Korean Cider: What Chilsung Cider Is, Is It Alcoholic, and What It Costs

칠성사이다 (Chilsung Cider) in the 500 ml bottle. The label reads "PURE, CLEAR, CAFFEINE FREE" and "500 ml (220 kcal)". Photo by Republic of Korea (KOCIS), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Lotte Chilsung Cider (칠성사이다), 250 ml × 6 cans — on AmazonAffiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, EpicKor earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Last updated: 13 October 2026. Prices are CU's list prices from its official product catalogue (cu.bgfretail.com, drinks category), read on 13 October 2026. Sugar is from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's food nutrition database.

Korean cider is not cider. On a Korean menu, in a convenience-store fridge or on a restaurant's drink list, 사이다 (saida) means clear lemon-lime soda — the same family as Sprite and 7 Up. It has no alcohol, no caffeine and no apples. The bottle almost everyone means is 칠성사이다 (Chilsung Cider), made by 롯데칠성음료 (Lotte Chilsung Beverage), and it has been on sale since 9 May 1950 — eleven years before Coca-Cola launched Sprite in 1961.

This page answers the three things people search for — what it is, whether it is alcoholic, and what it costs in Korea now — and then the things only Korean sources tell you: which brands are on the shelf, which bottle size is the real bargain, and how Koreans actually drink it.

Korean Cider Quick Guide

If you only remember one line: in Korea, "cider" is Sprite-shaped, not apple-shaped — clear, sweet, no alcohol, no caffeine.

Is Korean Cider Alcoholic?

No. 칠성사이다 contains no alcohol at all. Neither do Sprite Korea, Narangd Cider or any other drink sold under the word 사이다. It sits in the soft-drink fridge next to Coca-Cola, children drink it at birthday parties, and restaurants serve it to the people at the table who are not drinking.

The confusion is entirely a translation problem. In British English, cider is a fermented apple drink of around 4–8% alcohol. In American English it is usually unfiltered apple juice. Korean uses the word for neither.

Does it contain caffeine? No, and the bottle says so: the label carries "PURE, CLEAR, CAFFEINE FREE" in English, which you can read in the photograph above. Lotte also states that Chilsung Cider uses natural flavour extracted from lemons and limes and no synthetic flavouring or colouring — which is why it pours as clear as water.

Is it halal? The standard formula has no alcohol and no animal-derived ingredient, so for most travellers the practical answer is yes. Formal halal certification is a separate matter that varies by market and factory. If you need certified halal rather than simply alcohol-free, check the specific can in front of you.

Is it healthy? It is a sugared soda. The food-safety ministry's database lists about 54 g of sugar in a 500 ml bottle, and the label says 220 kcal. That is more than half of the 100 g daily reference value Korean labels use. If that matters, buy a Zero.

Why Koreans Call Lemon-Lime Soda "Cider"

The word lost its apples in Japan, not Korea.

English cider reached Japan in the late nineteenth century. What survived the crossing was the sensation — sweet, sharply carbonated, fruity — rather than the fruit. Japanese adopted it as サイダー (saidā) and used it for clear carbonated drinks in general.

That meaning is the one that passed into Korean as 사이다. The loanword arrived already changed, which is why the English original is no help. The useful translation of 사이다 on a menu is not cider; it is closer to "lemonade" in the British sense, or simply "Sprite."

Poured, the point makes itself: apple cider is amber and cloudy, 사이다 is water-clear. From the same Korea.net Chilsung Cider photo set as the bottles above. Photo by Republic of Korea (KOCIS), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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Korean Cider Prices in October 2026

Lotte Chilsung raised its factory prices on 26 June 2026 — 44 products across 12 brands, an average of 5.3%, its first increase in two years. Chilsung Cider's factory price rose about 4.3%, and convenience stores switched to the new shelf prices on 1 July 2026. Lotte cited aluminium and plastic packaging costs and the exchange rate.

Here is what CU, Korea's largest convenience-store chain, lists today:

Three things the price list tells you that the shelf does not:

• The small can is the expensive way to drink it. Per 100 ml the 250 ml can costs two and a half times the 1.5 L bottle. Fine for one person on a walk; poor value for a group picnic.
• Zero costs the same as the original. There is no premium for the sugar-free version, so there is no money reason not to try it.
• Sprite is slightly cheaper in Korea. On the same CU list, Sprite is ₩2,400 for 500 ml and ₩3,900 for 1.5 L — ₩100 and ₩300 below Chilsung. Koreans pay a little extra for the home brand anyway.

