Cacao Boom.
What else is there to say? Cacao = chocolate = perfection. Chocolate chocolate chocolate. End of perfect five star review. A memory on a pedestal, now digitalized.
Ah, but wait? Why am I sneaking in a review of a chocolate shop into what is by name and definition a café blog? Well, it is my blog so I can break my rules (ha). And numerous times through the years have I waxed profusely at any concoction or café involving chocolate. Remember, De Chocolate almost got a perfect review from its name until I became more rational. And of course, coffee + chocolate is one of those perfect pairings for me, such that my automatic new café drink is still a mocha, so I can judge a new place with my experience of thousands of mochas over the years.
In any case, Cacao Boom is a fond memory for me, a happenstance discovery of high quality chocolate in Seoul, and worthy of a review, Coffea arabica beans included or not.
The setting was a weekend in May 2011. After a busy Saturday with friends that spanned from Suwon to Hyehwa, Sunday was a day to explore on my own. So I literally went to where there was no one living lol. I drove in my little 2008 Kia Morning all the way west to the newest section of Incheon, the Songdo International Business District. Why? Well I was just curious to see a new city arise out of the ocean, and to get a feeling for the place. At the time, it was a weird in-between city, with a lot of the infrastructure ready, as well as a few shiny buildings. But the people were missing, and some of the metro stations popped out into empty fields. So while there were some art installations to visit, and well-planted rows of flowers, the surrounding dust and debris made it a place you wouldn’t want to spend much time. But now in 2023, it’s totally transformed. One of my friends got married there this spring, and the city is shiny, modern, and full of people.
So I returned to Seoul and parked my car along a street northwest of Hongdae station. It was a sunny, warm day, so I casually wandered around, as I tend to do. By this point, I hadn’t explored Hongdae much, as it was so far away from where I lived, and took so long to get to, as I’ve noted before. So I just enjoyed walking down random streets and seeing all the people go by, and maybe taking note of places to visit in the future. Along one of those random streets, which is part of the maze that is Hongdae but that I could so easily navigate to in my mind, appeared a shop with the beautiful name. Cacao Boom!
But… actually……. the awning in front said “CACAOBOOM”. It was only after my ecstasy subsided and I stepped to the entrance that I saw signs that said “CACAO BOOM” in two words, though still all capitalized. But I was again distracted as I looked at the first sign, as the newest chocolate on the menu was from Maracaibo! Now you’ve literally touched my soul, as my mom was from Venezuela, and Venezuelan cacao was famous for being the best in the world. (Now you see where I get my love of chocolate from ❤). The other sign showed all the intensities you could get your hot or iced chocolate drink in.
For yes, they were serving liquid chocolate. Now, I suppose this is technically called “hot chocolate”, but since here in the USA this term has been co-opted by the instant drink also known as cocoa and has a cheap although sometimes still tasty connotation, I’ll use the term “hot drinking chocolate” going forward. Here in Seattle, both Fran’s and the Colombian chocolate shop at the Pike Place Market use this term, so it works for me.
And the drinks came in so many varieties! With liquor, with chili, with grains. How would I be able to drink these all in one day?! Time to get an apartment in Hongdae, right? Phew, well, once again, my excitement subsided and I stepped inside. And there was a lot of chocolate to behold. Truffles and squares and bon bons, oh my.
To the right of the main display case was a bookshelf with the chocolate bars on display, and right in the center was the Maracaibo 65% that touched my heart. It must have been the only single-origin chocolate of the day, as the others only noted their chocolate percentage or style.
Now, while coffee culture is well developed in Korea, and café culture is exceptional, chocolate culture is still quite a foreign thing. Specialty chocolate is something you really have to look for, and awareness about single-origin chocolate, child labor issues, and environmental degradation is quite low. Ask a Korean where chocolate comes from and they might just say Ghana, as it is the name of a popular brand. (Unfortunately, Ghana has some of the worst problems in the chocolate industry). So finding a store that had high quality chocolate with at least some single-origin was serendipitous.
