Kyoto iced coffee

Some people ask me If I ever get homesick. Of course I do miss my family and friends I left in Japan a lot. Then again, there's still some moments that make me fall in love with San Francisco again(occasional sunny days) And there's another time, when I walk by the ubiquitous chain coffe shops or when I stroll around the gigantic shopping mall, I find myself missing Kyoto really really bad. Especially cafes in Kyoto.

Yes, cafes in Kyoto are generally expensive. A cup of coffee usually cost 500 yen. And if you are talking too loud, you are going to be asked to keep quiet. Chairs and tables are often wobbly since they are almost 50 years old. There are lot of smokers.

But I had never ever coffee served with boring paper cup there. Drink usually come in nice cups either handpicked by the owner or cups with nice logo of the cafe. Sometimes you get to see the amazing LP collection of jazz music behind the counter. At other places, you'll get great view of Kamo river out of window or nice courtyard.
And most importantly, coffee taste really good. Maybe because coffee is dripped after each order, or they use old fashioned siphon machine. You can feel the coffee makers take pride of the job they are doing. I could feel the love and personal touch everywhere. Why I can't find the place like this here? Even if I find the nice place,it seems like they can't survive too long here. (e.g.Imperial tea house at the chinatown)

And then, I found this local coffee shop Blue bottle coffee started siphon coffee bar and they have"Kyoto Iced coffee" on the menu!! The place was very crowded, but the coffee just tasted like the one I had at Rokuyousha cafe-very tasty, not too bitter. I am assuming the owner must have enjoyed the cafes in Kyoto. It would be perfect Kyoto if there were old japanese guys smoking with pipe and reading newspaper and nodding to jazz music. (I'm against public smoking, and yet if Kyoto city bans smoking indoor, it would make me sad)