Maruyama Coffee in Karuizawa

Maruyama Coffee
丸山珈琲 ハルニレテラス店

Maruyama Coffee
丸山珈琲 ハルニレテラス店

Karuizawa was the first stop of my Japan coffee trip. I rushed to Karuizawa upon landing Japan. This was my first time visiting Karuizawa. Karuizawa is the residential area of Japan wealthy class and also the vacation spot of Japanese rich people. Maruyama is one of the famous coffee chain in Japan and was originated from Karuizawa. 2014 WBC Champion Hidenori Izaki was from Maruyama. Mr. Maruyama, the founder of Maruyama Coffee, was one of the pioneer in Japanese specialty coffee. Deep roast, taste of ginseng and bitterness were the mainstream favourite taste of coffee in Japan. Mr. Maruyama was one of the very first to explore coffee with acidity flavour. He has visited the vineyard of coffee. He was used to to focus on bean roasting. But now he thinks that vineyard of coffee is the most controlling factor of high quality coffee.

Karuizawa was a very peaceful place. The time seemed to be running slow. As buildings are widely placed in Karuizawa. I couldn't reach the original shop of Maruyama by foot which was close at around 6:00pm.




Location of Maruyama Coffee Original Shop

For those who are interested, please allow sufficient time to visit the original shop or rent a bicycle.
Due to tight schedule, I visited Hoshino shop the day after. (More tourist spots at Hoshino, you know)

Maruyama Coffee Cappuccino

The interior design, lighting and aura in Maruyama Coffee (Hoshino) was exceptional, spacious, classy, modern, professional, comfortable, elegant and smell of books. The customers were also classy. They moved slowly and in a small dimension. They looked in a very low volume. The hospitality was exceptional too. It was like a 5-star hotel. I was welcomed with a delicate basket for my backpack and a very polite and soft introduction to the coffee menu. I ordered a cup of Cappuccino. After a brief moment, the cappuccino arrived at my table. As seen from the photo, the texture of milk was very delicate. I didn't realize this delicacy by appearance at that moment. I quickly had my first sip upon taking photo. To my surprise, the milk tasted really good. The mouthfeel was full, thick and very very smooth. It was easy to drink. In my first coffee lesson, I was taught that cappuccino and latte should not be too hot to drink. The milk quality absolutely qualified for this criterion. I asked the barista what milk did they use and they showed me friendly.

Milk used by Maruyama Coffee Hoshino

For English readers' information, "低溫殺菌牛乳" means sterilised milk by low temperature method. I guessed the low temperature method may be the secret to the milk texture.
There were also beans and coffee tools sold in the shop. You may find your favourite souvenir at the shop.

More on my Japan Coffee Trip? Please visit: https://supmusiccoffee.blogspot.com/2018/07/june-2018-tokyo-coffee-trip.html