WEEK 230--2024 Tokyo Speciality Coffee-(short notes)

 

Indeed--instead of beer this piece is about speciality coffee places visited during the trip--to a certain extent it's probably not so "appropriate" to talk coffee in a beer focus column--especially coming from someone who are a lot more familiar with craft beer than speciality coffee-but the fact is we do see coffee being used as 1 of/if not the only adjuncts added in a beer--and some reknown coffee roasters such as Coffee Collective(Copenhagen)- La Cabra(Copenhagen)- Koppi(Helsingborg) as well coffee roasters from the States been either providing beans or joining hands with beer brewers to create beers with coffee influence.

今年東京行啤酒依然是重点，不过也做了不一样的事，期间专程找了几家啤迷朋友推荐的精品手冲咖啡馆，让相对来说更熟悉啤酒风味变化的个人味蕾感受下不同咖啡豆/不同冲泡方式所带来嗅觉和味觉体会。

或许在一个纯粹讲啤酒专栏聊咖啡并不切题，不过啤酒和咖啡之间并非完全没关联，有咖啡风味的啤酒不少，喝过印象深刻的一款比利时天然发酵酸啤（Lambic)是Mutana Gueuze，由Bokke和丹麦La Cabra精品咖啡合作，桶陈酸啤加入10%来自非洲布隆迪山区咖啡提味，是很不一样的一次酸啤风味感受。

咖啡也常出现在黑啤（Stouts)中，美国酿坊Parenial的Sump Coffee，Side Project副品牌Shared的Coffee Shop Vibes都是纯以咖啡提味的高质黑啤，较复杂添加咖啡之外也加入其他食材再桶陈提味的作品也不少，Homes和Horus合酿的Doozie Hawk就是其一。

In fact 1 of my all time most memorable Lambic is a coffee lambic by Bokke--collabrating with La Cabra--using honey processed bourbon beans from Burundi's Mutana Hills--it was a unique experience to the palate as this one time only experimental blend of coffee infused lambic( 90% lambic 10% coffee) was in hormany with each other--not overpowering each other--did remember i wrote something like "perfect morning coffee in a lambic form--probably what's missing is a newly baked croissant / or a traditional Chinese fried Youtiao. 

*Here's a FB post from Bokke with more details on the blend back in 2018  click  MUTANA GUEUZE

Obviously there are more examples of craft beer with coffee such as :-

Coffee Shop Vibes by Shared Brewing(sub brand of Side Project)-using Columbian Huila Noir beans.

Sump Coffee Stout by Perennial Brewing-stout blended with sump coffee.

-both beers using beans from Sump Coffee Roaster

-Koppi Ipa by Mikkeller--using Guji Natural beans roasted by Koppi of Sweden.

-Mornin' Delight by Toppling Goliath-with coffee & maple syrup

Of course i'm a noob/total newbie when it comes to coffee--but i do have bottle sharing geek friends here in KL who are very much into coffee--in particular one of the guys been doing it for many years including sourcing beans from overseas to KL--so i was in good hands for some coffee guidance while in Tokyo.

这次在東京会专程去找咖啡馆其来有自，本地瓶子分享会成员中有人是资深精品咖啡爱好者，多年来自己外国寻找不同咖啡豆邮寄进来本地享用，朋友指点下“咖啡小白”决定去见识下。以下是在東京去过的四家咖啡馆：-

Here's the 4 speciality coffee places I went ( in accordance with timing of visits):-

Glitch Coffee--Jimbocho

Did a bit of "reserach" before i went--noticed that the Ginza outlet seems to always have a long line of visitors waiting to get in--decided even before landing in Tokyo that will just stick to this original one located at lesser tourists area.

