I ordered a Panama Geisha drip coffee.
In a word, it's flavorful. The unnamed fruit scent, honey – whatever you call it – bearing the hot sunlight of the tropics, good aroma and taste are melted into it. I think I understand why people call it Geisha.
This place is Pilun-dong. Pilun-dong is a legal dong. Jongno has many legal dongs. The shop is tucked away on one side near the path leading from Gyeongbokgung Station to Sajik Park and up to Jongno Library. It's hidden in such a way that you wouldn't see it unless you deliberately looked for it, so 'hidden' is the right word.
A long time ago, the owner ran a stationery store in front of Maedong Elementary School and moved here 12 years ago, I'm told. At that time, this place seemed to have been a paint store.
The shop building is a two-story faded brick house, and the sign, as well as the atmosphere, doesn't immediately strike one as a coffee shop. It's not high-tech, just bears the marks of time. Inside, the shop is made of faded plywood, with large wooden tables and chairs haphazardly placed, and various 70s and 80s props like a red dressing table and a wardrobe scattered here and there.
In Jongno, such a concept store fits in well. Is there any other place in Seoul with as many traces of long history as Jongno? This place was a famous spring picnic spot in Joseon Dynasty's capital, and many poets and calligraphers have stories here.
There's even a record that King Jeongjo, during his time as Crown Prince, came here to enjoy the spring.
Seochon Pilundae's local sentiment coffee shop, 'A Cup of Coffee'.
On a day when the sunlight is dazzling, or the wind is gently blowing, it would be nice to have a cup of coffee here and recall memories of spring.