There’s Nothing Finer Than Finding A Damn Fine Cup of Coffee
There’s Nothing Finer Than Finding A Damn Fine Cup of Coffee
Coffee in Tokyo
When I first stepped foot in Japan 20-odd years ago, I didn’t realize how my relationship with this country would be intertwined with coffee. A staunch coffee drinker from Melbourne, Australia, my days there were fueled by morning triple espressos; rich, milk-kissed lattés; and a local favorite, the flat white.
But when I first arrived in Japan, it took me a while to figure out the coffee scene, and while I was in my adjustment phase, I found it hard to find coffee I liked.
Desperate for the buzz of a bold ristretto, I scorned the weak and diluted cups of “American coffee” at Dotour, a coffee chain popular with salarymen and drinking on-the-go. I found myself in a similar situation at Mr. Donuts, where I tried unsuccessfully to find my own Twin Peaks “damn fine cup of coffee” experience.
As my Japanese skills developed, and I made more friends with tastes similar to my own, I discovered Japanese kissaten, or coffee salons. The coffee was not so different to what I’d previously rejected, but the music kissatens, in particular, drew me in. Small coffee houses with extensive classical or jazz music libraries for playing on top-shelf stereo systems, I recall the now-defunct Classic in Tokyo’s Nakano. Ordering “Blend Coffee,” the only such item on the menu, I remember sinking into a leather chaise. Slowly sipping my drink and savoring the music, Classic was a refuge from the loudness and non-stop madness of my Tokyo life. I started to adapt.
I left Japan for a while, but returned roughly ten years ago, my family circumstances very different. I discovered that Starbucks, copycat chains, and indie players had since entered Japan’s coffee shop market.
Japan’s so-called “third wave” of coffee means it’s now possible to find the types of drinks and coffee styles that I used to find back home. Even Melbourne coffee is a “thing”; I know of two establishments capitalizing on Australian-style coffee. (They’re not bad.)
After 5 p.m., I often end up at Beastie Coffee Club, my new favorite café, a kind of hybrid of a kissaten and a third-wave coffee shop. Some days I’ll have an espresso. Others, a nostalgic latté. If I want something local, I’ll order a milky ice coffee sweetened with Okinawan black sugar. Perhaps what appeals to me about the place is that its hybrid style corresponds to my experience of adjusting and adapting to coffee in Japan.