The Secret to Japanese Coffee is in the Detail, Says MET’s White
This May, Ogawa Coffee will join Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts in the competition for morning caffeine dollars in Boston’s Financial District. As Professor of Anthropology Merry White told the Boston Business Journal, the new chain may add some special ingredients to its brews. “The first thing a foreigner will experience (in a Japanese coffee shop) is the idea of service,” she said. “They are really big on detail. And above all, they care about taste.” (For a demonstration of what “big on detail” means, view the brief video that accompanies the BBJ article.) White’s views are well grounded. Her book Coffee Life in Japan traces Japan’s vibrant café society over the past 130 years.