In the United States, the coffee shop "Blue Bottle Coffee" is called "the third wave of the coffee industry" and some even called "Apple in the coffee industry". It is scheduled to finally land in Japan in October of this year.


But in reality, what kind of coffee shop is "Blue Bottle Coffee"? Is the coffee of "Blue Bottle Coffee" delicious in the first place? Doesn't this bother you?

If you're curious, check it out. Immediately, I went to the Ferry Building store in San Francisco, drank a latte and ate Afogato.

■ I came to the Ferry Building

The "Ferry Building" is a building with a long horizontal structure along the coast of San Francisco. If you are visiting for the first time, the clock tower will be a landmark. The first floor is a place crowded with tourists and locals, with many shops lined up. "Blue Bottle Coffee" is on the first floor.


When you enter the entrance and walk to the left, there is a long line. That was the line that followed the Blue Bottle Coffee store.


■ I lined up in a line and entered the store

As soon as you step into the store, you can see that the staff are friendly. I enjoy not only receiving orders and serving coffee, but also having a little conversation with customers. It seems that some of them are acquainted with each other, and the story can be lively.


Speaking of coffee shops in the United States, the clerk is not motivated at all, and after listening to the order in the sky, he says "Is that all ?: Is that all ?" mechanically while wandering away. I have the impression that there are only people who repeat the process, but the staff at "Blue Bottle Coffee" are different. Each person has his or her specialty, and you can feel that you are working by making the most of it.


It was my turn to order latte and afogato. The clerk starts by grinding the beans and carefully brews them in front of you. It will take some time, but you won't get bored because he will talk to you while brewing coffee.

After brewing the coffee, the clerk drew a latte art with Clover's milk and handed it to me.



■ I drank and tried it

The latte was a very complete coffee shop in the United States. The milk foam is also finely textured and has an elegant texture. Those who have a strong taste. It has a strong acidity. This is a place where likes and dislikes are likely to be divided. However, it is a taste that you can understand that it is carefully brewed. I like deep roasted bitter coffee, but I enjoyed it despite the taste I didn't like, probably because it was freshly brewed and authentic.

While drinking the latte, Afogato was also completed. This is also highly complete. The ice cream is rich. A slightly sweeter one is selected, probably to match the bitter espresso. However, it is delicious even if you eat it separately. The espresso on the ice cream was a real taste, brewed with the right beans.

However, the habit is still stronger. Ice cream has a strong cheese flavor, and espresso has a strong acidity. Yes, "Blue Bottle Coffee" is also attacking with dessert.


If the taste that fast food is aiming for is "everyone accepts it, but no one is addicted to it," then Blue Bottle Coffee's coffee and desserts are at the other end of the spectrum. .. Some people may not like it, but once you like it, it's a taste that makes you unsatisfied with others. However, "Blue Bottle Coffee" is a chain store. It should be safer for business because it is easier for various people to accept it if it is tasted more for the general public. However, this taste is dare. I felt a strong commitment here.

■ Where did this commitment come from? ... I asked Andrew Curry

Where does this commitment come from? We talked to Andrew Curry, Assistant Manager at the Ferry Building store.


Eating : "I feel a strong commitment to" Blue Bottle Coffee "coffee, unlike fast food coffee. Why did this happen?"

Andrew Curry : "I'm not doing anything special. I'm just looking for high quality coffee beans and carefully brewing them in the store. That's all. But maybe that's what makes it unique. Maybe "

En-eating : "I heard that" Blue Bottle Coffee "is particular to each store. Please tell us about the particulars of this Ferry Building store."

Andrew Curry: "There are two. One is that there are two counters. The main counter over there uses blended beans. This is for the general public.


But another counter, we call it a "secret counter," we don't blend here, we use only one type of bean to brew coffee. Which beans you use depends on the day. This is for repeat customers.


The other is to provide waffles. This is a special menu only for Ferry Building stores. The waffles are also baked in the store. "


Eating: "In America 15 years ago, it was natural that coffee was free. It changed that with Starbucks and Peet's Coffee & Tea. These coffee shops make coffee fashionable. The price of coffee that people pay at Starbucks includes the price for its fashionability .

"Blue Bottle Coffee" seems to go one step further. Here, the price of coffee includes the price for "hospitality", right ?

This method seems to work in Japan, but I'm not sure why it works for Americans who have rational ideas. The land of the United States is large, and there are people with various ideas. What do you think is the reason why "Blue Bottle Coffee" gained popularity in the United States? "

Andrew Curry: "It's all about the quality of the coffee. Repeaters have spread it by word of mouth.

Many of the customers who went to "Blue Bottle Coffee" and drank coffee became repeaters. Repeaters spread the word of mouth to family and friends. In that way, the number of customers gradually increased. Even Americans really wanted to have good coffee and hospitality. "

Eat: "Andrew Curry, why are you working here? Why did you choose" Blue Bottle Coffee "for your workplace over" Starbucks "or" Peet's Coffee & Tea "?"

Andrew Curry: "Because the quality of the coffee is high. I'm proud of it. Not only the coffee, but also the cups and stores are excellent. The people who work are coffee lovers, hardworking and very I'm at home. "


En-eating: "In Japan, the landing of'Blue Bottle Coffee'is a hot topic. Have customers from Japan already visited this store?"

Andrew Curry : "Of course, there are already a lot of people, and I myself am looking forward to the opening of the Japanese store.

≪In Japanese: Actually, I can speak a little Japanese. ≫

I would like to visit the Japanese branch someday. "

Eat: "I wish I could meet you in Japan this fall."

Andrew Curry: "I hope so."

■ "Serious" "Polite" "High quality"

While listening to the story, I noticed that words such as "serious," "polite," and "high quality" frequently appear.

Speaking of the United States, especially San Francisco / Silicon Valley, it must be a place that has pursued "efficiency," "speed," and "low cost." The majority of people in this place would have liked it to be cheap, even if it was a little rough.

However, "Blue Bottle Coffee", which pursues high quality, has been accepted by customers, and investors who once turned their attention to high-tech companies have said that "Blue Bottle Coffee", which is farthest from high-tech, Is starting to invest. During the interview, I got the feeling that the United States is starting to move in a different direction.

"Blue Bottle Coffee" will land in Japan around October of this year. I don't know if it will succeed, but I feel that keywords such as "serious," "polite," and "high quality" are actually the most acceptable in Japan.

By the way, in San Francisco, in addition to "Blue Bottle Coffee", " Philz Coffee ", " Ritual Coffee Roasters " and " Four Barrel Coffee " are very popular, and these are called "San Francisco's four major coffees". Among them, "Philz Coffee" is a favorite of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg even introduced "Philz Coffee" to Facebook's in-house cafe because he wanted to drink coffee here.

I hope that the remaining three of these four major coffees will also land in Japan. At the same time, I would like Japanese old-fashioned coffee shops to do their best.