Gangneung café for almond cream latte and coffee ice cream: Coffee

When you think of cafés in Chodang-dong, Gangneung, the first one that comes to mind is Café Toetmaru, famous for black sesame coffee. Right across from it is Coffee Dripper, Gangneung's café known for coffee ice cream and almond cream latte!!!

Gangneung Coffee Dripper — what about parking?

Coffee Dripper, this Chodang-dong café in Gangneung, even has parking! There's space for about 13 cars, so it's easy to visit by car. That said, it'll probably get busy on weekends, so the lot might fill up T.T

Inside Coffee Dripper, Gangneung

Walking in, deep wood-toned interiors greet you. Thanks to the dark wood tones, the mood feels warm and a little upscale (in my opinion, ha).

Coffee Dripper has been a roastery café doing hand drip with self-roasted beans since 2012! Coffee lovers might want to take note of that. In one corner, they were even selling their own Coffee Dripper T-shirts and coffee cups~

There was also a corner of the café full of green plants that made you feel like you were outdoors!

Outdoor seating and the luxury stone bag photo zone

The outdoor seating at Gangneung's Coffee Dripper was also generous~ On a nice day, I personally recommend sitting outside! On a cool day, it's perfect for drinking coffee with the breeze on your face~ And there's a fun little point (?) outside, unique to Coffee Dripper — hahaha — these stone blocks!

Various luxury brand logos are stuck onto big stones, complete with bag handles, so it was fun to look at and fun to photograph. At first I thought someone had left their bag there haha. A lot of people were taking photos holding the luxury stone bags.

The Coffee Dripper menu

There were so many menu items that I was stuck deciding, so the owner told me the best sellers are the signature cream latte, cone chocolate latte, and coffee ice cream (successfully ordered based on the owner's advice~)

I visited after lunchtime, and the only dessert available at the time was the financier. The owner said the croffin (a croffle-muffin-cream hybrid dessert) is very popular — a dessert that's hard to get in the afternoon once it sells out!

The financiers, on the other hand, are made throughout the café's operating hours without ever selling out :)

Tasting the Coffee Dripper menu

What I ordered: Dripper Latte (white almond mocha cream latte), iced americano, coffee ice cream (cup) ₩7,000, Valrhona chocolate financier ₩3,600.

Coffee ice cream (cup) — ₩7,000

Coffee ice cream (cup) → by the time I finished it, it had become my favorite!!!! Officially naming this the best coffee ice cream spot in Gangneung, gavel bang. Since it's made with espresso, it's not just ice cream with a faint coffee scent — the coffee flavor is genuinely strong (deliciously strong)! When you first eat it, it's a smooth coffee ice cream, but once it starts melting, it turns into something like iced coffee haha — the melted part was delicious too. Kind of like eating an upscale Deowisanyang (a Korean coffee bar treat) but soft?~ Slurped it right down ,,♥

Valrhona chocolate financier — ₩3,600

Valrhona chocolate financier — you can tell it's made with Valrhona chocolate, the chocolate flavor really pops. It's not overly sweet; it's moderately sweet with the chocolate flavor coming through properly, so it was genuinely delicious... the kind of thing you'd want every time a chocolate craving hits...!

How to drink the signature Dripper Latte

Dripper Latte (white almond mocha cream latte) — the almond cream latte is Coffee Dripper's signature! It's a cream latte topped with almond cream, plus almond crunch on top~

It was cool out, so we drank it outside~

For a latte like the Dripper Latte, instead of stirring it, the trick is to gulp the cream and coffee together in one go! Really, one big gulp! The creamy cream and coffee need to hit your mouth together for you to properly taste the Dripper Latte!

The Dripper Latte is less sweet than you'd expect, so it pairs perfectly with the sweeter Valrhona chocolate financier~ Ate my way through Gangneung's Coffee Dripper telling myself I really need to exercise.

Menu items I want to try next time

After eating, it turned out there were plenty of other menu items I was curious about beyond what I tried this time! Patbingsu (shaved ice dessert)/croffin/sundubu pudding!!!!!! Things I want to try on my next visit~ (already found someone to go with next time: my friend Libby)

On a nice day, this is the perfect spot to enjoy coffee and dessert outside in the cool breeze!!! The outdoor seating is generous too, so it seems great for groups (I even took photos for groups of friends who came together><)

Easy to combine with a trip to Chodang Tofu Village

One great thing about Coffee Dripper's location is how close it is to Chodang-dong's Tofu Village~~~ If you're visiting Gangneung, eating sundubu (soft tofu stew), and looking for a café for dessert afterward, this is perfect to add to your route! (And with parking available too, it's per-fect★) There's also the well-known dessert spot Gangwon-ok Chapssaltteok (glutinous rice cake shop) nearby, so a tofu → Coffee Dripper → chapssaltteok course could work well too~

For anyone hunting for the best ice cream in Gangneung, I'd recommend this place~ The Dripper Latte with almond crunch on top lived up to its signature status, and when you're craving something sweet and chocolatey, the Valrhona chocolate financier is a great pick too!