Comments from our coffee experts
SJ A small workroom that opened in 2009 in Yeonnam-dong has a huge presence in the realm of specialty coffees in Korea. They deal with the widest spectrum of raw coffee beans for specialty coffees in Korea and conduct experimental attempts with them.
David G. We Here, Seu Pil-hoon, the first Korean Q-grader, introduces coffees he’s bought via direct trading with coffee plantations around the world.
Cho Won-jin This is one of the coffee companies that brought the concept of specialty coffees to Korea, which is often referred to as "the third wave" of the coffee industry.
Coffee Libre is a small café tucked away in the alley of Dongjin Market where goumet coffee drinkers from across the country gather. Korea’s first licensed Q-Grader (think of him as a coffee sommelier) Seu Pil-hoon runs the shop. Mr. Seo travelled around the world to various coffee plantations in order to purchase specialty grade beans directly and he sells coffee extracted from these specialty grade roasted beans in his stores. The menu is simple: espresso, americano, latte, and single-origin brewed coffee. The café welcomes its customers with freshly roasted beans displayed in an old Chinese herbal medicine cabinet, a table inlaid with mother-of-pearl, lighting made of recycled glass bottles, and the mascot from the American movie Nacho Libre printed with silk screens. Every Tuesday at 8 pm, a free coffee cupping program is held (in Korean) to taste specialty coffee and learn about various coffee techniques.