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Seoul, so far. by our friend Vaughan



When I was on the bus going from Seoul airport to the convention centre, I looked out the window and saw migrating birds flying in the V formation in the beautiful Autumn sky. Do they fly that way because it makes flying easier or are they all just following the leader? Thinking about that reminded me of the teams in life we are part of, the directions in which we all head in groups, and the people that we follow for our life.

Thanks to Kurasu’s support, I am in Seoul, for Cafe Show and World Barista Championship 2017! And I’ve also made time to walk the streets and visit some cafes!

First, about Cafe Show! Seoul's venue, COEX, is unbelievably massive! The event is held over two floors, probably double the size of SCAJ in Tokyo… It was so big that I got lost for about 30 minutes on the first day… SERIOUS. This is me about to give up before I’d even started.



I finally made it to the heart of the action! The first thing I noticed was that the exhibitor’s booths were much bigger than I’d ever seen at SCAJ in Tokyo. They look more like permanent booths than four-day temporary ones. They are really cute with a lot of color. In Japan, the booths are much smaller and more basic, and normally just black or white. Cafe Show’s structures and signage is making everyone excited to be around all the action in Seoul, and it also makes me think about how much coffee has developed in recent years…



The Korean La Marzocco team is premiering the Asia showcase of their new Leva machine. We’ll start seeing these early next year in cafes.



I took part in a public cupping session at the Namusairo booth. I fell in love with a super sweet single origin from Rwanda which boasted bold strawberry flavors.



The biggest green bean distributor surprised us all by focusing on small batches. There’s hope - as the big companies may not be focusing solely on massive contracts (and low quality). They were selling about 80 to 90 varieties of beans in 1kg packages. With such an avenue, small cafe/roasters and home roasters are able to try a huge range of beans... which in turn makes discovering coffee easier.


Today was day 3. The final day is tomorrow, where the World Barista Championship final will take place! The finalists are Hugh Kelly (AUS), Kapo Chiu (HK), Miki Suzuki (JPN), Kyle Ramage (USA), Ben Put (CAN) and Dale Harris (UK). Good luck to everyone tomorrow! Here’s a photo of Miki Suzuki in the semi finals.



I’m off to explore some more cafes now in a city that seriously is crazy about coffee. I walk up and down steep hills literally lined with hundreds and hundreds of independent coffee shops each housing a killer espresso machine. Inside each shop I see coffee coaxing deep conversations between couples and friends. The Korean style. The way it should be.


Follow @kurasu.kyoto on instagram for my stories and updates!

Love, peace and coffee
Vaughan
@vja