After our tofu breakfast and a photo shoot among the flowers in the marsh behind the place we stayed, we made our way to Coffee Cupper to join the 10am tour of the Coffee Museum. Gangneung is considered a coffee city, and the street along Anmok beach has a ridiculous amount of cafes. Coffee Cupper owns a couple different things, a farm where they grow their own coffee beans and make their own coffee which is a first for Korea, the museum and cafe as well as six other cafes. Their goal is to be the leader of coffee made in Korea and to be recognized on the world stage.
Their cafe opens before the museum so you can order your drinks to have after the tour. The tour takes you up through the upper floors of the building where they showcase coffee machines from history and around the world. There is also a guide who explains it but since everyone else spoke Korean I told her it was fine. She apologized to me at the end of the tour in English, so I’m unsure if there is an English option for a tour. The tour is about 8,000 won per person.
Even though I didn’t pay attention to the tour it was really cool to see all the different machines from around the world and throughout history used to make coffee. There was also a couple different sections where they had beans for you to smell or to get a closer look at. When our tour was over we headed to the second floor which was full of coffee art and had our drinks.
I ordered a mocha, coffee is growing on me slowly, a sugary chocolate coffee is about as far as I’ve progressed. They do however offer a lot of cooler things for coffee lovers including a tasting set for groups of two or more. You can choose from 5 courses, prices ranging from 8,000-13,000 won. It’s definetly an interesting spot and if you love coffee not only should Gangneung be on your visiting list but Coffee Cupper should be on that list too.