去前稍微做了功课，知道这家人气咖啡馆在银座也有分店，不过银座店貌似经常需排队，而神保町是有现场烘豆的本店所以一早决定只来这里。

在日本有时语言沟通会是小问题，不过这家咖啡师们都能英语对话，面对吧台前一字排开众多当日可选咖啡豆如果懂得自己想要风味特质的话，每款咖啡豆都附有简要说明，风味特质一目了然方便选择，当然也可让咖啡师讲解推荐，也有类似啤酒拼盘（beer flight） 那样店家选定三杯不同咖啡拼盘可喝。

前後去了两次，依据个人口味选了好几款不同风味咖啡豆，对一款威士忌风味以及另一款草莓风味手冲及拿铁(latte)版本哥伦比亚咖啡豆最有印象。

Actually this is the only place which i went twice during the trip--went back partly because wanted to get some specific beans back home for my geek friend--both visits were fairly easy going for a coffee noob like me--prior "home work" of looking up on their website to see which are the beans flavours might be more of what i wanted did help to largely cut short thinking/ordering time--in a way--i guess the craft beer part of palate training did came in handy-of course the Baristas here can help should you need recommendations on beans or if a pour or a latte is better suited with it--and yes--English communication is no problem here--and i mean you don't have to rely on your translation app at all.

Tried quite some different beans--mostly on pour--also did latte version of the same beans--especially the whisky beans-strawberry beans & pina colada beans--I guess those are the 3 which seduced my craft beer senses the most--and having watched Glitch on Youtube( as well Leaves)--it was quite friendly atmosphere for a coffee noob/newbie--none of those at times a little intimidating feel a newbie might get when visiting a famous place in Tokyo for the very first time.

Leaves Coffe--Honjo/(kuramae station)

It was a sunny day when we walked our way from the station looking for this famous roastery cafe--have to walk past bridges and into alleyway since this one is located away from the main street but not hard to find.

一周只开四天，也是引来海内外咖啡爱好者到访，自带烘培设备的咖啡馆。

位于离地铁站较远巷内，步行前往路上会经过横跨隅田川的大桥，在有阳光日子沿着一路风景去找咖啡馆就算稍微迷路也无妨。

这是家也提供烤豆给其他经营者的人气咖啡馆，到访那天内里不多座位已坐满但气氛是安宁的，大家都在品尝各自点的咖啡豆风味。

当天也看到咖啡师和几位看来相识客人之间互动，实际上跟啤迷之间有共同语言那样互通的不无相似之处。当天喝了几款不同产地咖啡豆，也试了哥伦比亚水果风味咖啡豆的拿铁版本。

*咖啡馆实际位置是在本所-墨田区--虽然是从藏前站前来不过地理位置还是需要说明一下。

Inside bench seating was already packed when there--waited for a while to get orders taken and choose to sat outside since it's only late October and weather was still somewhat warm for autumn.

Had about 4 different beans--mostly pour with 1 latte version--actually was given a choice of doing 1 bean with 3 different styles( pour-latte-expresso) but only took the pour & latte version combo.

Overall a cozy place especially while seated outside--Baristas were friendly with English--saw customers(coffee geeks or presumably someone from same industry) giving Baristas some sort of beans or related gifts--kind of similar to what beer geeks do--sharing.

*have to clarify a little here--i have listed the location on the newspaper column as Kuramae--which is wrong though Leaves did have 1 coffee stand at that location & i did used the Kuramae station to get there--The cafe is located at Honjo area--though not very far from Kuramae area but geographically those are 2 different area.

Acid Coffee--Yoyogi-Uehara

Was recommended by KL geek friend to visit this place--as he said prior to my trip "they serve coffee with wine glasses"--which for me was something not thought of though i could relate that  perhaps the use of big glasses is part of trying to maximize beans aroma/flavours purposes.

Rather easy to find--location wise it's at the back of the train station--and quite close to walk to--located at the ground level of an unassuming building by the road side--it's a small place with interesting features--coffee beans are packed in colorful tube container--makes for an eye catching display--seats are basically sound absorbing rubbers--table are some sort of sound & lights equipments boxes--with roasting equipments inside the next room.

