Nontanto Sinchon Cafe: Sand Coffee and Handmade Tiramisu

Hello! I visited Sinchon for the first time in a while, and stopped by Nontanto, a cafe I had been curious about because it serves Turkish-style sand coffee. I had only seen sand coffee on social media before, so this was my first time trying it. Watching the brewing process was part of the fun.

The exterior of the cafe also had a warm, welcoming feel. Location-wise, it is about 10 seconds on foot from Sinchon Station Exit 1. Once you come up from the station, you can already see it from the alley entrance, so it is very close. Hours were listed as 11:30-22:00, and it seemed to be open year-round. Dogs can accompany you, and parking is not available.

If the weather had been just a little less hot, the outdoor area would have been a nice place to enjoy the atmosphere. That day, though, the sun was too strong, so we escaped inside first.

As soon as I came in, I spotted the hot sand used for making coffee with a cezve. It is hot, so do not touch it. After ordering, I decided to watch the brewing process and first looked around the interior.

Inside, there were different seating options, including a bar table, two-person seats, and seats for about four to five people. The bar table area was the brightest, while the other seats were generally darker. Each seat had lighting, so it did not feel inconvenient.

Cezve sand coffee Nontanto chocolate tiramisu

For the cezve sand coffee, we ordered two versions with different coffee beans.

How are you supposed to resist dessert after seeing this? To be honest, I had visited because I wanted to try kaymak, but it was sold out because the ingredients had run out. That was disappointing, but there was nothing to do about it. So we ordered one tiramisu instead. Since it was handmade, I was even more excited.

The sand coffee is brewed using hot sand like this. It was so interesting to watch.

It looked easy, but also not easy at all. It seemed like a technique that takes quite a bit of skill.

Because we ordered it iced, the coffee was filtered through a filter with ice. It seemed that if you order it hot, it may be served as-is, so I am also curious about how it tastes without being filtered.

When we ordered the tiramisu, they made it right away. I thought they would serve one that was already prepared, so I was really happy that they made a fresh one. Maybe because of that, it tasted even more moist and delicious.

For the coffee, we ordered one with a little acidity and one with a nuttier flavor. Both were good, and they paired really well with the tiramisu. This was my first sand coffee, and I was surprised that it tasted better than I expected.

I definitely recommend trying the tiramisu. The cake was really moist, and the cream was not too sweet, which I liked. They added plenty of chocolate on top, so even though it was soft, it also had a pleasant bite. They also had Basque cheesecake, and if I had been just a little hungrier, I would have tried it too. By the time we were leaving, they had just baked a new cake, and the smell was amazing. I am definitely going back to try it next time.