Momo: What Really Fresh-Roasted Coffee Tastes Like

If you haven’t had it, and want to know the bitterness-free, rich, gorgeous taste of actually fresh-roasted coffee, there are probably a few places in Seoul to pick up some beans roasted recently. The place I know is called Momo, and it’s a coffee shop (not a Himalayan dumpling shop, much as I may long for one of those) near Shindorim station. The beans aren’t cheap, but they’re also good, so I’d say it’s worth it.

To get to Momo (or it might be called Momo’s, I can’t quite recall) go out the front of the Technomart building. Turn right (so that your back is to the large bus cul-de-sac near the direct subway exit), and walk for a block or two. It’s a little shop on the corner, and the place smells like (caffeinated) heaven inside.

If you’d like to stop in for a while, the owner makes a good cup of coffee, and they have free wifi as well. I’m having some coffee brewed from her fresh-roasted beans right now, and all I can say is, this is the stuff. I hear she roasts the beans in the afternoon, and the roasting gear is right in the shop, so you can see her do it, and smell the gorgeousness too. But I warn you, it will be hard to go back to the insult that is “regular” coffee, once you’ve tasted this stuff.

By the way, another unique coffee taste: Kopi Luwak. Yeah, the Indonesian civet coffee, ie. the monkey poop coffee. Yes, civets eat the berries and poop out fermented beans. Yes, I’ve got some and I’ve tried it. And yes, it’s quite unique. I recommend cold extraction to get the most out of the beans. (They’re already washed and (lightly) roasted so you don’t need to hot-extract to kill bacteria or anything.) Pretty unusual stuff. We’ve got one more packet of the stuff — enough for a few more pitchers of cold-infusion kopi lwak, I think.)

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