Ogawa Coffee Laboratory, Shimokitazawa

Ogawa Coffee has a very long history, first opening in Kyoto in 1952, and more recently (since 2020) expanding to a number of stores in Tokyo as well. They even have one store in Boston! Although most of their branches are named “Ogawa Coffee”, there are three with the “Coffee Laboratory” moniker in Tokyo where I suppose they are going for a different sort of vibe. For their Shimokitazawa location they describe it as an “experience-based beans salon”. Well, whatever that means, it for sure is an experience. Stepping into the store, the staff behind the long concrete counter will whip out a rather overwhelming menu for you to look at. I’ll recommend that rather than heading straight up to the counter, you sidle along to the wooden display right behind it so you have a bit more time to try and figure out what the heck the colour wheel means. They had some coffee grounds you could sniff - only for the super expensive stuff, though A lot going on here. If you have a couple of beans in…