The snobbiest coffee in Japan might just be the best
A grumpy old man, an old-school pour, and the best damn cup you'll ever drink.
Coffea Tsuruoka
Open: Friday to Monday, 10 AM -7 PM
Best for: Coffee.
If you care about coffee, really care, you go to Coffea, a tiny shop in Tsuruoka run by a grumpy, fussy, coffee-obsessed man named Kadowaki-san.
For anyone who doesn’t know him, Kadowaki-san probably seems like the world’s biggest snob.
But that’s the point.
He’s grumpy.
He’s fussy.
He’s what we’d call
perfect coffee shop material.
Coffea is the pinnacle of Japanese coffee. It’s the only place in town good enough to serve The Emperor.
The Emperor. As in the Emperor.
(No not that one)
The Japanese Emperor.
True story.
I originally started this article as a list of the best places to grab a coffee in Tsuruoka, a sort of sequel to my Sakata coffee roundup.
But then I realised something:
you should just go to Coffea.
Seriously. That’s it. No need for a list.
Coffea is a one-man operation, and I would be remiss not to mention Kadowaki-san isn’t getting any younger. He used to open more often, but now it’s just four days a week.
He’s a little slower these days, decades of perfecting the craft will do that to you, but he’s still at it.
Still roasting his own beans.
Still sorting them one by one, tossing out the rejects.
That’s the sort of quality you’re paying for.
He pours every cup using a Nel drip, the old-school flannel filter method (that’s where “nel” comes from). It takes time and serious patience. But it’s worth it.
It’s this yamabushi’s preferred method.
You can’t get any better.
If all you care about is the coffee, that is. And let’s be honest, what else could you want from a coffee store?
Some third place mumbo jumbo?1
Talk to Kadowaki-san and it’s clear, the snobbery, the grumpiness, the fuss: it all comes from a deep passion for getting you the best coffee possible.
There’s nothing else to it.
The experience at Coffea is all about the coffee. Nothing else. If you’ve been working on a book or simply want to read the newspaper, there’s no better place.
But if you’re just looking to ‘catch up over coffee’?
Go somewhere else.
Leave the good stuff for those of us who want to savour it in peace.
If you’re a coffee fanatic visiting Japan, make a bee line to Coffea in Tsuruoka.
I know I would.
Daily Yamabushi for This Week
Daily Yamabushi posts for the week of May 8 to 14, 2025.
Read Daily Yamabushi at timbunting.com/blog. Everything I make is free of charge if you know where to find it. I’d start here.
He says as he sips his Starbucks Hojicha Latte (to be fair, Coffea was closed)
I love this! We have a place near us which we call - yes - "Grumpy coffee". It has a handwritten sign at the door "If you're in a hurry, go away" お急ぎの方ご遠慮ください. The coffee is good and the jazz (played from a huge collection of vinyl) is good.
So next time I'm in Tsuruoka, I've gotta go to Mr Kadowaki!
If I ever have a reason to visit Tsuruoka then I'll bear this in mind.