Yokoi Coffee Tasting Seminar

There was a coffee tasting seminar at Yokoi Coffee last weekend. I went to one of their monthly public cuppings a few weeks back, this tasting seminar was a more intensive version of that.

Mr. Yokoi first explained the history of specialty coffee, then had the participants do a blind tasting of commercial coffee and specialty coffee and try and guess which is which.

Then we sampled five different coffees over a couple hours, with plenty of good talk about specialty coffee.

Basically the purpose of the seminar was to have people get a sense of what kind of coffee they like, while re-evaluating what makes coffee “good.” In Japan there’s a trend to roast beans super dark and brew ‘em strong, bringing out more of the roast flavour than the flavour of the beans themselves. The seminar really gave me a good insight on all the different aspects of specialty coffee that make each coffee unique.

I was quite jittery at the end of the three hours, but I still opted for an espresso at the end.

I am still far from being a coffee conoisseur, but it’s nice to have a place like this that nurtures and promotes coffee culture nearby.

Kushu Kushu Stationery & Cafe

Two doors down from Menya Takahashi is an unassuming little cafe called Kushu2 (as in “Kushu squared”)

It’s a neighbourhood coffee shop for sure, run and owned by a lady who was chatting with another local mom when I walked in.

The “gimmick” of this cafe is that it also sells stationery (as the name suggests) which also serve as decor for the shop.

The menu is simple, and they only offer one kind of coffee, a nice and dark blend, along with some other beverages and some food. 

As expected of a neighbourhood shop, it’s a super-laid back and chill, feeling almost more like someone’s house than a cafe.

The two ladies started a conversation with me and my friend, turns out we’re the first foreign customers; no surprise seeing as how the shop’s in a residential area in the outskirt of Sapporo. The owner lady told us that she opened the cafe a little over year ago, on March 11, 2011. An interesting coincidence. She also treated us to some orange ginger tea.

I visited this cafe on my way home from New Chitose Airport after getting back from Kanazawa, and I must say places like this really make me feel better about living in Hokkaido, despite the fact that the temperature’s still around 0C (and snowing) on the first week of April.

Higashide Coffee in Kanazawa

One of the first things when I got to Kanazawa was hit up a coffee shop. With a bit of searching, I found Higashide Coffee, located right next to Omicho Fish Market.

The shop looked promising, with a bar of pourover filters and a good variety of coffee beans behind the counter.

The guys working were really professional.

Here’s my El Salvador. Not bad.

The shop’s got a bit of a showa retro kissaten feel going on, which also means smoking is allowed in the cafe (well this is the case in many coffee shops in Japan). In fact, a yakuza type dude sat right next to me and started puffing on a big cigar (although he was nice enough to ask if that’s okay.) I’m always a skeptical of shops that allow smoking right next to where the coffee is made, but oh well.

All in all, a nice shop, and worth a visit.

Ochiudo 落人

Another coffee shop post, and this one’s definitely one of my most unique coffee experiences.

Ochuudo is a cafe in Shirakawa-go in Gifu prefecture. The building is a gassho-zukuri house, which the town is famous for.

The inside looks like a regular coffee shop, but with a twist:

A shared table with a small irori pit in the middle. There were pots with azuki beans cooking inside them for the all-you-can-eat zenzai on the menu.

You can also help yourself to some free ginko nuts which you crack with a hammer and  toast in the firepit. I accidently smashed the whole thing flat on my first try, inducing some giggles from other people on the table.  

The place serves regular coffee as well, the cool part being that you can choose the cup that your coffee is served in. They have quite a selection to choose from.

The cafe was fairly bustling (thanks to the large number of tourists) and the whole family was working, which was a nice scene.

A must-visit place, if you find yourself in Shirakawa-go.

Hachi

Finished up a nice walk in Otaru with a coffee at Hachi, one of my favourite coffee shops.

Hachi is definitely the best decorated/designed cafe that I’ve been to. Everything in the shop just feels so natural and right. Spacey, yet at the same time nice and cozy.

Beautiful speakers driven by a tube-amplifer.

The menu is quite whimsical.

Hachi only serves one kind of coffee, but with different doses of coffee/water. It’s a super dark Italian roast, but the coffee lady (same person every single time I’ve been to the place) somehow manages to make it not bitter at all. I tried brewing it at home, but couldn’t get it nearly as nice as she does.

The cafe’s just full of nice little touches.

A very “Otaru” kind of cafe, if you will. The coffee lady is a bit intimdating because she doesn’t smile, but you’re sure to get a great cup and plenty of good atmosphere at Hachi.