到访这家位于电车站后面不远处大路旁旧建筑物底层咖啡馆时就已被啤迷朋友告知“这是用葡萄酒杯装热咖啡”的地方。当时一听还真有点意外，身为咖啡小白确实没想过热咖啡也用酒杯，不过转念後感觉这也是一种让风味得以发挥的方式，所以不会往一些人可能觉得“做作”或“故弄玄虚”方向去想。

入内吸引注意力的是众多不同颜色卡片小管子，是附上简要说明的当日不同产地咖啡豆选择，选好豆後不久咖啡师会把磨好的咖啡豆装在容器并附上小卡片让客人确认，或嗅觉享受下风味或拍照後再回收冲泡好才端上“酒杯”。当日所见，这家的咖啡豆选择看来以水果风味为主，也没有看到有拿铁选项，大家都在拿着高脚酒杯喝手冲咖啡。

The one thing i experienced differently from other places was that once beans been picked--it will be grind and presented to you in a small container with descriptions card for a short while before being taken back for brewing/pour over.

Had around 4 different beans here--all on pour & served with big wine glasses.

Definitive Coffee--Koenji & Kichijoji

Went looking for this cafe on the last day of my Tokyo trip--indeed was like hours before my flight back to KL--went to their Koenji place first --found it but the shutter was firmly shut--rather dumbfounded as google info/IG info showed this was supposedly a normal operating day. 

Anyway--was chatting with my KL geek friend and he suggested to try contact the owner on IG to see if I could maybe go over to their new place at Kichijoji--contacted & got reply rather quickly--so hop on the same train and travelled 4 more stations from Koenji and found the new place--with shutter half closed( or opened) --depending on how you look at it.

在東京最後一天去的，过程有点曲折，去了网上资料列明咖啡馆所在位置的高円寺，结果是“落闸”没开，在以为扑空没能喝到咖啡时远在吉隆坡的啤迷朋友说可以试试联系咖啡师看是不是可以去吉祥寺新店。

到了吉祥寺新店第一眼看到的是门口铁闸没有完全拉开，吧台上咖啡师正忙着煮咖啡，用的不是一般咖啡杯子而是宛如葡萄酒杯那样的高脚玻璃杯。

跟咖啡师打招呼後很自然的说“任由处置”，喝什么全凭咖啡师决定。这是还需要两三周时间後才算准备好营业的新店，到访当天只有店主咖啡师和一位女士忙前忙后，吧台後设备烤豆中，咖啡师在和来自曼谷咖啡爱好者讨论买豆订单同时也在冲泡咖啡中，期间也很自然的聊天并简要介绍为我选的咖啡豆风味，强调咖啡热度减退时会出现风味层次变化（有趣的是啤酒也是，不过是相反的由冷逐渐回温），就这样，有点误打误撞的有了一次由主咖啡师自选冲泡的咖啡OMAKASE体会。

Went in & the owner manning the bar was welcoming & instantly asked if im the guy who contacted just now--he was with 2 Thai coffee geeks who were busy ordering beans( assuming getting more requests for beans from Thailand while ordering)--was told that this is still a new place not ready to fully operational( was probably 2-3 weeks away from ready)--somehow quite naturally told the owner that will go with his choices--sort of going Omakase.

Coffee were served in small pour in wine glasses--this is a place focusing on Panama lot/beans--as a coffee noob obviously i have limited coffee knowledge to connect--but interestingly the craft beer experience did make the conversation flow as there are quite some similarities for geeks--be it coffee or craft beer.

It was a pleasant experience--the owner was friendly--had good conversation & enjoyed the mini coffee Omakase experience--only thing i should have done was perhaps asking the 2 Thai geeks if there are any hidden gems to visit when in Bangkok in terms of speciality coffee place/s not already on google must go list.

On way back to hotel before airport there was a bit of drama as train got delayed and had to detour--figure out another ruote--a bit of anxious moment but no real issue in the end--for an enjoyable coffee experience it was worth the "hassle".