Koreans’ Obsession with ‘Ah-Ah’

What the heck is ‘Ah-Ah’?

It’s the word Koreans shortened the word “Iced Americano,” which sounds like pronounces Ah-Ah) in Korean. Think about it, it’s AH-ICED. AH-MERICANO. Fun, eh?

Koreans are obsessed with Iced Americano regardless of season.
People in the picture above are holding tightly to an Iced Americano even when the icy snow is attacking them. LOL (You see a person on the right is “guarding” her coffee so that the snow doesn’t go in.)

Here is a common conversation that you’ll often hear at a cafe in Korea.

????????‍♀️: What are you gonna get?
????????: I’m getting Ah-Ah
????????: Oh, me too!
????????‍♀️: Okay, three Ah-Ah please.

Koreans love coffee.
Koreans specifically love ICED coffee.

Graph drawn by UoH. Data from Korea Economic Research Institute, 2018.

As a proof, the statistics show that Korea’s annual consumption of coffee (per person) is 2.7 times higher than that of the world average.

“Ice, even if I freeze to death” aka 얼죽아 (pronounces Ul-Juk-Ah) is a slang referring to those who drink an iced coffee even if they freeze to death.

Why do Koreans love iced coffee?
(Of course, there are a group of people that deeply enjoys the flavor and taste of coffee. But here, we want to discuss the most popular and common reasons.)

1) To consume caffeine

Many Koreans consider coffee as a Labor Drink (or energy drink) that helps them to concentrate on work. Koreans call it Caffeine Transfusion.???? Since it’s a labor drink, you can’t relax and slowly taste the coffee. You have to be quick (here comes “palli-palli” culture again; remember? Palli-palli means ‘Hurry Hurry’). Drinking a boiling hot coffee might burn your tongue and throat!

2) To kill the aftertaste

A refreshing and cold taste of Iced Americano makes many Koreans to drink coffee after a meal to rinse off the aftertaste. Imagine, drink freezing cold iced coffee after some hot Kimchi stew. Perfect!

???? Questions to Dear UoH Friends ????

-Do you like drinking coffee?

-How many cups of coffee do you drink in a day?