Intelligentsia Coffee Opens Its First Global Store in Seoul's Seochon

 

 

 

 

 

Intelligentsia Coffee Opens Its First Global Store in Seoul's Seochon

 

Aiming to Blend into Korean Coffee Culture

 

 

 

 

https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/023/0003821152

 

 

 

 

On February 23rd, despite the cold, a line of people eagerly waited outside a Hanok cafe in Seochon, Seoul.

 

As the sliding doors opened, the fragrant smell of coffee wafted out.

 

This place is the Seochon branch of Intelligentsia, considered one of the "top three coffees" in the United States.

 

This day marked the opening of Intelligentsia's first store in South Korea, which is also its first-ever global outlet.

 

 

 

Inside the Hanok, whose courtyard was covered with a glass ceiling, baristas were busy brewing drip coffee and extracting espresso.

 

James McLaughlin, the CEO of Intelligentsia, closely observed customers enjoying their coffee in spaces converted into sitting areas, such as the main room, maru (wooden-floored hall), and sarangbang (guest room).

 

McLaughlin noted, "I have never seen a city like Seoul, where coffee shops are bustling with customers all day long. I am excited to see how Intelligentsia will fit in here and how we can contribute to the Korean coffee culture."

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Korea is a country known for its 'Eoljukah 얼죽아' (a term for people who love iced drinks regardless of the season)."

 

 

 

- Why did you choose Seoul for your first international store?

 

 

"The Korean coffee market is astounding.

 

The annual coffee consumption in Korea is 367 cups per adult, making it the second-highest in the world after France, which consumes 551.4 cups.

 

Korea is also the third-largest importer of coffee.

 

We saw a sufficient demand for high-quality coffee like Intelligentsia's. MH Partners, which has been importing and selling our coffee beans for the past ten years, was confident they could offer the level of coffee we wanted in their stores."

 

 

 

- Had you visited Seoul before opening the Seochon store?

 

 

"I have visited several times. I found that Koreans are very open to new cultures, brands, and products, and have a strong desire to experience them."

 

 

 

- Why did you choose a Hanok in Seochon for your store?

 

 

"Seoul has unique characteristics in each region, such as Gangnam, Seongsu, and Apgujeong.

 

Among them, Seochon impressively harmonizes tradition with modernity.

 

Each Intelligentsia store is different.

 

Unlike existing brands that standardize their interiors and present uniform stores, we design our stores to blend into the atmosphere of the neighborhood they are in.

 

We judged that renovating a Hanok in Seochon into a cafe would ideally reflect our philosophy of respecting the local tradition and individuality of each location."

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/023/0003821152

 

 

 

 

- What is the unique coffee culture of Korea?

 

 

"The sales ratio of Americano, especially iced Americano, is higher than anywhere else in the world.

 

Even though the preference for cold coffee beverages is increasing in the United States, it is still not as high as in Korea."

 

 

Korea is the land of 'eoljukah 얼죽아 (would rather freeze to death than give up iced Americano)'.

 

Last year, Americano was the most sold beverage at Megacoffee, and 82% of them were iced Americanos.

 

This trend is similar in other coffee brands like Starbucks and Hollys.

 

 

 

 

- You were not actively expanding before entering Seoul. There were no stores abroad, and only 12 locations within the United States.

 

 

"We hope that customers who visit our store will feel 'Intelligentsia is different.'

 

We believe that is the best way to convey the direction of our coffee to consumers.

 

We hope for a unique experience not only among other coffee brand stores but also between Intelligentsia stores themselves.

 

This requires original store design and interiors, which means time, money, and effort are needed.

 

It becomes even more difficult to maintain uniqueness with thousands of stores. That’s why we have been cautious about expansion."

 

 

 

 

- Is there a menu prepared exclusively for the Seochon branch, your global first store?

 

 

"At Intelligentsia stores, coffee beans change continuously according to the season.

 

Just like good restaurants use seasonal ingredients, Intelligentsia uses beans depending on which region's beans are in season at any given time.

 

Additionally, our stores employ some of the world's top baristas.

 

Intelligentsia strives to give baristas enough time and freedom to not only perfect existing coffee beverages but also to develop their own menus.

 

Baristas at the Seochon branch will also create coffee beverages unique to the Seochon branch that are not available at other stores."

 

 

 

 

 

Coffee's Third Wave Pioneers

 

 

 

Coffee has now entered the realm of gourmet food.

 

Just as gourmets choose restaurants based on famous chefs, they now select cafes based on renowned baristas.

 

This coffee culture is referred to as the "third wave" within the industry.

 

If the first wave was the era of mass-produced instant coffee in the early 20th century and the second wave was from the 1960s to the 1990s in America, based on fresh beans and Italian espresso coffee culture, the recent trend of selecting coffee based on the producer, variety, region, roasting, and extraction methods is considered the third wave.

