This establishment is a new project by the renowned barista Atsuyomi Ito, who opened his first “signature” coffee shop in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. It is from there – specifically from the Alishan Mountain Range famous for its tea plantations, to be exact – that he brings specialty beans to Japan. Alishan coffee grows at an altitude of 1,200 meters above sea level, which elevates its potential above Hawaiian, Javanese, or Okinawan counterparts.

As a certified Q-grader, Ito closely monitors the entire process of preparing the coffee, from roasting to extraction. He roasts Alishan coffee beans, as well as other beans in which he has absolute confidence, on a German Diedrich machine.

Guests here can sit in a spacious hall with large windows that offer views of a typical Kyoto cityscape – a quiet, old district with traditional machiya-style houses. Those who are interested not only in the practice but also in the theory of specialty coffee will find inside posters with basic information and industry magazines like Standard.