C. Through Café is the Best Coffee Shop in Seoul

C. Through Café in Seoul makes latte art so pretty that you won’t want to drink it.

The origin as to how I discovered this café actually starts in my home city of Manhattan, New York. One of my favorite café experiences in New York is at Sweet Moments in the heart of Chinatown. After doing some research on Sweet Moment’s coffee art, I found out that the owner was inspired by Lee Kangbin, the ultimate latte art connoisseur who works in Seoul. Lee Kangbin is known for his latte art that mimics famous paintings such as Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night. Needless to say, when I booked my trip to Seoul, Lee Kangbin’s C. Through Café was number one on my list.

@svadore 🔍 Hidden Café Uncovered: Get ready for a latte art adventure that's out of this world! ☕ 🎨 In this cafe, they don't just create latte art; they craft masterpieces that can take up to a whole HOUR to perfect. 😲 Imagine waiting for your very own "Starry Night à la Van Gogh" to grace your cup (This is a real thing) – it's like watching art come to life. Each stroke of espresso and frothy galaxies are meticulously created, making each sip a journey through time and space. 🌌 ✨ #latteart #caffeinecanvas #svadore #latteartgram #latteartvideo #seoulfood #seoul_korea #hiddengems #coffeeshopvibes #cafeculture #sips #seoulsnap ♬ vlog, chill out, calm daily life(1370843) – SUNNY HOOD STUDIO

C. Through Café is located in Itaewon-dong, a hilltop neighborhood that mainly caters to university students nearby. C. Through is easy to miss when walking around Itaewon. After walking around for a while, we found it. Keep your eyes out for a standard gray building with a hot pink door with a hand mark on it that reads #OTL.

C. Through uses food coloring and small brushes, spoons, stencils and tools to draw basically anything that’s out there from nature, to celebrities, to works of art. Lee calls this specific form of coffee art he invented creamart because it can only be done on cold beverages. Lee is not at C. Through every day. When I went to C. Through Lee’s employees were there. They were well trained to make pretty impressive creamart that takes anywhere from 10 – 20 minutes per cup. When Lee is there, his works of art take him about an hour per cup…! If you’re there when Lee is there, you have to order your drink in advance to give him time to prepare. You can do that by contacting him via Instagram.

My mother ordered the Scotchno (6,000 won-about $6). The Scotchno was a oozy gooey coffee that looked like an overflowing s’more. The coffee was sweet and infused with melted butterscotch candy. As you drank it, you would occasionally taste hints of melted marshmallows. Every sip had us begging for s’more.

I ordered a fall themed creamart (7,500 won-about $7). There’s a lot artists can do with creamart, but I wanted something that matched Seoul’s fall foliage. Something simple, yet beautiful. The beverage is made of cold Dutch coffee with a thin layer of creamy milk. It tasted like drinking a light milky ice cream with hints of coffee. Almost like an affogato. Not every beverage needs to have caffeine. If you don’t like the taste of coffee, C. Through will substitute coffee with vanilla milk.

If there is one thing that impressed me more than anything at C. Through, it was the fact that the aesthetics of the coffee and the TASTE of the coffee were one and the same. C. Through does not lack in quality or taste.

As we enjoyed our beverages, I took in the simple, yet industrially-chic aesthetic of C. Through. The café is very small with just a few seats. The kitchen looks a like a laboratory or an art studio where creamart creations are invented. It’s clear through the décor and the layout of the kitchen that C. Through is serious about it’s drinks.

In my true and honest opinion, there are a lot of fun and strange coffee shops in Seoul, but C. Through is by far the best in quality, experience, artistry, and taste. If you’re looking for a once in a lifetime experience, than this is your first stop on your Seoul trip.

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