Decacino: Where Beer Meets Coffee
Written by Joe Wabe
Photographed by Lorryn Smit
There’s a big difference between draft beer and craft beer. Draft beer is mass-produced for the consumption of the multitude and poor in flavor and aroma, but popular for its refreshing and quenching qualities. On the other hand, craft beer is art. Rich in flavors and aroma, it’s produced in smaller quantities for the sole purpose of enjoyment for those who appreciate the artisanal beauty and good taste of pure awesomeness poured into a glass.
The craft beer boom in Korea started about ten years ago, but the frenzy quickly died due to the tough laws regulating the production of craft beer. Owners of small breweries were allowed to produce their beer but could only sell it on their premises. Distribution wasn’t allowed. Even during local beer festivals, microbreweries were not allowed to sell, and most stands were filled by wholesale breweries promoting their well-known commercial beers. This led to the closing and almost extinction of local microbreweries as most of them couldn’t survive only by selling onsite.
But luckily, the small craft beer fire was never extinguished, and due to the boom in craft beer around the world – especially in the United States, whose business models usually run parallel with those in Korea – the law finally changed, allowing more freedom, distribution, and fair-trade laws for smaller breweries. This new change in the law opened the gates for many new businesses to start serving excellent craft beer from all over the peninsula!
As a home beer brewer (a hobby I picked up last year), I’m always scouting for places that sell craft beer, and on one of my quests, I found Decacino. One of the most attractive points about this place is that it’s actually a coffee shop! Its location, which is apart from the main streets of Suwan, makes it a quiet place to hang out away from the noise of local businesses and streets. The interior design has the typical industrial ceiling, giving it that cosmopolitan coffee shop touch. The background music is always an important aspect for me to consider when I’m looking for places. Whether they’re for eating or drinking, it’s common here to find very loud places in which people have to scream in order to communicate with each other. Luckily, Decacino isn’t one of them, as its chilled-out music playlist and volume fit just right.
Although Decacino isn’t a brewery, it redistributes the beer from Platinum Brewery, a renowned brewery from Seoul that, according to its advertisement, has won a few international awards. You can order a sampler that will give you five choices: Gold Ale, White Ale, Pale Ale, IPA, and the Imperial Stout. I tried them all and wasn’t disappointed. The freshness and hoppy aromas were all there dancing in harmony. Once you’ve chosen your favorite beer, you can order a pint-style glass that is served nicely chilled with a beautiful foamy head. The fact that this isn’t a bar allows you to sip your beer in an environment that’s neither loud nor crowded, which, in my opinion, is the way it should be done when it comes to enjoying craft beer.
I decided to order a couple of items on the menu that could go well with beer, so I went for the mozzarella pizza and their “Dope Hot Dog,” which the server mentioned is one of their “hottest” menu items because of its large size. Although I wasn’t impressed with the size of the pizza, which is smaller than average, it was tasty and I guess enough to enjoy with one or two glasses of beer. The pizza came with a slight spread of pesto, giving it a nice Italian touch.
With only nine items on their food menu, you can guess that this isn’t a place you should consider when seriously hungry. The menu basically is prepared behind the counter since they don’t really have a kitchen or a chef. Other items on the menu had the word “honey” in them, so I didn’t care to read more. I enjoyed the pizza and the “dope” dog. They served their finger-food purpose and accompanied the craft beer well. I can definitely give them a “not bad” score. Prices were fair: I was able to enjoy some tasty craft beer and finger food for less than 40,000 won.
The rest of the menu is what you’ll find in a typical coffee shop: tea, juices, ice-cream, smoothies, and of course, coffee!
The afternoon brought this wonderful light inside the café that lit the place and gave it this smooth magical ambiance. The chilled-out music playlist, nice chilled glass of IPA, and a couple of bites from the pizza made me put this place on the list of cool places to hang out when I want to just chill either with a glass of beer or a cup of coffee.
Decacino Coffee Libre Espresso & Platinum Beer 데카치노
29–19 Suwan-ro 74-beongil, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju
(on the street behind Hanam Pork House)
광주 광산구 수완로74번길 29-19
062-228-0485
Tuesday–Sunday (closed Mondays), 12:00–24:00
The Author
Joe Wabe is an established photographer and Gwangju local business entrepreneur. He has been contributing to the GIC and the Gwangju News for more than eight years.