Ogawa coffee

The cappuccino was great + the art too, dessert was perfect. The service is just ok and the décor is a bit 80s diner/​smoking car. Didn’t go back, the atmosphere isn’t appealing.

A chain café. But they rather have persistence to good beans.
The café corner was great. You can try to smell three kinds of ground beans. I liked this system although I wanted to try to smell whole beans too. Anyway I found Panama Elida smelled unconventionally rummy and ordered it. The coffee was good enough although the liquid coffee didn’t necessarily smelled rummy (which is normal and as expected for coffee lovers).
The bean stand was terrible. I bought Costa Rica Santa Lucia Black Honey. I found the coffee was just sour and bad. It gave me a sick feeling and I couldn’t drink up. Maybe it was roasted badly and too old as not many people buy beans. So I recommend to use only café corner.

On visiting Japan, I did not expect to find any decent coffee. Ogawa proved me wrong! My friend and I came here three mornings in a row whilst traveling around Kyoto via the station. This place had three options for pour over coffee each morning, with little glass jars where you could smell the beans before making your decision. My favorite one came from Brazil. The service was fast, friendly and efficient. We also enjoyed a matcha cake here one of the mornings. Great spot!

You wouldn’t think good coffee and a train station café would go together, let alone a chain, but Ogawa Coffee more than delivers in an area where good coffee is hard to come by.
I use the term chain loosely with respect to its stereotype, Ogawa prides itself on sourcing the highest quality beans.
This particular café is located right next to the subway entrance at Kyoto station, prime location for grabbing commuters. There is also seating for those that want to relax and watch the busy world go by.
The usual beverages choices are on offer along with a range of pastries and rolls. Coffee on offer consists of a house blend and two single origins. I tried all three on my different visits and they were spot on each time.
Also available for purchase from the café is a range of brewing equipment like Aeropress and V60 pourover and various other accessories. At an adjoining counter to the right of the café you can buy coffee beans to take home also.
It is clear that Ogawa is passionate about bringing quality coffee to the masses and it fills a gap in the Japanese coffee scene.