...the espresso and cappuccino taste "excellent" or "good"...Seoul (ANTARA News/Yonhap) - North Korea`s first artisan coffee shop has opened in the capital city of Pyongyang, a Singapore-based nonprofit group said Thursday, in the latest outside trend to seep into the isolated country.
The Observatory Cafe overlooking the city is the first to have single origin beans, drip coffee and a small roasting machine, according to the non-profit organization working with North Korean students, Choson Exchange.
North Korea is known as one of the world`s most reclusive nations, with strict control over the influx of foreign goods. But there has been a slow inflow of cultural commodities into the tightly controlled country.
While espresso is available in other restaurants, this is the first known shop to carry "third-wave coffee," the organization said, referring to high-quality beans or the movement to promote coffee as an artisanal good, like wine.
The menu posted on the Choson Exchange Web site features a wide range of coffee beverages, from hand-drip, espressos and Americanos to mocha lattes and even caramel macchiatos.
Choson Exchange said the espresso and cappuccino taste "excellent" or "good," but admitted that the pour-over coffee is "a bit off," with the grind too coarse and the beans too old by third-wave standards.
Though only three months old, the shop is "likely to become the next hotspot for tourists and expats," it said, adding that the chances of its survival "are quite high" as more Pyongyang citizens are willing to spend on coffee.
(T.H-AK)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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