Fika Fika, and a Tokyo walk that works
A Taipei light roast, four cafes on foot in Tokyo, and 105 seconds with an AeroPress.
First letter. Every two weeks: one cafe worth going out of your way for, one city you can walk in a morning, and one small change to make at home. No preamble beyond this paragraph.
One cafe: Fika Fika Cafe, Zhongshan, Taipei
James Chen won both the espresso and the roasting categories at the 2013 Nordic Barista Cup, then came home to Taipei and opened a shop that roasts in the Scandinavian light tradition. That is an unusual thing to find in a subtropical city where dark roast and milk still rule most menus.
The menu is built around single origin, and the two things to pay attention to are the AeroPress and the pour over. Everything is single origin, so there is no blend to hide behind.
It sits beside a small park on Yitong Street, with proper seats, food, and wifi, which makes it one of the few benchmark cups in the city you can sit with for two hours. Go on a weekday and take the seat facing the park.
[See Fika Fika Cafe](https://remembrew.com/cafes/fika-fika-cafe-taipei)
One city: Tokyo, west to south, on foot
Start in Omotesando. Koffee Mameya opens with three questions and hands you a bag from a rotating set of Japanese roasters, and you can drink one cup standing there. Five roasters in half an hour if you are efficient. Philocoffea is the other Omotesando stop, Tetsu Kasuya's shop and the home of the 4:6 pour over that won him the 2016 World Brewers Cup. Order the pour over and watch how the pours are split.
Walk down to Shibuya for Fuglen. Norwegian roaster, mid-century room, and a cocktail license, which means it is the rare Tokyo cafe still serving at 9pm. The light roast filter is the thing in daylight.
Finish in Nakameguro at Onibus, a corner room about the size of a tatami mat with the roaster next door. Order whatever is first on the chalkboard, that is the bean they are proud of this week. Sit at the bar and watch the weighing.
Save Shimokitazawa and Kichijoji for a second morning. Ogawa Coffee Laboratory keeps 40 brewing tools you can use by hand, and Light Up Coffee in Kichijoji will pour you three current single origins side by side. Both reward an hour, not fifteen minutes. Go before 1pm on a Saturday or expect a queue everywhere.
[All 51 in Tokyo](https://remembrew.com/cities/tokyo)
One thing to try: AeroPress, 105 seconds, and nothing else
The AeroPress forgives almost everything, which is why most people never settle on a recipe. Settle on one this week: 1:15, medium fine grind, 105 seconds from the moment water hits grounds to the end of the press.
That means 20g coffee to 300g water if you are filling the chamber, or 15g to 225g for a smaller cup. Medium fine is finer than you probably go, closer to table salt than sand.
Brew it twice with the same beans and only change the grind on the second cup. You will learn more from that than from a new recipe.
[The AeroPress guide](https://remembrew.com/brew/aeropress)
If you keep notes on what you drink, Remembrew will hold the grind and the time so you can compare next week's cup to this one. See you in a fortnight. Povilas