Momos
· Busan, South Korea ·
First Impressions
Founded by Lee Hyeongi, Momos Coffee began its journey in 2007 in the port city of Busan, South Korea. I first encountered Momos in 2019 when Jeon Jooyeon won the World Barista Championship. When you enter their roastery, it's like you've been transported to a Joseon Era house of meditation: thatched roofs and carved stone courtyards, wood paneled walls hugged by vines that reach almost all the way down to you and you’re met by the warm glow of the sun. As far back as the 1800s, coffee was woven into Korean society, originally served in tearooms called “dabangs” (다방).
Today, Momos keeps the humble spirit of the dabang alive while being able to expand their operations into sleek modernity. Momos has chosen to take a classically artful approach to roasting coffee. The packaging on their bags are pastiches of Rothko, Pollock, and Monet, telling a unique story about every bean. In 2021, they opened a second location in Busan, an airy warehouse coffee bar with more of a sweeping, modern gallery feel, quite a departure from their dabang roastery. Momos takes parts of different wholes and creates a harmonious experience with it. It mirrors the process of how coffee begins as aseed and lives many lives until it returns to the earth—alive again. For Momos, it's a marriage of past and present and a promise towards the future.
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Momos.
