Barista Lee Kang Bin poses with pictures of Soohorang and Banabi, the two Olympic mascots, drawn in the milk and foam of two cups of coffee, at his cafe in Itaewon, Seoul, on Aug. 29. (Jeon Han)
By Hur SomEe and Lee Hana
Video = Kim Soon-ju
Seoul | Aug. 29, 2017
The barista stands before two cups of coffee, both complete with a rich topping of snow-white cream and foam. Slowly but surely, the barista’s nimble brush strokes outline and color two unmistakable characters into the foam, on the surface of the cream. They are Soohorang the white tiger and Banabi the Asiatic black bear, mascots for the upcoming PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, and they are full of life and smiling.
Lee Kang Bin, the barista behind this new form of latte art which he calls “creamart,” draws his images on layers of whipped cream using a palette of simple syrups.
Lee is playing a leading role in spreading this new form of consumable art. In addition to drawing well-known cartoon characters, he has also recreated “Scenery on Dano Day,” a famous painting by Hyewon Shin Yun-bok (1758-1813), and “The Starry Night” by impressionist Vincent van Gogh.
Drinking a cup of coffee decorated with Lee’s art makes you feel like you’re drinking a masterpiece. Thanks to their visual appeal, Lee’s works have been featured on various social media channels across Korea and the rest of the world. This “creamart” has been seen in Reuters articles, the Washington Post as well as on CNN.
On Aug. 29, Korea.net sat down with Lee at his cafe in Seoul to learn more about his work. The barista told Korea.net that he started drawing these pictures as a way to make his own unique brand of coffee, and expressed his hopes to spread this art to coffee shops and cities around the world.
Lee Kang Bin delicately places his brush in the cream atop a cup of coffee to add the finishing touches to a drawing of Soohorang the white tiger, one of the mascots for the upcoming PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. (Jeon Han)
– How did you come up with the word “creamart”?
The word “creamart” was a name suggested by one of my regulars.
I created this form of art with the goal of spreading the concept around the world and reaching a global audience. My dream is for the word “creamart” to become a proper noun along with words like americano and frappucino.
– What is the difference between latte art and “creamart”?
The biggest difference is the temperature. Latte art uses hot coffee topped with steamed milk foam on top, as the base. “Creamart,” meanwhile, uses cold-brewed coffee topped with whipped cream. I use the surface of the whipped cream as my canvas to draw images using simple syrup colorings.
Lee incorporates famous works of art into his ‘creamart,’ such as ‘Scenery on Dano Day,’ (left) a famous painting by Hyewon Shin Yun-bok (1758-1813), and ‘The Starry Night’ by Vincent van Gogh. (Lee Kang Bin’s instagram)
– Which image takes the shortest time to make? The longest?
I’m able to draw my signature teddy bear very quickly. I’ve drawn this image so many times, I’m able to finish it in the blink of an eye.
The images that took the longest to complete were “Scenery on Dano Day,” a famous painting by Joseon painter Hyewon Shin Yun-bok. The image, which I recreated on a coffee cup with a diameter of 1 meter at the request of a broadcaster, took around seven hours to complete.
-You’ve developed quite a fan base overseas.
I’ve been interviewed by several local newspapers and foreign publications. My social media fan base is growing, too. Thanks to the exposure, I’ve been receiving a lot of inquiries about “creamart.”
In 2016, around 10 baristas from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada, Singapore and the Philippines visited Korea to receive “creamart” training.
Soohorang the white tiger (left) and Banabi the Asiatic black bear, mascots for the upcoming PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, have been depicted in their own coffee cup as ‘creamart’ designs by Lee Kang Bin. (Jeon Han)
sehp91@korea.kr
