While it might seem counter-intuitive, Tokyo is currently home to the largest coffee-roasting store of American chain Starbucks. It’s called Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo and it’s something to behold.
Located in the cool Meguro district, beside a river that teems with people during cherry blossom season, the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo has some serious credentials. The impressive four-story building was designed by Japanese architect wunderkind Kengo Kuma, it’s home to a 17-metre tall copper coffee roaster and it houses a café, a bakery, a tea house, a bar and a terrace across its multiple floors. There’s even coffee and souvenir merchandise to buy. This is all intertwined with a network of pipes that zing the coffee beans around the structure and a packaging production line. It’s like an uber cool Willy Wonka factory – only it’s pumping out coffee instead of confectionary.
Whether you’re a fan of chain-store coffee or not, Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo is all about the atmosphere and the experience. It’s a genius branding exercise that turns coffee into an event. The hordes of people trying to get in can’t be wrong.
Address: 2-19-23 Aobadai, Meguro, Tokyo
Getting there: 11-minute walk from either Nakameguro Station (Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line and Tokyu Toyoko Line) or Ikejiri-Ohashi Station (Tokyu Den-En-Toshi Line)
Nearby: Locale, Meguro River
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