Keep in touch!
- Follow FRSHGRND on twitter! Don’t be shy, say hi!
- Click “Like” on the Facebook box over there on the right to join our Facebook community! Had a surprisingly great coffee? Share it here! Also a good place to post snapshots, news, and interesting links.
- For all inquiries, e-mail me: aaron [at] frshgrnd [dot] com
Why make a coffee blog?
Coffee is everywhere, but great coffee is a rare combination of farmer, roaster, and barista each building on each other’s work in a transnational process fraught with potential for failure. When you taste great coffee, it’s the result of a chain of people doing their jobs with great skill and attention to detail. That’s unfortunately rare. My goal with this blog is to find the people making great coffee all around the world, and tell you how to get there, while sharing the experience.
Check out the world map of all the cafes I’ve reviewed by clicking ‘Best Coffee in the World‘ above.
Who am I?
I’m from Los Angeles originally. Then I lived in Seoul, South Korea working for a couple years as an English teacher at a public school. Now I’m living in Malmö, Sweden working toward a master’s degree in applied cultural analysis. Update: I just moved to NYC and I’m currently doing research for my thesis on the cultural practices surrounding micro-blogging & image sharing, with an eye towards consumer culture and reflexive modernity.
I started this blog as an exploration of the specialty coffee scene in Seoul, Korea. In the process of making this site, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many great people in the coffee business. Even after two years, there are still many good cafes that I never had a chance to visit. Korea has great coffee if you know where to look, and I hope this blog will get you started in the right direction.
Now that I’m living outside Korea, keep an eye out for an exploration of the European coffee scene.
Lastly, all images and reviews are copyright protected, unless otherwise noted, and may not be republished or used for any purpose without my written permission.
17 comments
David Carruth says:
Sep 29, 2010
Hello!
This is David Carruth with 10 Magazine. We’re preparing an article on coffee shops in Seoul and were wondering if you’d like to give us some more specific recommendations. Could you send me an email at dc at 10magazine dot asia?
Thanks!
David
Nick says:
Nov 11, 2010
Do you have an rss feed? Would love to follow the blog but don’t see a way to subscribe. Thanks.
Aaron Frey says:
Nov 11, 2010
Good question, let me figure that out!
Aaron Frey says:
Nov 11, 2010
I’ve added a link at the bottom of the main page now.
You can directly access the feed here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/frshgrnd
Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Marbie says:
Jan 12, 2011
I happened upon your blog while surfing the internet and I’m glad I did! I really enjoy hearing about cafes in other places other than my hometown of Vancouver, Canada. I’ll definitely be following!
Aaron Frey says:
Apr 14, 2011
Glad you like it!
Dustin Cole says:
Jun 28, 2011
Aaron! Hey man. I’m glad you’re still updating this blog frequently. Your pictures are awesome. I’ve been working hard on my own blog… check it out and let me know what you think.
Phillip Dyhr Hobbs says:
Aug 1, 2011
Nice site, I have just moved here myself, and am looking forward to working in the nice cafés here, maybe we may meet one time :)
Phillip Dyhr Hobbs says:
Aug 10, 2011
Thanks mate!
BTW if you ever need help with your site I can help you :)
JN says:
Aug 15, 2011
Hey,
Have you heard about any Specialty Coffee shops in Malmo, looking for non-Swedish-speaking baristas by any chance? Solde and Lilla Kafferosteriet are not down. I’m moving over there at the end of the month. I’ve got a solid background in coffee… I’m going to come over on Wednesday with CVs and poke around, but I thought you may know someone…
Tack!
Love the blog, love the pictures.
John says:
Sep 23, 2011
I am from Beijing. From some angle, I am pretty similar to you. Have been being a English teacher, not offically working in coffee industry, but in coffee~ I have been viewing your blog, which opened my eyes about coffee world outside China. I am sorry, to hear about your experience in Beijing International Airport, I know the coffee there, sucks, so does many other stores in China. That is the reason why i rarely order coffee when i was in cafe in China, even any international chains, also sucks. Then i got my own roaster, start to roast by my own~
Anyway, So glad to know you~ Here is a favor, may I ask. Since i am a crazy geek about coffee, I want to share everything i got about coffee, with my guys in China. My i transfer some of your blog’s articles to my blog, to share, of course i would like to translate it first, and link it to the original address. I hope you would not mind.
this is my blog, www. blog.sina.com.cn/johnly615 which is only about coffee and my coffee life. I admire that you can travel around the world to have coffee or cafe view~ hee hee, this is my dream, i hope i can make it some day in the future.
again, so glad to know you, I hope i can hear from you soon.
p.s. next time, if you are in Beijing, of course, for several days spare, you can enjoy my coffee, no matter for espress blend, or single, i believe i would not let you down~ hee hee
john ly says:
Sep 26, 2011
HI there, i can not see my comment in your blog, i really don’t know what’s wrong with that~ did you get them?
i am a coffee geek in Beijing~
really in about you blog, and pics
jasmine says:
Nov 12, 2011
hi! thank you for your great blog! i understand you are out of seoul now but i was wondering if you knew of any good barista training schools in korea for the everyday average person?
Aaron Frey says:
Nov 14, 2011
There are lots of barista training academies, but I was never impressed by any that I encountered (at Seoul’s annual Fine Food expo). Can you speak Korean? If so I’d pursue training from one of Korea’s barista champions. Lee Jong Hoon, @baristahoon on Twitter, used to offer a variety of different educational programs for a reasonable fee – though I’m not sure if he’s still doing that now that he opened his cafe, Republic of Coffee. He placed 5th in the World Barista Championship in 2009 and is a real nice guy. Some of the more recent barista champions might also offer occasional lessons at their shops.
Rich 'Tricks' says:
Jan 26, 2012
Yo, Tricks from Shadowness, not sure if you remember me, anyway I find it a little funny that two Shadowness members have got into the food/drink blog universe.
Remember Adam at all? he started http://www.alifewortheating.com/ and you started this :D
You should get in contact with him ;)
Aaron Frey says:
Jan 27, 2012
Interesting! I didn’t realize that was Adam from shadowness. I don’t remember talking to him much back then, though. I’ve definitely seen the blog though, lots of great articles.
It’s been a long time since then, how’s it been? :)
Alex says:
Jan 30, 2012
Hey man
how you doing? Love the blog. As a coffee afficionado like yourself I am always looking for that small shop that makes its own roasts, the barista who knows his shit and the cup that you wish would never go empty.
I would love to hear more about your motivation etc.
I am currently thinking of setting up a business around coffee and would appreciate your thoughts.
Take care