Further South of Seoul, in one of the satellite cities (Suwon) we came across a promising cafe called Hands Coffee.

Google maps:

Naver maps link: 핸즈커피 영통점

Tucked away on the 2nd floor of a building full of restaurants and bars, the cafe is spacious and invites to hang out for a while.

There is also a lot of talking about many certifications the baristas have, so let’s get to the menu:

Overall, preparation was a mixed bag. Brown filters were rinsed, but no timer or scale was nearby, unfortunately. Whereas the pours were carefully done, there was a surprise at the end: after pouring the brew into a cup, the barista added water fairly randomly (without any measurement or temperature check).

Presumably to have a full cup, but a sign that there’s not too much standardization here – and the grind was likely not coarse enough either.

The result was a fairly bitter cup of Ethiopian coffee, there was unfortunately not much flavor to enjoy there.