Iced green tea with mint in Café (tea room) Chloris.
Korean coffeehouses are usually much more than just coffeehouses. They are places that are often open for 24 hours so anyone can come in at any time and take a rest, they are places where people have dates, meet friends, study, hold business-meetings and where youngsters go during early hours after clubbing.
I've sometimes thought that Koreans spend way too much time outside their homes, and yeah it's true, but I myself like the cafés too. Not just because of the tea of coffee, I don't need to go out because of that, but because of the good atmosphere, peace, seeing people, and sometimes I go to a café just because I don't have anything else to do and I don't wanna be home alone. Maybe I'm becoming Korean.
Koreans of course love Starbucks, but hey, who wouldn't. This kind of java chocolate chip caramel cookie cream iced coffee blah blah is too much for the though...
I feel like everything else in Starbucks is just liquid cake, but there are few things that I really, really love. For example this chocolate-banana milkshake, that is actually made from fresh bananas in front of your eyes.
Another good Starbucks-drink is iced chai tea latte, mmmm... It has that spicy cinnamon taste and it's very refreshing and too heavy. During Christmas-time I like to drink hot chai tea latte just to taste and smell the Christmassy feeling.
However if you're on a diet, stay away from Starbucks. Mostly anything there is just another liquid cake, and a simple small portion can have 500-600 calories it it. But c´mon who´s counting anyway. You only live once, right?
Tom N' Tom's cherry milkshake in Gangnam!
Mango juice (more like pudding) and iced americano at Holly's.
Angel-in-us is a very good competitor to Starbucks, and these can be found anywhere in Korea. Their chai tea latte is good and quite cheap!
This particular café was near my old apartment in Seoul, and I visited it many times, since it's 24h I was sometimes there also at night.
Especially during summer Koreans live at night, it's not that they're party-animals or night-owls, it's just too hot to live during the days. Koreans go to cafés or restaurants to eat and drink after a hot day.
Take-a-way culture blooms! Koreans are always busy so it's good that they can buy their favourite beverages on the go.
Iced green tea in Tom N' Tom's.
Smoothie King! One of my favourite places, I hope it would be cheaper.
Chloris tea and coffee. It's a very idyllic tea room!
Latte art is very important for Koreans who think that appearance is the most valuable thing. I can't blame them, I really like my coffee, tea or food to look beautiful before I eat it, that's how it's good for the soul also.
Everyone should know by now that I love green tea latte, and the more beautiful it is the better.
De Chocolate Coffee.
Well I've only been here once or twice, but I got some complimentary chocolates while visiting and that gave me a good first impression.
Ediya is totally one of my favourite places ever and I had two of them close to my previous apartment in Seoul! It's cheap and very delicious.
The best thing is cheap green tea latte and the best bubble tea (like for reals, it's almost as good as in real bubble tea cafés).
Gong Cha. It's Taiwan's gift to the world. I like it the most because you can actually choose how much sugar or ice you want in your drink, and you can choose the topping freely as well.
Such a cozy Starbucks café in Myeongdong. Breakfast-time!
Iced green tea and red beans. It's like Korean traditions in one cup! (Accompanied with strawberry goodness.)
Tom N' Tom's has this wonderful menu: pretzel and ice tea. Try different flavours! My favourite pretzel is either sweet potato or corn flavoured.
Mango Sixx is a very popular coffeehouse in Korea and they offer very good beverages and desserts.
There are many coffeehouses that I don't even have time to mention, but all of them are worth trying.
Don't only go to the western-style cafés or the ones that are parts of really well-known franchise. Try also the Korean tea rooms and other interesting things.
Latte art in a really cozy café near Seokchon lake. I don't remember the name of the place, but it's a pretty building with a really pretty view to the lake!
Coffeesmith in Hyehwa.
If this is not a romantic scenery then nothing is. Hyehwa is anyway a really beautiful place with some European twist, and there are many foreign-type restaurants and cafés everywhere.
Like I've already mentioned, studying in a coffeehouse is a norm in Korea. Libraries are usually full before important exams, and if students can't concentrate at home, they come to a café.
One more reminder that I'm becoming too Korean.
Taro milk tea in Ediya near my home <3
It seems to be a rule that every coffeehouse has to have these looooong sentences everywhere, even on the walls at the café. They don't need to mean anything, it just has to sound fancy. Do you have any idea what they're talking about here?
Taking a break at work. Some Taro milk tea like always :)
Homestead coffee in Itaewon, blueberry latte.
I came here with my Korean friend, it was my first time in Itaewon (yes, really) and my first time tasting blueberry in coffee. Both were good experiences but neither became my favourites.
You might ask how I lived in Seoul for maaaany months before visiting Itaewon, but it's because I usually kinda stay away from the places where most of the tourists hang out.
Trying to introduce even the most famous coffee brands and franchises in Korea is a lot of work! The coffeehouses are so pretty and cozy also, they're quite irresistible (The campus café at my school in Busan was called Cozy, now I miss it TT TT)
What's your favourite coffeehouse or a type of coffee?
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