Coffee Mill
The Korean “Kuh-pi Bang-aht-gan” is roughly equivalent to “Coffee Mill.” This is one of the cafes I visited in 2007 on my first trip to Korea. It’s located in the Samcheongdong neighborhood near the Blue House Presidential residence and Gyeongbokgung Palace. While their coffee is not really worth mentioning, the interior style is pretty cool...
Alton Brown – Espresso on Good Eats
I love Alton Brown’s ‘Good Eats,’ and I just found an episode on espresso that really covers a lot of the basics and some history. Coffee geeks might take issue with a few points and technique (especially the milk frothing, which is terrible), but it’s a great introduction for anyone interested in learning a bit...
Intelligentsia Agua Preta, Brazil
The Korean postman who rang my doorbell was probably wondering why I was so happy. If only he knew; it was because, among other things from the states, my sister sent me some coffee from Agua Preta, Brazil roasted by Intelligentsia. Nothing beats getting coffee from artisan roasteries back home. Even if it’s two weeks...
Latte Art Practice
I’ve been trying to get latte art down for quite a while now, but it’s been pretty hard learning from books and Youtube videos. I finally got some feedback while visiting Republic of Coffee yesterday, everyone there is really nice and I appreciate their patience with my poor Korean skills! You can see my feeble...
Caffe Artigiano – Seoul
Caffe Artigiano is a Vancouver based chain started by multiple award winning barista champion, Sammy Piccolo. Since then he’s sold the business and shifted focus to his 49th Parallel coffee roastery. I’ve never had the chance to try their Canadian shops, which are certainly worth visiting, but I have been to their two locations here...
Park Hyatt, Seoul
It’s surprising how few fine dining establishments bother to compliment their meticulously prepared food with quality coffee. A while ago I found out that LAMILL has a roastery in Korea that supplies coffee to a few restaurants and hotels, including the Hyatt, so I was looking forward to trying it out at some point. For...
Instant Coffee Eclipses Rice Consumption
“Rice has long topped local food retailers’ best-selling list, but not this year. The country’s traditional staple lost its place for the first time in years, bumped by none other than instant coffee.” Korea Times article here. Instant coffee is everywhere in Korea, I’ve never been in an office or meeting without it, even though...
Republic of Coffee
Earlier this week I had a chance to visit 2009 Korean Barista Champion Lee Jong Hoon’s workshop in the north east area of Seoul. My coworkers from the middle school I teach at here in Korea actually made the reservation. I guess the coffee I make for the office every day has brought them over...
Apgujeong Coffee House
Heo Hyeong Man, owner of Apgujeong Coffee House, is well known as one of the oldest artisanal coffee roasters in Korea. His tiny shop is all business with barely enough room for the large coffee roaster, burlap sacks of coffee beans, a few small coffee trees growing in planters, and three tables. There’s nothing showy...
Paul Bassett Roastery, Korea – Kenya AA
When I visited ‘Coffee Station Paul Bassett’ at Gosok Terminal, I picked up a 100g bag of Kenya Gethumbwini AA. Each bag has a sticker with roast date, so you can make sure your coffee is fresh. The Kenya was not as in-your-face fruity or acidic as Kenyas I’ve tried in the past, but instead...
Coffee Therapy
“A psychology professor at Yale University found that holding a hot cup of coffee leads people to judge a stranger to be a warmer person, in terms of such traits as generosity and kindness, compared with a group of people who held a cup of iced coffee.” Iced coffee drinkers must lead depressing lives. Stick...
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