Prices at GS25 and 7-Eleven are usually the same or within ₩100–200, and drinks are often on 1+1 or 2+1 promotion — look for the coloured tag on the shelf edge before you pick a bottle. Large supermarkets such as E-mart and Lotte Mart sell multi-packs that come in cheaper than any convenience-store price.

Which Cider Brands Are on Korean Shelves

Chilsung is the one everyone means, but it is not the only 사이다. These were all in CU's catalogue on 13 October 2026:

Two older names you may still see in restaurants or small supermarkets: 킨사이다 (Kin Cider), sold by Coca-Cola Beverage (part of LG H&H since 2007), and 천연사이다 (Cheonyeon Cider) from Ilhwa. Neither was in CU's catalogue on the day we checked; industry sources in 2020 put Kin, like Narangd, under 1% of the market.

How big is Chilsung's lead? There is no recent public figure. Korean business press reported in 2020 that industry sources put Chilsung in the high 60s percent of the cider category and Sprite in the low 30s — up from 2.9% for Sprite in 2011. Lotte's own figure for cumulative sales passed 36 billion cans (counted as 250 ml cans) in the first half of 2023. Treat the share as an estimate; treat "Korea's best-selling cider for over 70 years" as safe.

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The Zero Range, and the One to Try

As of April 2026, Lotte sells five versions of Chilsung Cider: the original, Zero, Zero Lime, Zero Orange and Zero Yuzu (제로 유자).

칠성사이다 제로, 250 ml — the black diagonal band marks the Zero. Photo by Hyeonyoung Lee 21, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Zero has a history that English articles miss. Lotte first released a zero-calorie Chilsung in August 2011, a year after Narangd went zero-calorie. It did not last, and the version that is on shelves today was relaunched in January 2021, when zero-sugar drinks took off in Korea. It is now a core line rather than an experiment, and Korean searches for the drink are dominated by variant and size words — 제로, 유자, 500, 캔, 355 — rather than "what is it."

Yuzu is the one to look for. Zero Yuzu went on sale in April 2026, and Lotte promoted it with a "yuzu garden" booth at the Yeouido cherry-blossom festival. Yuzu (유자) is a Korean winter citrus — the same fruit as in 유자차, yuzu tea — and it sits naturally on a clean lemon-lime base. At ₩2,500 for 500 ml it costs the same as the original.

How Koreans Actually Drink It

The bottle does not tell you any of this.

At the Korean BBQ table. 사이다 is the standard soft drink at a grill restaurant — for children, for drivers, for anyone not drinking, and by drinkers as a sweet palate reset between fatty cuts of pork. Most BBQ places keep the small cans in the drinks fridge. If you want one non-alcoholic order that will not get a second look, say "사이다 주세요" (saida juseyo). More on the table itself in How to Eat Korean BBQ Like a Local: Unwritten Rules.

With gimbap and boiled eggs. For generations of Koreans, a train trip or a school outing meant gimbap, a couple of boiled eggs and a bottle of cider, and the combination is still the nostalgic picnic image. Koreans carry it up mountains for the same reason: a cold, sweet, fizzy drink after a dry egg is the point.

With sweet potato — and as slang. Roasted sweet potato is dry and sticks in the throat, and cider washes it down. That pairing gave Korean internet slang two words. 고구마 (goguma, sweet potato) describes something frustrating — a drama plot where nobody says what they mean. 사이다 describes the release: a blunt line that finally cuts through. A Korean viewer can call a scene "완전 사이다" and everyone knows it means deeply satisfying.

In the kitchen. Home cooks pour 사이다 into marinades, where the sugar helps browning, into cold-noodle broth, and into fruit punch. It is the standard fizz in Korean Hwachae: Summer Fruit Punch and Picnic Culture.

With soju, sometimes. Some drinkers top up soju with cider for a sweeter, weaker glass. It is a casual mix rather than a named cocktail; the famous Korean mix is beer and soju (somaek). For the alcoholic side of Korean drinking, see Korea Drinks Guide: Makgeolli, Somaek, Beer, and More.

Older Than Sprite: The History in Four Dates

Search in English and you will be told Chilsung Cider is "Korea's answer to Sprite." The dates say otherwise.

Chilsung Cider is eleven years older than Sprite. Sprite arrived in a market Chilsung already held. And the company launched its first drink seven weeks before the Korean War began; the brand survived the war and everything after it.

