Connections Through Coffee

    Connections Through Coffee

    By Isa Koreniuk, 1st ETA

    As one of the many, many avid coffee drinkers living in Korea, I often find myself in the following scenario: I walk into a trendy, inviting cafe and today’s Brazilian roast fills my nose as I search for the comfiest seats with the most aesthetic background. Is the chair with the window view better? Or the sofa next to the painting? Ultimately, I choose the window view, even though I will be next to the only other people in the cafe. It is worth it for the Instagram story. 

    Eager to get my caffeine fix, I stroll over to the menu and see the same handful of drinks I could get at any other cafe. Although I understand the comfort of familiar flavors, I am always on the hunt for a new, interesting espresso like a maple brown sugar latte or perhaps even a lavender oat milk latte. As a recent graduate, I grew accustomed to the plethora of independent coffee shops in my college town.
    Local, small business cafes in the US are home to coffee experimentation and offer a variety of flavors, syrups, and roasts. In Korea, iced americanos, vanilla lattes, and caramel macchiatos dominate the market. Yes — Ediya, The Venti, Starbucks, and other chains have rotating seasonal flavors. They are good! However, these pale in comparison to the options back home. Since I would be without unique-flavored coffee for almost a year, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

    [Featured Image by Victoria Thiem]

    In 2020, mainly due to the pandemic, I learned how to make my own coffee syrups and bought an espresso machine. I learned to make pumpkin spice syrup, almond syrup, cinnamon syrup, sugar cookie syrup, and my fridge was always stocked with my favorites: brown sugar syrup and lavender syrup. Unlike other sweeteners, syrups are special in that they give off the illusion of being quite sophisticated and time-consuming to make when they are really the opposite! Regardless of where I am in the world, mentioning that I make my own lavender syrup earns impressed “ooooos” and “aaaaaahs.” It is an ego boost, though I know I am lying by omission. In reality, the hardest part of the process is pouring the syrup into a jar without making the entire counter sticky. (A funnel would be a lifesaver — maybe one day I will save up and make the 4,000 won investment in one.)

    My recipe has three ingredients. Yes, you read that right, three. In fact, most syrups have less than five ingredients and all start with the same base: sugar and water. Plain tap water is fine and everyday white sugar is standard. The fun starts with our final ingredient: any kind of food-grade lavender. Here in Korea, I ended up buying lavender tea bags off of Coupang, but loose-leaf lavender is preferable to use. There is no precise ratio, and you can add more or less lavender buds depending on your taste.

    Ingredients

    1 cup of white sugar

    1 cup of water

    2-3 tablespoons of lavender buds OR

    2 bags of lavender tea

    Directions

    Step 1: Combine the water, sugar, and lavender in a small pot over medium-high heat 

    Step 2: Simmer and stir until all the sugar is dissolved

    Step 3: Remove from the heat and let the mixture steep for about 30 minutes

    Step 4: Remove the tea bags and pour into your jar OR strain the syrup into your jar

    Step 5: Store in the fridge 

    Storage and Usage Tips

    Storing the syrup is a beast of its own, though. Picture this: you have five minutes to get to school. You have made a decadent iced oat milk latte in your to-go cup. The final step is sweetening it with a spoonful of lavender syrup. Yet, you can not get the jar open because the syrup crystallized around the lid. You muscle it open but not before accidentally pouring half the contents onto your floor, your counter, your pants, and yes — your favorite leather boots… all because it was easier to buy a wide-mouthed jar instead of a swing-top bottle and a funnel. 

    So, let me impart this wisdom onto you: store the syrup in a glass jar — preferably one that does not twist open. If you have any empty pasta sauce jars lying around that are dying to be repurposed, then use those. Just be sure to wipe the top before closing it after each use unless you want to be frantically changing your outfit and scrubbing your floors before work.

    Now that the syrup is made, what can you do with it? Ordered an Americano but it is a bit bitter? Boom. Lavender syrup. CU coffee tasting bland? Boom. Lavender syrup. Missing fancy flavored cocktails from home? Boom. Lavender syrup. Lavender works well in just about everything, but I do find it complements coffee the best. 

    How Coffee Creates Community

    Coffee and syrups have a unique way of bringing people together, whether it be acquaintances, work colleagues, or close friends. During orientation with heavy eyes and tired smiles, English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) waited for the elevator — often debating if walking the eight floors to get a morning coffee would be quicker. I made small talk with my fellow coffee drinkers in the E-mart, sampling all of the pre-packaged cups of coffee because the nearest cafe was way too far from Jungwon University’s campus. As we sipped our drinks and gobbled up our snacks, we talked about our parents’ jobs, the differences between Standard Korean and the Jeju dialect, Tuesday’s schedule, and everything in between. 

    After orientation ended, I headed to my placement city, Gumi, to start my new adventure. After lunch, I was trying to find a way to kill the extra 40 minutes I had since everyone here scarfed their meals down in five. I kept awkwardly roaming the halls during my first few weeks until one afternoon I stumbled into the teachers’ office next to my classroom, curious about what the other teachers might be doing. To my surprise and delight, I was greeted with smiles,questions about my hair — no, it is not a perm — and I was shown how to make Korean mix-coffee. Drinking coffee together in the office turned into walking to get coffee together after lunch. Then two people became three, and three became four. The conversations sway between English and Korean, but they always recap what I might have missed in Korean. Some days we are busy, and many times it is just me and the Korean Language teacher.

    Regardless of how many people join, I always look forward to those 40 minutes, now confidently striding into the teachers’ office. Outside of school, I roam the streets of Gumi talking with fellow ETAs. We commiserate about our newfound “Gumi gal” life. We explore cafes together, passing around our different drinks, asking “Do you care if I use the straw?” as if we had not used it every other time and ranking whose drink is best. Then, when friends come to visit, I share our special spots and recommendations. Across Korea, in Yeongju, Pohang, Seoul, Busan, and even rural Cheorwon, we always make plans to visit cute, local cafes. One of my favorites happens to be in Gumi, a 10-minute walk from my apartment to be exact, so I always take newcomers there. Nothing quite compares to that feeling of walking through the town with my friends in tow, following the curves of the street as buildings turn into farmland. I memorized this walk within the first few weeks and, just as it always does, the bright white cafe pops into view. The owner greets us with a smile and patiently listens as I stumble over the Korean pronunciation of americano, vanilla latte, caramel macchiato, or mocha. I check if my favorite seats by the window are open — they are! We plop down and start detailing the recent highlights from our lives. 

    These are the moments that make life such a joy. The great moments of life are the small moments, not to say weekend trips to Seoul and summers in Japan are not wonderful. Yet, finding the beauty in mundane routines makes life a bit brighter. The short hellos from students in the halls, the FaceTime calls from near and far and, of course, the conversations over coffee at your favorite cafe.