Coffee in Korea

When I come to Korea for the first time, I am taken aback by the country’s habit of drinking coffee. Coffee in Korea has been a strong element in Korean culture. Originating in the 19th century, it has become a prominent commodity in Korean marketplaces. It is one of the most popular beverages in the area.

How did coffee’s history and consumption develop?

Coffee didn’t appear in Korea until the 19th century, centuries after it had already spread out around Europe. At the beginning, it was a symbol of status and Western culture affiliation. For this reason, coffee was mostly consumed by the elites, the wealthy, royals, the emperor himself and other intellectual persons. It wasn’t until the instant coffee was introduced by the Americans when coffee became popular with the middle class as well. Fast forward and coffee is now being influenced by the youth culture in South Korea, evolving from small and doll coffee houses to modern and themed cafes. As of 2015, there were an estimated 49,600 coffee shops in South Korea, and 17,000 coffee shops in Seoul, making Seoul’s coffee-per-capita greater than that of Seattle or San Francisco. In 2013, it was estimated that around 657,000 tons of coffee were sold in South Korea, with a per capita coffee consumption of about 2.3 kg per person.

How do they drink coffee in South Korea?

In South Korea, a cup of coffee is more than a drink, it is a part of people’s life culture. Despite the bitter taste of coffee, each cup of it carries different meanings to different people. “A cup of coffee a day, lets the energy stay” can be applied to some of South Koreans of their coffee drinking habit, especially for college students. According to a result of a survey targeting students at George Mason University Korea, the percentage of students who drink coffee as a source of energy is 67.2%, which is over half the participants. When asked about how often students drink coffee, 52.4% of them replied that they drink coffee every day.

To tend to these coffee-lovers, coffee shops are everywhere in South Korea, and each of them has unique themes and styles that attracts people’s attention.

To South Koreans, coffee has become an indispensable element in their daily lives. Because of how popular coffee is in South Korea, there is even a coffee show held in Seoul called “Seoul International Café Show” every year to share about people’s passion in coffee culture. With people pursuing in coffee, whether for their needs or wants, South Korea’s coffee culture has become one of the most unique cultures in the world.

Reasons for the prevalence of coffee culture in Korea?

1) To see or Go to be seen? That is the question — What Korea is most excellent at doing is following trends. And one of the best places to catch new fashion trends are at the cafes. In Korea, image is everything so people will get dressed up just to go to their mailbox. So just imagine what people will do when they are going out to even a cafe. Just picture a scene where people are sitting around a table at a cafe sipping on Americanos. Some people might be talking to other people and while others might be busy doing some work. But at the corner of everyone’s eyes, they are all checking out what everyone else is doing and wearing.

2) It’s your 2nd office — Korea is one of the most wired countries in the world when it comes to the internet. Having a strong WIFI connection is essential and a basic civil right here. With that opens the opportunity to set up your own pseudo-office at a cafe on the cheap. You’ll also find that it’s pretty cool to walk around the city with your laptop in your backpack to stop at a random coffee shop to blog about something you just witnessed in Korea. People will even come here to sign business contracts because their officials won’t have separate conference rooms. Korea has a saving-face culture. Cafes offer face for those who may not want to admit to their clients that they work from home.

3) Korea is just good at it — Korea, Inc. is good at innovating. Korea is good at refining things and making it better. They are also good at commercializing it. Korea doesn’t have the environment to grow coffee beans. Yet it imports a lot of it and roasts it right here in the ROK. And soon you are going to see the likes of a Caffe Bene expanding into your country at a cafe near you, making way for the 3rd wave of Hallyu — Kpop culture.

References:

1. The History of Coffee in Korea, Daniel Gray, 2015
http://host.fieramilano.it/en/history-coffee-korea

2. Coffee wars: South Korea’s cafe boom nears saturation point, Joyce Lee, Hooyeon Kim
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-coffee-idUSKCN0X12GF

3. South Korea’s Coffee Craze — As Koreans’ taste for coffee continues to grow, global brands are taking notice
https://thediplomat.com/2019/11/south-koreas-coffee-craze/

4. Specialty Coffee in Seoul. A city grows from instant coffee to signature brews
https://melscoffeetravels.com/specialty-coffee-seoul-from-instant-coffee-to-signature-brews/

5. Korea’s Coffee Culture
https://medium.com/the-conscious-traveller/koreas-coffee-culture-f3bcfa4ba7c8

Sun Jiawei
sunjiawei1106@gmail.com