Page 27 - #57 English

Coffee Libre

252-15 Yeonnam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul Hongik University 12:00-21:00, closed on Monday
One of the three original roasting companies in South Korea

Coffee Libre, one of the leading brands of specialty Its founder, Pil Hoon, is one of the veterans in
coffee in Seoul, was named one of the eight must try South Korean coffee scene, he is also the first South
self-roasting brands in South Korea by Sprudge. Estab- Korean Q-Grader. Their roasted beans are rewarded
lished in 2008, now it has four stores, we went to the first by COE, also they were used in WBC and showed good
one located in Yeonnam-dong. Although the space in the results. Coffee Libre buys raw beans from 12 different
café is limited, only about ten seats, but it still had a lot farms worldwide every year, they also have a farm in
of people. Four pop style wrestling masks hanging on the Nicaragua called Finca Libre; during the interview Pil
concrete wall and old Chinese medicine cabinet as deco- said that he was not going to open any new stores, he
ration, each drawer displays their own roasted beans, the wanted to focus on working, growing and roasting
old house is filled with nice and relaxing vibe. beans, that are sold in the store.
YEONGDEUNGPO-GU

EL Cafe

21-7, Yeongdeungpo-ro 42-gil, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul Seonyudo 08:00-21:00
One of the three original roasting companies.
El Café is one of the three biggest specialty coffee El café likes to use light roasting and medium roasting
roasting companies in South Korea, it was founded in together to create their own flavor, opening the way for
2010, having three stores by now. It does not only sells South Korea to get more knowledge on specialty coffee. At
coffee, but also does business of raw beans and self- the same time, El café keeps direct trading with farms to
roasting. El café is a senior coffee roasting company in improve the quality of the beans. El café has moved a lot,
South Korean coffee scene; monthly amount of roasted in order to find an efficient space to reach the satisfaction
beans is around 4000 kg, the ratio of online and in-store of roasting quality. Over 50% of the customer are attracted
selling is one to three. to El café by people who work there.

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