinations.

Most tourists follow predictable routes.

Paris.

Rome.

Barcelona.

Nothing wrong with any of those places, but sometimes the most memorable experiences happen far from the obvious choices. That's one reason I've spent so much time exploring Moldova, Georgia, Transnistria and other destinations that rarely dominate travel brochures.

People often ask why.

The answer is simple.

The stories are better.

When you spend your days exploring places most people know very little about, every conversation becomes more interesting. Every meal feels more memorable. Every discovery carries a little more excitement.

Curiosity gets rewarded.

This Is What Inspired Many Of Our Tours

The truth is that many Tipple Tours experiences were inspired by exactly this mindset.

We're not particularly interested in creating ordinary holidays. There are already plenty of companies doing that. Instead, we're fascinated by places with stories, quirks and unusual perspectives.

North Korea sits at one end of that spectrum.

Moldova, Georgia and Transnistria sit at another.

All of them share something important.

They surprise people.

Guests often arrive expecting one thing and leave talking about something completely different. That's usually a sign you've found an interesting destination.

So, Was The Booze Worth The Journey?

Looking back, the answer is probably yes.

Not because North Korean beer was the greatest beer I've ever tasted. It wasn't.

The journey was worthwhile because the search for the beer led somewhere fascinating.

Every drink came with a story. Every meal came with context. Every conversation added another layer to an experience that remains difficult to compare with anywhere else I've visited. The alcohol was simply one way of understanding a place that most people will never see firsthand.

That's often true of travel.

The thing you're looking for isn't always the thing you remember most.

I went to North Korea curious about the booze.

I came home with stories.

And in my experience, stories tend to age much better than beer.