Page 93 - #91+eng

C Story / Charles Costello
Photo/ Charles Costello,
Shim Jae-beom, Cho Won-jin
Illustration / Yalan Zhang

Time to Fall in Love with Busan Coffee

The first known record of coffee in Korea was in 1886, by American business-
man and diplomat Percival Lowell (1855 - 1916). Coffee, then advertised as Java
Coffee, was imported in the late 19th century from Indonesia and reportedly enjoyed
by both foreign ambassadors and Korean royalty, namely the last emperor of Korea,
Gojong (1852 - 1919).
Following the Korean War (1950 - 1953), the number of cafes or “Dabang” as
they were colloquially known in Korea reached 3,000, predominantly focused in the
country’s capital Seoul. Consumption of coffee increased exponentially in the de-
cades that followed; as the economy transformed from one of the poorest countries
in the world to the “Miracle on the Han River” in the 1990s, coffee became a part
COFFEE IN
of everyday life. Landmark moments include the introduction of instant coffee in
the 1970s by Dong Suh Foods Corporation, the launching of local instant coffee
brands Maxim, Lotte, and Kanu in the 1980s, and the opening of Starbucks’ first
branch in Seoul in 1999.
It wasn’t until almost 20 years later, in 2015 that the “Third Wave” cafe boom
really took off, with a rapid increase in local roasting companies, specialty coffee
outlets, and the introduction of more overseas cafe brands like Blue Bottle (USA),
Dukes Coffee (Australia), and The Barn (Germany). In 2018, the Hyundai Research
Institute reported that average coffee consumption in South Korea was almost three
BUSAN
times the global average, with the average person consuming 353 cups per year. The
market has reached record levels with over 75,000 cafes across the country, or the
equivalent of one per every 700 people.
In this article we pick five of Busan’s best coffee shops, from student hangouts,
to minimal lounge spaces, and an industrial style roaster. South Korea is undoubt-
edly one of the most vibrant specialty coffee markets in the world, and we look
forward to seeing the country garner more and more attention in the build up to
May 2024’s World of Coffee and World Barista Championship festival.

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