Food & Dining

A coffee lovers’ trip to Tokyo, Japan, wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the largest and newest Starbucks Reserve Roastery in the world. An expansive four-storey space, the Roastery includes a bar dedicated to Japanese tea traditions and a floor that will be used as a community event space. The stunning interior is designed to evoke the iconic Japanese cherry blossom trees and it is Starbucks’ fifth Reserve Roastery in the world. It’s an ideal place for coffee lovers to enjoy a specially brewed cup of coffee.

Other outlets where the Roastery have sprung up in are in Seattle, Shanghai, Milan, New York and coming soon in Chicago. Here, Master Roasters, mixologists and baristas ply their craft to coax perfectly flavourful, often unexpectedly artful expressions from rare, single-origin coffees. Every single Starbucks Reserve coffee is roasted in one the five immersive outlets.

Set in the Nakameguro neighbourhood of Tokyo, the Japanese Roastery features a towering 55-foot coffee cask, the tallest of the Roastery stores and adorned with hand-crafted copper cherry blossoms. It is an immersive space that can be described as part coffee theatre, part retail.

Japanese cherry blossom inspired interior. Photo: Starbucks/Kentaro Matsumoto

Visitors will be able to learn about the bean-to-cup process and they also have the opportunity to roast, brew and hand-craft coffees or learn about Japanese tea traditions on the second floor, which houses the chain’s largest Teavana Bar.

If you’re not a coffee drinker, fret not. The Roastery also caters to tea lovers. Added to the menu are teas exclusive to the Tokyo store such as the Pop’n Tea Sakura Jasmine, a jasmine tea garnished with a hibiscus and cherry popsicle. If that doesn’t sound delicously refreshing, we don’t know what will.

Master Roasters craft perfectly flavourful single-origin coffees. Photo:Starbucks/Matthew Glac

The Arriviamo cocktail bar on the third floor will feature coffee and tea-inspired cocktails like the Nakameguro Espresso Martini made with chestnut liqueur, crème de cacao and espresso, as well as serve wine and beer. In a Roastery first, the fourth floor will house the AMU Inspiration Lounge, a community space that will host “change-makers” and creative thinkers from Japan. AMU means “to knit together” in Japanese.

Source: AFP RelaxNews

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