It involved a bit of a random combination of Naver, Google and Foursquare search, but today I stumbled upon Cafe Classico in Gangnam.
Naver maps link: Cafe Classico
Google maps:
The place looks like a very low-key, standard Americano joint from the outside, but actually is nothing short of plain-weird on the inside. The smell inside is amazing, because coffee is being roasted right by the door (what a great start!). The store stretches over 2 floors in a very confusing, tiny way, offering plenty of seats (if you find them).
Most surprisingly, the selection of hand-drippable beans is large, and even doubles, because they offer a ‘medium’ and ‘strong’ roast on most beans. I went for Ethiopian Harrar beans, which I haven’t had a chance to try anywhere in Seoul before (at least until today).
As far as equipment goes, nothing fancy. No scales, no timers, just some old Kalitas with brown paper filters – and a lot of ‘intuition/experience’ to bring everything together.
The result was (to be honest) nothing outstanding, but just a solid cup of strong coffee. Again, I am not a tasting expert, but I want to say that the coffee was probably a little bit over-infused (or maybe this is what ‘strong roast’ means). At least for me feeling out notes was close to impossible.
Cafe Classico is worth a visit if you are nearby and crave a different experience. The large variety of beans and strengths in combination with a bit of ‘intuitive approach’ to pour-over could make this place a bit of a hit and miss – let’s see next time!