Starbucks opened its largest café yet, a 32,000-square-foot Roastery in Tokyo.
The four-story Roastery opened Thursday in the city’s trendy Nakameguro neighborhood, which is renowned for its art, food and architecture. This marks the latest collaboration between Starbucks and Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.
The Roastery, in Tokyo's trendy Nakameguro neighborhood
“From the moment customers enter the Roastery’s doors, they are immersed in an elevated coffee experience,” the company explains on its website. “From Whiskey Barrel-Aged Cold Brew, to the Melrose Tokyo — innovation is given a global stage where partners highlight the nuanced flavor profiles of Starbucks Reserve coffees in beverages found exclusively at the Tokyo Roastery in Japan. Continuing upstairs, the creativity continues with coffee mixology at the Arriviamo bar.”
The café is also home to the world’s largest Teavana and to the first Princi bakery in Japan. The coffee roaster will roast nearly 750 tons of coffee annually for the Japanese market. A 55-foot cask, where the beans rest after roasting, rises up through the four floors.
The Roastery is home to the first Princi bakery in Japan
Up to now, Shanghai, China, has been host to Starbucks’ largest Roastery. There are only two others — one in Milan, Italy; the other in New York City — and the company has plans for yet another, this one in Chicago.
By Edmund Mander
Director, Editor-In-Chief/SCT
