[News Today] Coffee lovers gather at Seoul Cafe Show

[LEAD]
How many cups of coffee do you drink in a day?

Might be a question I should be asking myself.

Turns out, the average Korean downs more than 400 cups a year, nearly three times the global average.

As coffee consumption rises, more people are on the hunt for something a little more special.

[REPORT]
This long line of people are waiting for coffee.

They are waiting to sample Panama Geisha, considered one of the three best coffees in the world.

Korea is the biggest coffee consumer in Asia.

A large share of people drink at least two cups of coffee a day.

Park Hyo-seon / Gunpo resident
I feel like my day doesn’t start until I have coffee and it also helps me focus when I work.

Visitors to the coffee event were particularly drawn to so-called 'specialty coffees' known for their distinct flavors and aromas.

Given the amount of coffee consumed in Korea, the country is one of the most important coffee markets in the world.

Lian Wibawa / Indonesian Barista
Different coffee shops have their own signature drink that they always offer to the customers. I learned a lot from the Korean market.

Recently, the market for decaffeinated coffee and coffee substitutes with lower caffeine levels has also been growing.

Caffeine from coffee beans is removed by using water or carbon dioxide or chicory and other crops are roasted to taste like regular coffee.

Lee Mi-ji / Seoul resident
We usually drink coffee in meetings, so I’m trying some alternatives instead.

Kim Eun-jin / CEO of alternative coffee distributor
From a climate standpoint, we may eventually have to drink something other than coffee. Chicory could be an alternative.

Korea imported about 1.9 trillion won worth of coffee last year, doubling the amount in 10 years.

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