Vanilla latte takeout and coffee gift sets in Dongjak: Coffee by Hands

Anyone who loves coffee probably keeps a favorite bean shop close to their heart, and this time I visited a place in Sangdo-dong where you can really smell proper coffee — the einspänner spot 'Coffee by Hands Roastery.'

Coffee by Hands Roastery / Address: 22 Sangdo-ro 47-gil, 1st floor, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, South Korea / Hours: closed every Sunday / Temporary closures announced on Instagram

How to reach Coffee by Hands Roastery from Sangdo Station, and where to park

Coffee by Hands Roastery sits pretty much exactly midway between Sangdo Station and Sungshil University Station on Line 7. If you're coming by bus, getting off at Jungang Heights Villa or Sangdo Traditional Market puts you about a 5-minute walk away, so access is quite good.

I drove since it's near my mom's place, and while there's no dedicated parking lot, there's space nearby where you can stop briefly, so it was easy to park and grab coffee to go haha.

Even before stepping inside, the subtle nutty smell of coffee beans drifting out put me in a good mood haha.

What is the space like? A takeout roastery with one bar table

The interior of Coffee by Hands Roastery is overall compact, with the feel of a proper roasting shop. It's a small roastery café run mainly for takeout, but

there's a neatly arranged bar table on one side where you can sit and sip for a bit, plenty for enjoying a moment of coffee downtime.

Drip bags, cold brew concentrate and canned coffee made in-house

Coffee by Hands Roastery goes beyond just selling coffee drinks — they make their own drip bags, cold brew (dutch coffee) concentrate, canned coffee, latte concentrate, and other coffee products in various forms. It's a small space, but everything from roasting to product-making is done by hand, one by one.

They also explain in detail how to enjoy the coffee best.

What I ordered: vanilla latte and bottle latte

Looking into the showcase, americanos, lattes, and bottled drinks are all neatly displayed. I was told the signature menu item is definitely the einspänner, prized for its deep, smooth cream.

This time I was craving something nutty and sweet, so I went with the vanilla latte and bottle latte, but next time I'll have to try the einspänner hahaha.

Can you order coffee gifts for a company or school?

I heard that Coffee by Hands Roastery's drip bags, cold brew concentrate, canned coffee, and latte concentrate are especially popular as gifts and thank-you items for corporate events, schools, and various institutions! They can put together kind, tailored consultations based on your order quantity and budget, so if you're looking for a thoughtful gift or thank-you item, this seems like a great option.

How did the latte taste with house-roasted beans?

Coffee by Hands Roastery is a place where a professional roaster who majored in food engineering roasts the beans directly, precisely dialing in flavor and aroma using that food-science background so that anyone can comfortably enjoy a well-balanced coffee. Since they extract coffee using beans roasted right there in the shop, the freshness and depth of flavor were noticeably different!

Maybe because it was made with freshly roasted beans, the nutty milk flavor typical of a latte combined with the deep espresso for a rich yet clean finish that had me going 'mmm~~' the whole time I drank it!

If you want to try freshly roasted, well-balanced coffee made right in-store, if you're curious about the flavor of their signature einspänner, or if you're looking for a coffee gift made with care, I'd recommend Coffee by Hands Roastery in Sangdo-dong.