Coffee Lovers

[roots reggae]

Not, it's not a P4P or any other kind of fetish!

At least, not that I am aware, but, hey, this is Japan, so you never know.

I've read scores of articles describing people in Japan that have added coffee to their daily lives and that specialty coffee shops are opening around Tokyo.

I'm not talking about

, which I consider to be the Jan Jan of coffee shops.

Rather, the shops listed in sites like this one:

http://sprudge.com/10-incredible-cafes-in-tokyo-81262.html

Many roast their own beans consisting of high quality, imported, specialty coffees. For someone like me, the scent of freshly roasting coffee is tantalizing.

Surprisingly, there are quite a few local roasters within a five-ten minute walk of my house, four that I know of.

But, even though they all are quite good, their prices are rather steep.

So a couple months ago, l decided to look into buying a coffee roaster and roasting my own.

Hey, I'm a gardener and grow my own (hot peppers, herbs, tomatoes, cukes,), so why not roast my own?

Mercy, the more I read about roasting coffee, I began to realize that it was much more labor intensive than I imagined.

Until I read about a British Kickstarter, Ikawa. They developed this portable roaster in order to "cup coffee," the practice of observing the tastes and aromas of brewed coffee by professional tasters and buyers, right at the source, the coffee plantations.

They realized that this roaster could be marketed to the growing home coffee aficionado. Panasonic saw the roaster and bought the tech for the Japanese market.

I've had mine a little over two weeks now. It's almost fool(me)proof. An app is used to download a roasting profile for each bean and giving a choice of roasts, light, medium, dark, etc.

It's made the best coffee I have ever tasted! so far I've roasted an Ethiopian, a Brazilian, and Jamaican Blue Mountain. My favorite so far is the Brazilian.

Here are links for both the Kickstarter and the Panasonic.

IKAWA Coffee | Sample Roasting for Professionals | Home Coffee Roasting

http://panasonic.jp/roast/

So, are there any other coffee lovers out there? What do you do for satisfaction?

This is Panasonic's "The Roast" It's pretty compact.

 

[MikeH]

So, are there any other coffee lovers out there? What do you do for satisfaction?

I love coffee probably more than the next guy. But for satisfaction and 100.000 yens I'll switch to tea and visit Gotanda 10 times.

 

[Sudsy]

I love coffee.

The staff at the Starbucks near the office know me by name, and don't bother asking what I want unless I've got company with me. Yes, it's not great coffee, but the office won't let me keep a decent coffee maker at my desk.

At home, burr grinder and french press are my weapons of choice, though the drip machine and a timer are what usually gets my first cup sorted out. Get my beans from Dean and Deluca mostly... their French Roast blend is decent.

I've never really considered roasting my own, like you, I looked into it and decided it was far too labour intensive.

An automated roaster for 100K.... maybe if I get another one of those crazy bonuses. But more likely that will go on some extravagant P4P jaunt....

 

[roots reggae]

I love coffee.

The staff at the Starbucks near the office know me by name, and don't bother asking what I want unless I've got company with me. Yes, it's not great coffee, but the office won't let me keep a decent coffee maker at my desk.

At home, burr grinder and french press are my weapons of choice, though the drip machine and a timer are what usually gets my first cup sorted out. Get my beans from Dean and Deluca mostly... their French Roast blend is decent.

I've never really considered roasting my own, like you, I looked into it and decided it was far too labour intensive.

An automated roaster for 100K.... maybe if I get another one of those crazy bonuses. But more likely that will go on some extravagant P4P jaunt....

Well, I imagine you blow (Bubbles) ¥100K in just two sessions. Admittedly, comparing apples and oranges, (at least no banana) the pleasure great coffee everyday compared to the pleasure of two great hours of nooky-OKAY forget it. Let's put it another way, ¥100K will get you about forty decent meals at a decent restaurant. Alright, how about ¥100K will get you and a friend about two nights at a nice ryokan onsen?

On a practical side:

I'm locked into a twelve month's plan to buy 400 gms of overpriced Panasonic delivered beans at ¥ 3800 a month. That covers about ten days of coffee for my wife and me. After a year, I can just buy beans on my own.

I've been buying 800 gms of good quality green beans for ¥1600.