The seven stars are seven people. The drink was the first product of 동방청량음료합명회사, founded on 15 December 1949 in Galwol-dong, Yongsan, Seoul, by seven shareholders, most of them refugees from the North: 최금덕, 박운석, 방계량, 주동익, 정선명, 김명근 and 우상대. Because all seven had different surnames, they first considered 七姓 (chilseong, "seven surnames"). They changed one character to 七星 — "seven stars," the Big Dipper — as a wish for a business that would last as long as the constellation. The stars are still on every label, and Lotte still dates its founding to the day the drink went on sale.

Chilsung Cider vs Sprite

They are close. Anyone who tells you they taste nothing alike is overselling it.

The practical difference is sweetness and fizz. Chilsung reads as the lighter drink; Sprite front-loads the sugar and hits harder. Which is better is a preference. That Chilsung got there first is a fact.

Skip It If…

• You wanted alcoholic cider. Ordering 사이다 will not get it. Imported hard cider is rare in Korean convenience stores; ask a bar for the brand by name.
• You are watching sugar. 54 g in a 500 ml bottle is a lot. Buy any Zero — same price, close taste.
• You are buying for a group from a convenience store. One 1.5 L bottle (₩4,200) holds six 250 ml cans' worth for less than half the price of six cans (₩10,800).
• You are abroad and want the Zero flavours. Export listings are nearly always the sugared original. Yuzu and Lime are a reason to buy in Korea.

FAQ

Q: Is Korean cider alcoholic? A: No. 사이다 in Korea means clear lemon-lime soda, and 칠성사이다 contains no alcohol. The word came through Japanese サイダー, which already meant "clear fizzy drink" rather than fermented apple juice.

Q: Is Chilsung Cider the same as Sprite? A: Similar, not identical: Chilsung is lighter and softer in carbonation. It also launched in 1950, eleven years before Sprite, so it is not a Korean copy.

Q: How much is Chilsung Cider in Korea? A: At CU on 13 October 2026: ₩1,800 for a 250 ml can, ₩2,100 for 355 ml, ₩2,500 for 500 ml and ₩4,200 for 1.5 L. Prices rose on 1 July 2026; the 500 ml bottle was ₩2,300 before.

Q: Does Korean cider have caffeine or apples? A: Neither. The label says "CAFFEINE FREE," and the flavour is lemon and lime.

Q: Is Chilsung Cider halal? A: It contains no alcohol and no animal-derived ingredients in the standard formula. Formal halal certification varies by market, so check the product if you need certification.

Q: What does 사이다 mean as slang? A: Something satisfying — a blunt remark or resolution that clears the air. Its opposite is 고구마 (sweet potato), for something frustrating.

Q: Which Chilsung Cider flavour should I try? A: Zero Yuzu (제로 유자), launched April 2026. It costs the same as the original and is hard to find outside Korea.

Sources

• CU (BGF Retail) official product catalogue, drinks category (cu.bgfretail.com/product), read 13 October 2026: prices for 칠성사이다 250 ml can, 355 ml can, 500 ml and 1.5 L, Zero, Zero Lime and Zero Yuzu; 스프라이트, 나랑드사이다 and 갈배사이다.
• Hankyung, 23 June 2026 and Kuki News: Lotte Chilsung price rise, 44 products in 12 brands, average 5.3%, Chilsung Cider about 4.3%, factory prices from 26 June and convenience-store prices from 1 July 2026, old and new prices (250 ml ₩1,700→₩1,800, 500 ml ₩2,300→₩2,500, 1.5 L ₩3,900→₩4,200).
• BizWatch, 29 April 2026: Zero Yuzu launch; five versions on sale.
• BizWatch, 30 November 2023: founding by seven refugees on 15 December 1949, 七姓 to 七星, 36 billion cans cumulative, Zero relaunched January 2021.
• Dailian: launch on 9 May 1950, the seven founders' names, Lotte's acquisition in November 1974.
• iNews24, 9 July 2020: market-share estimates from industry sources (Chilsung 86.3% and Sprite 2.9% in 2011; high 60s and low 30s by 2020). No newer public figure was found.
• SBS Biz, 24 February 2021: Chilsung Zero relaunch and Sprite Zero in Korea in early 2021, Coca-Cola's Korean production at LG H&H's Coca-Cola Beverage.
• News Tomato: the first Chilsung Cider Zero, August 2011. Newsis, 10 March 2021: Narangd Cider (2010) as the original zero-calorie cider.
• Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, 전국통합식품영양성분정보 (data.go.kr 15100066): 칠성사이다 500 ml, sugars 54 g. Lotte's label gives 27 g per 250 ml can, which matches. Caffeine-free and 220 kcal: product label (hero photo).
• Sprite's 1961 launch: Coca-Cola Korea brand history.

Prices change monthly with promotions. Check the shelf tag in front of you.