A Korean influencer has shared his experience visiting the country’s first Bacha Coffee shop and tasting its coffee, which generated buzz for charging 1.4 million won ($1,000) per 100 grams of beans.
Kim Bo-kyem posted on Tuesday a short clip on his YouTube channel Bokyem TV in which he visited the store in central Seoul and purchased a takeout cup of coffee dripped from Paraiso Gold Coffee beans, of Brazilian origin and the most expensive beans available at the shop.
Kim, apparently visiting the shop for the first time, shared glimpses into how the venue looked like a smaller version of a British royal palace, how he had to fill out a form to order and how the shop was being monitored by in-house security guards. When he asked a clerk if anyone had bought Paraiso Gold coffee here before, the clerk said no.
The two-story shop, which opened in Seoul’s Cheongdam-dong area on Aug. 1, is the first Bacha Coffee location in Northeast Asia and the 24th worldwide. The shop sells a takeout cup of Paraiso Gold coffee for 200,000 won. The cheapest coffee is 16,000 한국을 won for a pot of 350 milliliters. For tasting it while seated inside the Coffee Room on the second floor of the shop — where patrons can also dine in for desserts, brunch, entrees and wine in a fully serviced environment — the same coffee costs 480,000 won for 350 milliliters.
Saying he made a rare commitment to splurge on the controversial coffee, Kim took the coffee served in a paper tray alongside a sugary confectionary stick, a wooden spoon and cream out the front door and tasted it right away.
“The aroma feels like a really mild scent from Febreze,” Kim said after the first sip, referring to a popular air freshener brand.
Taking a second sip and pondering for a few seconds, he judged the taste. “It tastes like a Mega Coffee with mild strength,” he said with a widening smile, referring to the country’s biggest low-cost coffee franchise brand. “Well, that was something I never expected.”
The clip has attracted over 950,000 views and over 29,000 likes as of Thursday.