Café Obscura, Tokyo

Coffee brings us back to basics.

Sangenjaya is a quiet and peaceful neighbourhood that happens to be a stone’s throw away from the beating heart of the Tokyo city centre. We walk with a map in our hands and our Japanese friend Satomi in tow. We are on the hunt for another café, naturally.

This time, the café in question is Café Obscura. Besides being a showcase for the beans roasted by Obscura Coffee Roasters at their Laboratory (a few minutes walk away at a separate site), this is the only café we’ve visited in Tokyo thus far to serve nothing but siphon coffee.

There’s a minimalist ambience here that’s not too austere either. Exposed concrete walls are softened by shelves of books on art and design. A simple food menu on chalkboard – sandwiches and fluffy chiffon cake – adds substance to an afternoon tea.

But it’s the coffee that is the draw here: beans range from single origins to blends, while the counter is crafted to offer every customer a demonstration of the alchemic process of brewing siphon coffee. It’s a performance; it’s a delicious wait. It’s a perfect place to linger, have a conversation or read a book, and simply enjoy a cup of black coffee.

在日本的最後一天，我們約了友人到世田谷泡咖啡館。
一家是之前介紹過的Nozy Coffee,而另一家就是Café Obscura.
我們到訪時，人潮不多，
寧靜的咖啡館里瀰漫著陣陣咖啡香，
喧囂與炎熱的天氣被立時隔絕在外，讓人心情舒暢。
店內的裝潢以簡約為主，雖然空間不大，卻不失舒適；
加上至深夜的營業時間，是上班族喜歡的咖啡館、

在東京短短的四天里，我們拜訪了好幾家咖啡館，
有的以意式咖啡為主，有的以拉花聞名，有的則主打手沖黑咖啡。
以黑咖啡而言，各家的沖泡手法也有所不同；
像皇琲亭所用的粗研磨不斷水法，還有Café de l’Ambre的法蘭絨。
每種手法所帶來的風味都不一樣，可謂各有千秋。
而Café Obscura 則是這幾天所拜訪過的咖啡館里，
唯一以虹吸咖啡為主的一家。
這的咖啡比我一般愛喝的深些，
可是來日本沒喝到虹吸咖啡，總覺得有點缺憾;
喝完這杯咖啡，我們這次的咖啡之行算是圓滿了。