400 gms green coffee make about 32 cups of coffee

400 gms green coffee equals 300 gms of roasted coffee

Panasonic coffee cost Yen 3800 month or about Yen 120 per cup

800 gms of good quality green beans for ¥1600 costs about Yen 25 per cup

3800 + 1500 = 5300 per month or 56 yen per cup.

Before, I spent about ¥ 8000 a month for about 1200 gms, buying roasted coffee to brew at home. That's about ¥85 a cup or ¥96,000 per year.

My first year with the Panasonic plan will cost me ¥63,600. After that, buying beans on my own will cost me ¥38,400 per year.

So after one year, I will have saved ¥32,400 towards making up the ¥100,000 purchase price.

After that, I will save an additional ¥57,600 a year by roasting beans myself.

So according to my math, in just over two years, I will break even and after that, I'll save ¥57,600 a year and be drinking the best coffees I've ever had!

 

[ur19877]

I have a breville barista express for my needs...

https://www.brevilleusa.com/products/barista-express?variant=32106416081

It gets the job done and reliable for the most part..I never tinkered with it to fine tune that perfect espresso...but that crema on an espresso is divine.

I am a big fan if Philz coffee. I assume that it will go to Tokyo at some point... but it may be a little too ‘hippie’. If you are in SF or LA, I would check it out.

My next mission in Tokyo is to find an old school cafe where the owner carefully and meticulously makes my coffee like bartenders spend 5 minutes prepping my ice when I go to some cocktail bars. I hope that made sense...I have seen some of these coffee places in tv shows.

 

[roots reggae]

I have a breville barista express for my needs...

https://www.brevilleusa.com/products/barista-express?variant=32106416081

It gets the job done and reliable for the most part..I never tinkered with it to fine tune that perfect espresso...but that crema on an espresso is divine.

I am a big fan if Philz coffee. I assume that it will go to Tokyo at some point... but it may be a little too ‘hippie’. If you are in SF or LA, I would check it out.

My next mission in Tokyo is to find an old school cafe where the owner carefully and meticulously makes my coffee like bartenders spend 5 minutes prepping my ice when I go to some cocktail bars. I hope that made sense...I have seen some of these coffee places in tv shows.

Check out the link in my post. It looks like most of the shops listed would meet your needs.

http://sprudge.com/10-incredible-cafes-in-tokyo-81262.html


How about actual places in Tokyo visited by TAG folks?

 

[User#8628]

which I consider to be the Jan Jan of coffee shops.

Certainly not with their price point though.

 

[ur19877]

Check out the link in my post. It looks like most of the shops listed would meet your needs.

http://sprudge.com/10-incredible-cafes-in-tokyo-81262.html


How about actual places in Tokyo visited by TAG folks?

Thanks so much!

 

[Maxblack]

I enjoy coffee but I enjoy drinking it at a hip or old school cafe more than making and drinking in my home.
A large part of enjoying coffee is being in the cafe, listening to the 60’s jazz played on vinyl, enjoying the local screen printing art on the walls, checking out the fashionable customers with their novelty art journals or 3wave photography magazines, etc.

 

[Frenchy]

I love coffee so much I even got some coffee enemas in my ass. Excellent for detox.

 

[Kaspar]

I love coffee, it’s my favorite drink and I can drink it anytime during the day (and often after dinner). Being as loyal as I am to my roots, I love espresso: any other type is simply too watered down and not tasty at all. I have an espresso machine and buy Espresso powder at the Kaldi shop near my school. It’s usually 600¥ for 200 grams and I can go on two weeks.

 

[warubuta]

I could buy a Porsche with the money I’ve spent in Doutor in the past 30 years. No exaggeration. 400yen a day average for 200 days a year for 30 years is 300man. OK a nice used Porsche. I think Starbucks and Tully’s suck. Starbucks sucks more than Tully’s. Too bitter. Starbucks food is atrocious. Doutor Milano sandwich A rocks.

 

[roots reggae]

I could buy a Porsche with the money I’ve spent in Doutor in the past 30 years. No exaggeration. 400yen a day average for 200 days a year for 30 years is 300man. OK a nice used Porsche. I think Starbucks and Tully’s suck. Starbucks sucks more than Tully’s. Too bitter. Starbucks food is atrocious. Doutor Milano sandwich A rocks.

Doutor absolutely saved my life! After about three weeks mostly confined to my hospital room in Mie, I was able to wheelchair down to the Doutor for a latte and sandwich.