 

It's also called "third-generation coffee."

 

 

 

Intelligentsia is credited with initiating the third wave of the coffee industry.

 

The company pioneered "direct trade," negotiating directly with farms to secure the highest quality coffee beans and pricing them based on quality rather than market rates.

 

They popularized "light roasting," which allows for a greater appreciation of the bean's flavor, over "dark roasting" for a stronger taste.

 

Many of the standards now considered the norm in the coffee industry were first introduced by Intelligentsia.

 

 

Founder Doug Zell started Intelligentsia in Chicago in 1995 because there was no good coffee to drink in the city at the time.

 

"Zell, originally from Wisconsin in the Midwest, worked in San Francisco after graduating from college.

 

At that time, the West Coast of the United States had coffee companies like Peet's Coffee and Starbucks, which were leading the second wave.

 

After tasting their coffee, Zell believed that selling fresh, high-quality coffee in Chicago, a coffee desert among the large cities near his hometown, would be successful. His prediction was right."

 

 

The name Intelligentsia is derived from "intelligentsia," a term for 19th-century Russian intellectuals.

 

"Correct. Historically, cafes have been spaces where intellectuals gathered to share ideas over coffee.

 

The founder hoped Intelligentsia would become such a place."

 

The logo, featuring a demitasse with eyes, spreading its wings and looking up at a red star, is striking.

 

"It embodies the aspiration to elevate coffee to a gastronomic experience comparable to fine dining."

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/023/0003821152

 

 

 

 

 

 

- The biggest difference from other coffee brands?

 

 

"We aim to deliver a perfect coffee experience to our customers.

 

Just as you can't make excellent food with poor ingredients, the same goes for coffee.

 

The quality of the beans is paramount.

 

Traditionally, coffee prices have been determined by the market, regardless of quality, based on the crop yields of Brazil and Vietnam, the world's two largest coffee producers.

 

Intelligentsia prices its coffee based on quality, not market price, ensuring we secure the best beans.

 

We also trade directly with coffee farmers, maintaining relationships with them for as long as possible.

 

This is all in pursuit of securing the highest quality beans."

 

 

 

- You also popularized light roasting.

 

 

"If you have good ingredients, there's no need to over-season or overcook.

 

We roast lightly to ensure the natural taste and aroma of the high-quality beans are not obscured.

 

Like wine, coffee has terroir.

 

Our ultimate goal is for customers to experience the terroir of coffee.

 

Dark roasting, as practiced by many American companies, might increase the robustness but risks masking the beans' inherent flavors and aromas.

 

We hope customers will come in and order coffee like they select wine, saying, 'Please give me a coffee dripped from Catura beans produced in the Huila region of Colombia.'"

 

 

 

- There’s talk of the coffee industry moving beyond the third wave to the fourth and fifth waves.

 

 

"I'm not quite sure what constitutes the fourth or fifth wave (laughs).

 

However, coffee is constantly evolving.

 

In the U.S., RTD (Ready To Drink) beverages are on the rise.

 

Products that allow people to enjoy proper coffee without the need for tools or ingredients are becoming popular."

 

 

 

 

 

Perfect coffee should reveal its inherent taste and aroma

 

 

 

 

Before entering the coffee industry, McLaughlin was a lawyer at a large law firm in Chicago, advising several Fortune 500 companies.

 

Before joining Intelligentsia, he ran a coffee farm in Brazil.

 

 

 

- What motivated the shift from lawyer to coffee farm owner?

 

 

"My wife is Brazilian.

 

Around the time I was growing tired of being a lawyer, we decided to take over a family-owned farm in the northeast of Brazil.

 

We grew coffee but also raised pigs.

 

Our coffee was quite popular in overseas markets like Japan.

 

I gained an understanding of the entire process from coffee cultivation to processing and exporting.

 

This has been incredibly beneficial for managing Intelligentsia.

 

We also made prosciutto from the pigs, which was as popular as our coffee (laughs)."

 

 

 

- Do you bring your coffee brewing tools on trips?

 

 

"I bring coffee beans, a manual grinder for the beans, and a filter.

 

I drip coffee in my hotel room.

 

Sometimes, I also bring our company's RTD coffee beverages.

 

They're a great alternative when I don't feel like dripping (laughs)."

 

 

 

- How would you define a perfect cup of coffee?

 

 

"It should have a good balance of sweetness and acidity, with the inherent flavors and aromas, like fruit and floral notes, clearly expressed. If the coffee is made from good beans and brewed correctly, it should naturally be so."

 

 

 

 

 

https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/023/0003821152

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sources : https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/023/0003821152

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