The annual Coffee Show in Seoul Korea just ended, and it was (as expected) much quieter and smaller than usual.

Not so, for our friends at Fillout Cafe, who were crowded every day while other stands stood empty.  They are a roastery who runs a cafe, with hopes of selling their beans to other cafes.  They had 5 DE1XL machines on their quad-sized stand. (Note: You can find these machines here)

They were promoting the concept of a "signature drink" that is exclusive to your cafe.

Their proposition: cafes are too interchangeable and undifferentiated.

You might go to a restaurant because they make a dish like nobody else.  Why not at a cafe?

Their idea was to run with the flavors of good quality light roasted espresso, and build on it.

They call it a "Salt Creme latte", and they:

make espresso from an expensive micro lot specialty bean blend

extracted at high pressure (at 11bar) with a low flow rate.

Add warm foamed milk.

Then put a "secret recipe" creme on top of it.

A bit of caramel drizzle on it.

Finally, a pinch of pink salt on top.

Whether you like this specific drink idea or not is not my point. My point is: cafes could be more creative, could differentiate more, create customer loyalty, and move beyond "tastes like chocolate" flavor profiles, building on the vastness of flavours that come out of better coffee.

James Hoffmann has made a video about his espresso & custom-made tonic drink, which is much the same idea (working the interesting flavors of a good quality, light roasted bean):

There was always a queue to try Fillout's signature drink.

I don't have a photo of it, but from their Facebook page, I see that they are making drinks that are very much Instagram worthy.

Smart.

#coffeeshow #Seoul #coffeeexhibition #SouthKorea