Obscura Coffee Roasters

May 14, 2015February 17, 2016 Paul Walsh 12012 Views Coffee, Credit cards, Fukuromachi, Non-smoking

Obscura Coffee Roasters, started by three guys from Hiroshima, have firmly established themselves in Tokyo’s growing artisanal coffee scene. Now, they have brought their blend of lovingly prepared, high quality coffee home. Osbscura Coffee Roasters is a sit in or take out coffee bar in Fukuromachi that makes you feel like you could be in the metropolis rather than Hiroshima.

Obscura are as well known for their sense of design as they are for their great coffee and there’s a good chance that you might walk on past Obscura Coffee Roasters’ understated shop front on a side street just off Rijo-dori, assuming it to be a hair salon or a hip boutique. Inside, the decor is minimalist with stone floors and plain subdued walls, but the dark marble counter, wooden tables and chairs add warmth.

In their Sangenjaya base in Tokyo, operations are split among a Cafe, Laboratory and Factory. Here in Hiroshima, you’ll find everything in one spacious location. On offer are a variety of single origin beans and blends of varying strengths and brewed using the pour-over method as well as a full range of espresso drinks, hot and cold, all prepared with beans freshly roasted on site. Their Sangenjaya Cafe is known for serving only coffee made using the siphon method (you can read a nice review of this place here) but that isn’t on offer here at the present time.

Drip coffees and espresso drinks cost around ¥550 if you enjoy your coffee in the cafe (refills are discounted), but you can get a take out drip coffee for ¥270 and get a refill on presenting your receipt for only ¥170. A nice touch is that you are welcome to enjoy your take out coffee sitting on one of the wooden benches outside the store, which, on a nice day, are to my mind the prime seats.

The staff are very welcoming and seem genuinely keen to spread their love of coffee beyond the pour-over hipster set and establish Obscura Coffee Roasters as a neighborhood shop with a customer base that is wide in both age and background. They certainly seemed to be moving in the right direction on the sunny spring afternoon on which I visited. The place was lively with most of the seats inside taken by a mix of businessmen talking deals (in a smoke-free environment), young ladies taking a break from shopping and pensioners. People were also chatting outside while they sipped from their take-out cups. I’ll definitely be back.