Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Harpeau]

Around Itaewon, coffee is very expensive. Where can one get a good deal? Either the whole roasted bean or regular grind. Thanks in advance.

[tefain]

Costco has both kinds. Not sure if it's the cheapest, but worth checking out.

[Ruthdes]

Costco is the cheapest I've found. I get Kirkland Signature 100% Columbian Coffee (ground). It comes in a 3 pound (1.36kg) tin and it's really decent. It's about 15,000 won for the tin, which is only marginally more expensive than the small bag you can get from Starbucks. I drink it every day and it's much better than some of the other brewed coffee I've tried here.

[PaperTiger]

[Robot_Teacher]

I get that Kirkland Starbucks roasted expresso blend whole bean in a red bag off of Gmarket. It's high quality and cheap. A regular blender takes care of grinding business quite well. Once you get experienced, you can know when to stop blending for the desired grain size. It goes farther and richer by expressoing it to a fine powder. One bag is like $200 worth of coffee if you bought cups of it at a Starbucks coffee shop. Ain't no $4 cup sh*te draining my savings with my gourmet morning coffee drinking. Starbucks is nice, but too expensive. I guess it fills the market niche for narcisists to show off phoney high social status, but is convenient for travelers. If I had a Starbucks in my town, I wouldn't go as it's nice to brew the same thing at home as soon as I wake up and then immediately enjoy it in front of my big screen PC instead of going out in the cold all groggy and tired wishing it was already in my cup. I only go to coffee shops on vacation or trips to Seoul as motels usually don't have hot water to brew my own.

If you run out of gourmet coffee beans and are in a pinch, Starbucks coffee shops sell tiny over priced bags of beans. So I plan ahead. Since my bag is half full, I ordered a new one today on Gmarket. So that's the best deal on real coffee.

[Snowflake]

Homeplus in Jamsil do Tesco's own cheap brand espresso for around 3or 4k and it's pretty good. Failing that Emart do a great range of beans (can't remember the name) which you can have ground at the store if need be. Large bags for around 7k I think. I have the columbian at home and it's just really good coffee. I make two cups every morning and one bag lasts around 3 weeks.

[blurgalurgalurga]

I get 500 grams of quite decent Austrian stuff from the Mieli Deli in Itaewon, behind Gecko's, for 20 000. Never regretted it...it's not the finest coffee in the world, but it's strong and mean and packs a punch. Kinda like a darkish French. I figure it has a slight edge over the Starbuck's Espresso or Italian blends.

[Harpeau]

Thanks for all of the advice. I'm processing here about what to do. Keep the suggestings coming!!

[poet13]

" A regular blender takes care of grinding business quite well. Once you get experienced, you can know when to stop blending for the desired grain size."

Yup, yup, yup....it's an art form. I stir the top layer and keep it off the sides with a wooden chopstick while blending. Then I pour off the coarse grind. I only do a (measuring) cup at a time, and that last about 9 cups of coffee. When I've poured it off, down inside under the blades is the espresso grind. It's a caky powder. I put that in a separate container.

[Dazed and Confused]

Roaster's Bean is the only place to get coffee beans. You can buy from them on Gmarket or call them. Sorry I don't have their number handy at the moment. They roast, grind, and mail your desired amount the same day or day after you order. And they are CHEAPER than Starbucks or Costco coffees.

[PaperTiger]

[michaelambling]

This thread has given me an erection.

[sojusucks]

CostCo has many things, but not everything, at prices lower than that found elsewhere in South Korea (but perhaps more expensive than back home).