For serious coffee lovers, the ritual surrounding the brew is as important as drinking the elixir itself.
, which opened in March a few minutes¡¯ walk from the city¡¯s municipal zoo, elevates this notion to new heights with precisely crafted 90-minute tasting sessions. The studio operates only in spring and autumn ¡ª Kyoto¡¯s peak travel seasons ¡ª but the intimate, minimalist space inside Blue Bottle Kyoto Cafe Hanare, an annex to the Blue Bottle Kyoto Cafe, feels a world away from the teeming crowds outside.
When I arrive for my 10 a.m. reservation on a recent autumn morning, there¡¯s already a line snaking outside of the cafe, which is housed in a refurbished machiya (traditional townhouse) directly in front of the studio. Dressed in a beige linen uniform, barista Riko Wakahoi leads me upstairs through an indigo noren curtain adorned with the company¡¯s distinctive bottle logo. Architect Jo Nagasaka¡¯s design of the interior combines wood and tatami mats with earthen walls to create a serene and elegant atmosphere. Exposed sections reveal strands of straw, an integral part of the traditional tsuchikabe (wattle and daub) technique used to construct the walls.
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