Ogawa Coffee Laboratory Shimokitazawa — Attraction in Tokyo

I was quite disappointed by the quality of the coffee here. There seems to be too much focus on style and aesthetics over the final taste of the coffee you buy.

You come in and are given a menu with an extensive list of beans, and a full radial chart showing where each bean's flavor belongs. The shop is set up so the barista brews in front of you, explaining various parts of the process and asking what types of flavors you prefer if you're lost. I think this part is great, and it really gives you a more personal connection with the coffee and the various flavors it can hold. The baristas are also happy to share their recipes and recommend different brew methods depending on the bean and style (hot/iced). This part of the experience was totally fine, and I had fun chatting with my barista about aeropress recipes!

I selected the El Salvador Los Alpes (pour-over, hot), and my wife chose the Ethiopia Tade GG Natural (aeropress, iced). They measure out the beans, put them in a cup, and let you smell the aroma. And again, I think this is great! But when I smelled the El Salvador beans I could immediately tell they were stale. There was no fruitiness or interesting notes going on, just...somewhat stale coffee. The Ethiopian beans were slightly better but still not close to what I'd expect a fresh batch to smell like.

The barista then ground the beans and let us smell it again. It was nice to do, but it also confirmed my fears that this was old coffee and doomed to make only an average cup.

We had already paid at this point and there's no way I'm going to waste coffee so I didn't say anything.

Sure enough, we receive our brewed coffee, and it's just nowhere near the level of quality you'd expect for the price - 980 yen for the El Salvador and 810 for the Ethiopia. The El Salvador was stale as I said, though occasionally some slightly interesting flavors popped up. Overall though it was more bitter than it should be, with a somewhat unpleasant aftertaste. The Ethiopian coffee seemed slightly fresher, though it had a bit of an odd sourness to it. It was certainly in better shape than the El Salvador.

So overall the experience was fun, and if they can ensure better freshness and quality on the coffee then I would have no problem with this place. But for a shop that makes coffee the centerpiece, it has to be good coffee! These prices are getting up towards Glitch Coffee levels but the taste is absolutely nowhere close.

Thankfully Tokyo has a lot of coffee options so I can always go elsewhere, it's just a shame that a shop with good potential like this is not executing where it...

This has been on my bucket list for awhile but unfortunately the staff was curt with me when I was asking some questions about the menu and I got a bit of a strange off-putting vibe from him. I’m not a coffee pro but I felt like he was kinda mad and judging me because I didn’t know the difference between what should be iced or shouldn’t be. When he was making my coffee in front of me, the whole process seemed rushed (check video) and he didn’t really pour it nicely like I’ve seen advertised. I mostly came here to see if the experience was similar to what I’ve seen in videos and in photos, but the person who took care of me seemed tired and didn’t want to deal with me during our brief but memorable interaction. I don’t think I’ll come back.

As for overall taste of the coffee, I’ve had better. There isn’t really much seating and the air conditioning is super strong so it’s freezing inside. I’m honestly disappointed. I hope the male staff member who served me can learn to be a bit nicer...

APRIL 2023

When I visited around late lunch hour, it was not busy so I was lucky to get a vacant seat especially as there are only a handful of seats in the store. There is a large selection of beans ranging from blends to single origins with different characteristics such as aroma, bitterness and acidity. When you order, there is a dedicated barista who will walkthrough the menu to identify the type of coffee you prefer so that they can provide some recommendations if you are unsure which bean to choose. They also have some special coffee beans which I have decided to order. The filter coffee was prepared in front of you where you can enjoy the aroma of the coffee. The ordering process from start to finish with the friendly and helpful barista was a very pleasant experience. The filter coffee was very aromatic, strong and smooth, very easy to drink. Also had the cafe au lait soft serve ice cream which was tasty; sweet and milky with a mild...