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Would you be willing to wait two hours in line just for a cup of coffee? That’s how long it’d be if you went to the grand opening of Tokyo’s Blue Bottle Coffee, a fancy cafe that prides itself on only using the freshest roast coffee which they make themselves.

For some, like RocketNews24’s own Mr. Sato, that’s just too long a wait for a glorified cup of joe, so after being impressed with how long the lines were, he just went somewhere else for coffee instead.

Just for a bit more background on Blue Bottle Coffee, they’re often referred to as “the Apple of coffee,” and it’s not hard to see why: their cafe fronts that have no printed name – just a blue bottle mark, they value aesthetic and experience over everything (such as price, for example), and they even get the same kind of hordes of people lining up on opening day.

Mr. Sato arrived at Blue Bottle at about 10:00 a.m. on February 6, opening day, just two hours after the doors opened. He was shocked to see over 200 people already waiting in line, and was told that it would be over two hours before he’d actually be able to get inside.

▼ Wow that’s quite a long line! At least I can see the end tho-
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▼ Oh. I guess this is the end? Maybe?
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▼ Nope. No way. Not happening. Bye!blueb4

What was even more flabbergasting was that this was a weekday. Didn’t all these people have school or work? Just imagining how crowded it would be on the weekend when all the hipster students and salarymen could get their fix too was downright terrifying.

Unfortunately Mr. Sato is a busy man and had other appointments, so he couldn’t stand around all day waiting in line for a cup of coffee (unlike other times when he’s willing to wait literal days in line). As luck would have it there was another coffee shop right nearby called ARISE COFFEE ROASTERS, full of other disgruntled people who had seen the line at Blue Bottle, given up, and come here instead.

▼ Every Disney needs its Universal right next door.blueb5

▼ They even have one of these things! I’ll bet Blue Bottle doesn’t have one of… these things!blueb6

Among the crowd was one man who had been lucky enough to get into Blue Bottle earlier that morning. Apparently he’d arrived early at 7:00 a.m., an hour before opening, when there were only about 30 other people waiting. After the doors had opened the line started growing faster by the minute, reaching nearly 100 people by the time he got his own drink.

The man also divulged that he’d come all the way from Osaka just to try Blue Bottle’s coffee. He left before Mr. Sato could ask him if he’d actually taken off work just to come here, or if he was some sort of professional coffee-taster of sorts.

If you live in the Tokyo area and you’re excited to try out Blue Bottle, Mr. Sato urges you not to visit on the weekend. Huge lines are expected, most likely resulting in waiting times far longer than two hours. Instead, he recommends that you try ARISE COFFEE instead. You only have to wait a few minutes, and the guy who owns the place is a super friendly brewing master who will regale you with tales about far more than you ever thought you could possibly know about coffee.

Cafe Information:

Blue Bottle Coffee Kiyosumi-shirakawa
Address: Tokyo-to, Toko-ku, Hirano 1-4-8
東京都江東区平野1-4-8
Hours: 8:00a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Open: Every day

ARISE COFFEE ROASTERS
Address: Tokyo-to, Toko-ku, Hirano 1-13-8
東京都江東区平野1-13-8
Hours: 9:30a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Close: Mondays

Photos: RocketNews24
[ Read in Japanese ]