Growing up in Michigan, mish gal was a warm, comforting drink that my Korean mother-in-law would make for me before bed, especially on cold winter nights. She called it “sweet rice tea,” which sounded so wonderful to me as a 9-year-old.
Misgul is a powder made from a mixture of various grains, including brown rice, barley, millet, and black sesame. The grains are steamed, roasted, ground, and eaten hot or cold with water or milk. Many Koreans make misgul at home, but there is a surprising amount of it available commercially. Misgul is sometimes eaten as a meal replacement, as it is rich in many nutrients.
I hadn’t thought about the drink for a long time, until I stumbled into Bodega Park, a sandwich and coffee spot in Silver Lake, where chef and co-owner Eric Park serves up a black sesame misgar drink made with espresso, oat milk, and multigrain powder, topped with black sesame cream. It’s nutty, sweet, and frothy, but not overly rich, thanks to the bitterness of the espresso. After the first few sips, I was transported back to childhood for a moment.
“It’s like having hot cocoa or Ovaltine,” Park said.
The traditional misgal latte or mis latte (a mix of flour and milk) has been widely served in Korean coffee shops for many years. One sip is reminiscent of a bowl of cereal milk: grainy, sweet, slightly nutty and uniquely delicious. In the early 2010s, Korean-born chains such as Tom & Toms and Café Bene (both of which have been compared to Starbucks) brought a taste of Korean coffee shop culture to the US, and with it, the misgal latte.
But recently, a number of Korean-owned, third-wave coffee shops around Los Angeles have been adding espresso (and sometimes a creamy topping) to the Miss Gal Latte. In addition to Bodega Park, many others, including Alchemist Coffee Project, Series A Coffee, and 3 Time Coffee & Herbs, have come up with their own coffee-heavy versions. Camel Coffee, the popular Korean cafe chain that opened its first U.S. location in Los Feliz in June, is also making its own version.
For those wanting a taste of Korean coffee culture, here are nine of the best coffee shops around Los Angeles that serve creative misgal lattes.