AOYAMA COFFEE ROASTER is a coffee shop tucked away on a residential side street in between Ueno and Nippori, in an area known as Yanesen. Quite amazingly it has 4.9 stars on Google Maps as of me writing this, with over 300 reviews. I think this can be attributed to how charming and friendly the owner is - she runs this shop by herself and seems to have built a loyal fanbase of locals, plus is super welcoming to any new visitors that pop in.
The store is also English-friendly, and they provide both Japanese and English menus. The first page of the menu details a 2500 yen cup of specialty coffee, so I was a bit surprised by the prices (and wondering if I came to the right place), but as you flip the pages their regular menu is much more reasonable at 600 yen for a cup.
Each cup is hand-brewed, pour-over style, on the spot, and they have a number of beans to choose from ranging from medium to dark roasts. The coffee is brewed using a Kono dripper, and there’s a colourful array of them stacked along the back wall (they are sold here as well). This is an alternative to the more famous V60 dripper, and their more spiral shape is supposed to promote a more even bed of coffee.
There was also a signed illustration of Snoopy on the wall, and the owner was quite proud to point out to us this photo of Charles M Schultz:
I think if I heard the story right, her mother’s friend gave as a gift to her mother the signed illustration, and now it’s ended up here on this wall.
There was a local stopping by for a coffee as well, and she let me know that people often also stop by nearby Tofu store called Tofu room Dy’s as a bit of a Snoopy pilgrimage.
I’ll admit on this morning I was a bit sleep-deprived so my Japanese skills weren’t running at 100% (I also wasn’t expecting to be talked to this much so I hadn’t really turned my social switch on, if that makes sense) so I feel bad that I wasn’t able to make as much conversation as I would have liked, but it was a super lovely store!
As we bought our coffee beans and left, the owner even came to the entrance and bowed as we left - super traditional Japanese style.
The beans were priced very reasonably, at only 800 yen per 100g. If your tastes tend towards lighter roasts, I wouldn’t recommend coming here for the beans as they are on the darker side. Also the information on the bean doesn’t really get any more specific than just their country of origin, so in that sense if you are looking for a true specialty coffee bean store, this isn’t the place to go. But I would definitely come here if you’re looking for some cozy, local coffee shop vibes.
Due to the deeper roast, at home we did a pour-over at 83℃, with my standard 15 clicks on the Guatemala bean. The Yanesen blend drained quite quickly, so I dropped to a finer 13 clicks.
Hi, I'm Emma!
I'm a long-time lover of coffee - back in Sydney my go-to drink was always a soy cappucino. After I moved to Tokyo 4 years ago, I discovered the wonders of pour-over coffee and now I'm always on the lookout for new coffee beans to try. So far I've checked out 23 coffee shops and roasters here in Japan.
If you found this post useful, you can also show your support by buying me a coffee ☕
Comments
I walk by the tofu place everyday but I've never tried it. Will have to check out this coffee place.
What a nice area to get to walk by every day! Let me know if you have any recommendations.
Ciao!! CENTRO is my favorite Italian restaurant in the area. They have frequently changing specials and the lunch sets are a real deal. They had a Valentine's Day singles special with prosecco for 100¥, lol.
I think the Yanaka Ginza surrounding area also deserves another walk through. At first glance the Main Street looks solely touristy (for reasons very unknown to me) but there a lot of cute and affordable local shops.
Nezu no pan is a woman owned and ran bakery that's yummy and affordable.
Players Bar R is a cute Jazz kissaten which a lot of records and affordable drinks ~1000¥.
There's another coffee roaster across from the Sendagi-2 Yanaka coffee, Kariomon. They sell only 4-5 different roasts and a speciality one. It's a cute shop run by a father and daughter (I think) and is more affordable than Yanaka. Typically around 600~ per 100g.
Thank you for all the recommendations! I will have to make a return visit and check some of those out.
Happy to share! Would you be willing to share your email? My wife and I are new-ish to Tokyo and would love to make friends. Reading your blog makes me think we have some things in common—coding, blogging, hiking, gaming, reading, exlporing, Mandarin, etc.
Hey, for sure - my personal email is hello [at] emgoto.com
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