Tokyo Coffee Shops

All in all I had time to visit three coffee shops in Tokyo during my two day visit. They were all really modern and two of them typical what we now call third wave stores where the main focus is on latte art, coffee roasting and artsy atmosphere.

1.     Streamer Coffee Company – visited the branch in Harajuku. Their speciality is claimed to be latte art so I ordered a latte. The size for my liking was on the larger side of things (I think it was 16oz) but it was served in a real mug (this is always pretty important for me to get my drink in a real cup when it’s been ordered to stay – I do not like tasting the paper cup while I’m hoping to enjoy the great taste of coffee). They are using their own Streamer blend and Latte Art blend and admit that they are all about the latte art so Single Origin coffees isn’t really their specialty. The drink was beautifully poured and it tasted really sweet (too milky for me due to the size). Customer service was reasonably good, there were signs of no photography etc while pouring so they clearly take their stuff seriously. The café itself is really cosy with plenty of seating available, free wifi and in a slightly quieter street which makes it nicely away from the shopping crowds. 

2.     Be A Good Neighbor – visited the coffee kiosk in Tokyo Skytree shopping complex. The coffee kiosk is situated near one of the entrances to the mall but not the side of the metro so it took a while to find it (the mall is really big). It is a kiosk as they say but there is enough seating available. It is obvious that they cater for take aways and drinks come in paper cups. I ordered a small size latte which was 8oz and perfect size for me. They have their own beans and they also sell some other coffee equipment like Chemex. The drink was perfectly balanced and poured with great latte art skills. Service was really friendly and drink got delivered to my table. It’s a great spot for watching the Japanese shoppers stroll by with their huge shopping bags. 

3.     Café Michikusa – this café is literally so out of the way that you really need to know that it’s there to be able to find it. It’s located in Asakusa district in one of the quiet streets just behind the park where Sensõ-ji temple is situated. The café was on the list of eateries that the hostel where I was staying (literally two blocks from the café) had put together for the backpackers. I would describe them as something in between a traditional and a modern coffee shop. They had some fresh drip coffee on the menu and as a positive surprise it turned out that they were actually brewing it (I had previously seen Americano’s being sold under drip coffee label). I ordered a cup of Ethiopia and it was freshly made as a pour over. It had the typical characteristics of a medium origin African region coffee of the dominating notes of floral and fruity flavours. 

Traditional coffee shops – I also visited a couple of traditional coffee shops while in Tokyo. Most of these places offer brewed coffee which has an overwhelmingly high dose of coffee which makes it too heavy and caffeine-rich to be an enjoyable drink. Some of these places also some espresso based drinks on the menu (various flavoured lattes and iced drinks seem to be most popular) but I did not try these. Visiting these shops can open an interesting aspect of seeing the local people during their typical day but might not be the best option for someone looking for a modern coffee house experience. 

Places I wanted to visit but did not have time to (all in Shibuya area):

-       The Roastery in Cat Street

-       Paddler’s Coffee 

     Sarutahiko Coffee