I definitely bought some Venezuelan chocolate to take home, and I ordered a strong hot drinking chocolate to spend a few more happy minutes at Cacao Boom. It was the drink of the gods rather than the food of the gods, so thank you, lovely Theobroma. And it came with a cute leaf-shaped chocolate. Delicious.
So that was the end of my first visit. I kept going around Hongdae, wandering through construction, a park, a viewpoint, an abandoned Spanish-named store, a coffee club, a coffee forest, and evidence of abundant alcohol before heading back to my car and heading home. And then the next day I went to Everland for the first time, part of a school field trip, so it was a fun and busy three days.
Now, about the name, again. I don’t know if it’s a point of contention, or controversial, but it’s odd. Because in Korean, the name is not Cacao Boom, which would be 카카오 붐. It’s 카카오 봄, or Cacao Bom, literally Cacao Spring. Which is definitely a prettier and more romantic name than “boom”, although an explosion of flavor is a good connotation.
So I kept this place starred in my mind, a must visit place next time I would be in Hongdae. And according to my detailed Excel budget spreadsheet, I went there again and again and again.
But I didn’t take pictures again until November, when I visited with my girlfriend at the time. They now had Maracaibo chocolate as an option for the hot drinking chocolate, so we gobbled those down with the accompanying chocolates on Cacao Boom’s stylish new dishes.
Then, of course, I was back and forth between Seattle and Seoul, and between my parents sending my chocolate in packages, and me also taking chocolate to Korea, I was pretty well supplied with chocolate. But late in 2012, my girlfriend at the time added to my collection with a beautiful brown gift.
Looks like I paid a quick visit in late 2013 and enjoyed a nice little dessert.
Then, in spring 2014, the exciting news that cacao bingsus would be available soon appeared on a chalkboard outside Cacao Boom! (Look closely at the black sign to the right):
A vintage looking chocolate fountain had appeared, and I enjoyed another nice little treat.
A month later, I visited with a friend, and I tried taking some artistic pictures before we enjoyed that cacao bingsu together. It was elegant, and it was DIY!
In 2016, once I’d moved back to Korea again, two of my friends got married. By that time, Cacao Boom had opened up a new branch in Gyeongnidan-gil, which was a new popular street behind and above Itaewon. So I bought them a collection of Cacao Boom chocolates to enjoy. Yes, one of each should do.
Unfortunately, my Cacao Boom-going days seem to have disappeared after that. Hongdae became far again, as I now lived in Namyangju. Since they were opening new branches, I thought they would continue strongly. But then, by 2019, the Hongdae branch was gone.
This summer, now living in Seattle again, I happened to read an article about delicious places for gelato in Seoul. To my great joy and mild surprise, Cacao Boom was on this list! I didn’t realize they served gelato lol! The article gave a tiny history of Cacao Boom, saying it was 20 years old (!) and had started around Samgakji station, which apparently is near Itaewon. But by the end of the article, a tiny knife in the heart. Cacao Boom was going to close permanently about a week after the article came out. So by now, it’s been closed over a month. It does live on online, on this World Wide Web of ours, and on your little corner of it, CaféSeaSeo.
Thank you for reading, and have a great day.
Here’s a link to a Google Map to find Cacao Boom’s former location.
And here’s a link to a Naver Map of Cacao Boom’s former location.
Address: 서울특별시 마포구 서교동 337-16
Korean name: 카카오 봄
Website: https://smartstore.naver.com/cacaoboom
Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/cacaoboom
Final verdict: *****
written in Seattle at Zoka Coffee (Tangletown and U Village branches) and Diva Espresso (Phinney Ridge branch). two honey lavender lattes, a mocha, and a generra (Diva Espresso’s name for a Sevilla or nico) assisted in the composition
cafeseaseo 
What a great story. It is always sad to see a store or shop you loved close though 😦