minedrip coffee tokyo shinjuku newwoman shopping center cafe sprudge

On the sixth floor of the Shinjuku NEWoMan shopping complex is an outdoor terrace. It feels perfect for summer: food and drink stalls, outdoor yoga, people watching, interesting music. And in the middle of it all, a very unusual coffeeย counter called Minedrip Coffee.

Minedrip Coffee is immediately intriguing: its long wood bar hosts a self-brew pour-over bar. Though it is staffed, the personnel are there to helpย you choose a coffee and talk you through the brewing process. And at the end of it you get one cup of coffee, brewed all by yourself. And then you pay what you wish.

Taku Kodaira of Mikro Entertainmentโ€”the group behind the operationโ€”says the coffee shop was inspired by his exploration of the local coffee scene. He realized each person has unique preferences, and he wanted to provide an experience for people to discover that.

I took a friend with meโ€”one who didnโ€™t know anything about coffeeโ€”because I wanted to see the experience through herย eyes.ย I didnโ€™t tell her anything about how Minedrip workedโ€”I just told her I would pay for her coffee.

minedrip coffee tokyo shinjuku newwoman shopping center cafe sprudge

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I enjoyed the surprise and novelty of how her process beganโ€”itโ€™s unusual to be invited to brew your own coffee, but thatโ€™s how Minedrip works. Itโ€™s also intriguingโ€”the staff offers warm smiles, laughs, and reassurance. All of it conveysย a sense of presence that saysย donโ€™t worry, weโ€™ll be here the whole way.

Selecting a coffee comes down to conversation, and a little help from the SCAA flavor wheel.ย Do you even like coffee? What kind of flavors do you enjoy? Would you like to try something fruity? Bitter? Full-bodied? Perhaps youโ€™d like one of these?

The coffee selection comes from all over Japan: Glitch Coffee, And Coffee Roasters, Onibus Coffee, Trunk Coffee, The Wired Coffee Roasters, Sakai Coffee, COFFEE COUNTY, Vida Cafetera, and Nagasawa Coffee. Kodaira says selecting roasters was important, because itโ€™s key to Minedrip expressing aย spectrum of flavors in single-origin coffee.

The coffee was ground for us by our host, while we wet the filter of the V60. We smelled the grounds and put them in the cone. We were given some instructions on how to bloom, how to pour, and what sort of time to aim for, but there was never any pressure.

minedrip coffee tokyo shinjuku newwoman shopping center cafe sprudge

The look on my friendโ€™s face changed slowlyย from a lukewarm,ย you brought me out here to pour waterโ€ฆ? to a more delighted, this smells great. Iโ€™m actually doing this.ย It was refreshing to watch someone experience coffee brewing for the first timeโ€”to realize it was very simple at heart, and yet also a craft that benefited from care, preparation, and ingredients.

And at the end of it, a cup of coffee.

Minedrip doesn’tย put a price tag on itsย service. Itโ€™s a pay-what-you-want experience. Such a system is incredibly rare here, and Kodaira says it can sometimes result in confusion. But so far, he adds, customers have been generous.

minedrip coffee tokyo shinjuku newwoman shopping center cafe sprudge

Minedrip Coffee is open until November 30 and isย planning a number of pour-over workshops run by participating roasters. The company alsoย hopesย to offerย some in-house seminars, too.

And though I didnโ€™t think my friend would run out to buy her own gear and start brewing at home, as we talked about coffee and Tokyo, I got the sense sheโ€™d developed a new respect for the act of brewing coffeeโ€”and the job of the barista.

It made the experience well worth the money I paid for it.

Minedrip Coffee is located at Shinjuku 5 Chome 4-1, Tokyo. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Hengtee Limย (@Hent03) is a Sprudge.com staff writer based in Tokyo. Read moreย Hengtee Lim on Sprudge.

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