Starbucks Opens Its Largest Store Ever (Again)
In December 2017, Starbucks opened what was helmed to be “the largest Starbucks in the world” in Shanghai—a 30,000-square-foot Reserve Roastery with two floors, including everything from a Pairing Bar to a gift shop. And while it sounds massive, the new Reserve Roastery opening in Tokyo’s Nakameguro neighborhood this week is about to dwarf it (just barely). Debuting Thursday, the Tokyo Roastery is 32,000 square feet and four stories, officially taking the crown as the largest Starbucks in the world—and it has plenty of other impressive accolades, too. The Tokyo Roastery was built “from the ground up,” in collaboration with Japanese architect Kengo Kuma; the coffee cask is the largest Starbucks Roastery cask ever, at 55 feet tall. Take a glimpse inside the space in the photos below.
The Roastery’s design was inspired by the cherry blossom trees on the Meguro River—you can see said trees from the building, thanks to glass walls, or go out onto a terrace and enjoy them outside. The coffee cask is covered in hand-crafted “cherry blossoms” made from copper. The ceiling, on the other hand, is wood-tiled, and inspired by origami.
There are 60 different coffee and tea beverages unique to the Tokyo location, which you can find at the main coffee bar, Teavana Bar (the largest of all Roastery Teavana Bars), and Arriviamo Bar, which serves signature cocktails (with coffee and tea in them, naturally). Some of the new drinks include a Teavana Cream Soda Matcha (pictured below) and a barrel-aged cold brew made with coffee beans aged in whiskey barrel—all combined with a barrel-aged vanilla syrup (yes, please). The Golden-sky Black Tea Latte also sounds tasty, spiced with turmeric and cardamom and topped with turmeric cotton candy.
On the fourth floor, you'll find a lounge—The AMU Inspiration Lounge—which will be a space used to “host change-makers and creative thinkers from across Japan” to foster conversations about social impact. AMU means “to knit together” in Japanese, so it’s a fitting name—the first event is scheduled to take place in April, and will celebrate the role of women leaders in Japan.
Can’t make it to Tokyo or Shanghai? There are also Reserve Roasteries in New York, Seattle, and Milan—with a Chicago Roastery also on the horizon. If you’re curious about what it’s like to be in one of these chic, massive coffeehouses, one of our editors visited the Shanghai outpost last October and took us on a guided tour—check out the full story here.
