New coffee experience in Tokyo

Coffee is my daily routine, my addiction, my motivation, and my lifestyle. It is hard to survive without a cup of delicious coffee throughout the day. I love coffee and how American filmmaker David Lynch says « But even a bad cup of coffee is better than no coffee at all » So true, but of course, I prefer to have a good coffee in a nice atmosphere.

My husband and I had an amazing coffee experience at Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Tokyo.
(2 Chome-19-23 Aobadai, Meguro City, Tokyo. 25 minutes to walk from Shibuya Crossing) 

Starbucks is an international coffeehouse chain, and they have shops all over the worlds. But there only six roasteries in the world for now: Seattle, Shanghai, Milan, New York, Tokyo and Chicago.

Tokyo Roastery opened in 2019 and was designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, located in an amazing spot on the Meguro River. If you visit Tokyo during the Sakura blooming time, this is an ideal photography spot.

Stunning and extraordinary coffee shop.

I am not a huge fan of Starbucks, but this coffee house gave me an absolutely unforgettable experience, fun, and big pleasure.

Starbucks Reserve Roastery has four floors, and each of them includes decorative elements of unique Japanese culture.

The first floor is Starbucks Reserve: Prima. It has excellent coffee, a retail shop, and an Italian bakery. The focal point of this floor is a 17-meter-tall copper cask, lined with 121 copper plates hand-hammered in the Japanese tsuchime technique. Around the cask are 2100 copper cherry blossoms suspended from the ceiling. 

In the huge copper cask workers roast green coffee beans and then deliver them through the copper pipes to different areas of the store. Most of them go to the fourth floor for packaging. The Reserve Roastery in Tokyo can roast up to 1,800 kilograms of coffee a day and supplying Starbucks stores across Japan. You can ask roasters questions if you are interested in learning more about the roasting process.

The second floor is Teavana where you can try tea. Teavana’s outstanding feature is a designed ceiling made in the tradition of Origami. And a Teacup Wall created by Japanese tile craftsmen. In addition, you can buy food, sweets, and also there little tea shop. The tea is just amazing and delicious. A mix of extraordinary ingredients brings the tea a nice aroma. 

The third floor is Arriviamo Bar: cocktails, coffee, and food. This floor has a designed wall, created with 5000 Starbucks Reserve coffee cards, highlights the word “Tokyo”. You can relax and watch the brewing process or sit on the outdoor deck and enjoy the magnificent view of cherry trees.

The fourth floor is AMU Inspiration Lounge. (AMU = to knit). This lounge space for hosting a variety of events, including meetings, seminars, coffee tasting, etc. Also, you can see there coffee packaging line and watch how beans pack and prepared for shipment. This is a very interesting process, and I have never seen this before.

It was a new, exciting, and an innovative coffee experience for us. We really enjoyed it. The atmosphere was amazing, a lot of good spots to take pictures and coffee and my tea was unbelievably delicious. My husband had Iced Cherry Coffee, and I had Golden-Sky Black Tea Latte.

I highly recommend this place. It is worth to try.

A little tip: We all know about the famous Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo. It is the world’s busiest pedestrian crossing, with 2500 people crossing at a time. In addition, you will see Hachiko Memorial Statue right in front of the Hachiko Station exit.

On one of the corners of the crossing, you will find iconic and famous Starbucks Coffee Shibuya Tsutaya. Usually, it is over crowded with tourists, because of the perfect view from the window of Shibuya Crossing. But this is a very cool spot. And 25 minutes to walk from Shibuya Crossing to Starbucks Reserve Roastery.

Enjoy delightful places and new coffee experience!