Heaven!!!

 

[jhingy567]

Recently, I dumped coffee grounds in the car to mask an offensive odour. Now it smells glorious!

 

[Sudsy]

How about actual places in Tokyo visited by TAG folks?

There's actually a great little place at the top of Dogenzaka in Shibuya. Walk past the entrance to Mark City and take the first left, the shop is a couple doors down. The shop's name is 珈琲専門店シャルマン - no English signage at all.

FWIW, when you see the kanji for coffee - 珈琲 - used, it's a good sign that there's decent java to be had.

Edit: And coffee siphons. If you see coffee siphons, there's good odds they do it right.

 

[Frenchy]

There's actually a great little place at the top of Dogenzaka in Shibuya. Walk past the entrance to Mark City and take the first left, the shop is a couple doors down. The shop's name is 珈琲専門店シャルマン - no English signage at all.

FWIW, when you see the kanji for coffee - 珈琲 - used, it's a good sign that there's decent java to be had.

Very true, i love those places which seem stuck in the 50s, with a die-hard owner who made his mission in life to make real good old-fashioned coffee. There is one such place near Yoyogi station 珈琲専門店TOM.
Opposite the McDo, close to Saizeria.

 

[Sudsy]

For those who don't know what a coffee siphon is..... they're actually quite magical to watch.



I have one, but sadly, they are not particularly viable when you have specimens of felis silvestris catus roaming the abode.

 

[warubuta]

Very true, i love those places which seem stuck in the 50s, with a die-hard owner who made his mission in life to make real good old-fashioned coffee. There is one such place near Yoyogi station 珈琲専門店TOM.
Opposite the McDo, close to Saizeria.

Am I wrong about this: The classic Japanese standard coffee, including that served in Doutor and the independent shops, has a taste that tends towards the sour and mild, whereas the foreign shops including the dreaded Starbucks, tend towards a more bitter and strong taste.

 

[MikeH]

I love coffee so much I even got some coffee enemas in my ass. Excellent for detox.

At least we now know how they brew their stuff in Starbucks.

 

[e-smile]

there is a nice cofee I used to go in otsuka south area, next time I go I'll share the adress

 

[Mindful]

https://tokyocoffee.org/

 

[roots reggae]

https://tokyocoffee.org/

A man of few words, I see.

Nice site. I first saw it when I was looking into buying green coffee beans.

Here's another good coffee resource. This edition describes five Tokyo shops. Arise appears on this list, as well as the one I post in the thread starter.

https://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2016/04/5-must-visit-specialty-coffee-shops-tokyo-japan/

 

[Yuriko]

Nice topic!!

I do love coffee, and probably addicted during office hours, I drink 3-4 cups a day of nespresso club, So I try not to drink on weekends, which is hard for sometimes. (I drink tea, instead)

Starbucks is fine. I buy with a banana, or a piece of scone, or quiche, makes me happy to begin with on my weekdays.

My local area, do have Jan Jan shop indeed, but sadly, not the starbucks...lol.

Ever since I got accustomed drinking nespresso club coffee, I can't drink family mart or 7-11 coffee anymore...

It's maybe similar to the pleasure of DFK...
or modestly speaking, fantastic chocolate.

 

[MikeH]

addicted during office hours, I drink 3-4 cups a day of nespresso club

Addicted? Those are baby numbers, you need to start taking coffee seriously before you come back here. I go through 3-4 pots of coffee a day and I am not even close to being addicted. Trust me, I can quit anytime.

Starbucks is fine.

We can never be friends now. Melbourne considers itself to be the coffee city in Australia and they were celebrating when Starbucks had to close down there; nobody would visit "because we actually like coffee".

 

[Yuriko]

Addicted? Those are baby numbers, you need to start taking coffee seriously before you come back here. I go through 3-4 pots of coffee a day and I am not even close to being addicted. Trust me, I can quit anytime.


We can never be friends now. Melbourne considers itself to be the coffee city in Australia and they were celebrating when Starbucks had to close down there; nobody would visit "because we actually like coffee".

That's good to know. I only started drinking coffee, after 26 or so? So, even a lil, I was thinking such a sin, getting 3-4 cups a day...

Well, I said, Starbucks is fine, not "my favourite". I more liked it, by the time I was in NYC in the late 90's, near the millenium, when starbucks was more favs, when they first came out.