Byung-hak Lee - R.I.P.

Another boinero exceptionel has left us... Last month my friend Byung-hak Lee died at only 63.

Byung - hak Lee (58) was the man behind UNO Coffee and has been roasting and serving coffee for 40 years, an icon in Seoul.

His wasn't just a coffee house. Unlike other cafes, there were no juices, cookies, breads.., only coffee. Byung studied coffee roasting in Germany and opened his first coffee shop in Insadong (Korea); the poet of Heavenly Heaven and the monk Zhong Kwang were the regular guests of that time.

Byung - hak Lee was one of the three organizers of the Kangnung Coffee Festival in 2009 (and since held every year).
The coffee house is also a cultural space, Byung used to emphasize. Every Friday there wass a discussion with painters or artists from the theater.

Byung-hak Lee was not only an expert in coffee, but also an artist in his own right, a representative of the movie company Dust, a film director, and a screenwriter. He has worked with art director Oh Jae Won and made 10 short films. Some boineros may know Byung from his painting of another boinero; a painting that I cherished by using it on my business cards.

But more than anything else, he was an avid boinero; any day, inside and outside.