Sapporo Cafes: Smooch Coffee Stand

Smooch Coffee looks like a company that has been around for a while in Sapporo, roasting beans and providing coffee to cafes, and since May this year they have there own lovely little coffee shop right next to Nakajima Park. Smooch deals in organic coffee with a link to a Santa Cruz, California based coffee supplier (I think...) and their aesthetic in general is one of sun-bleached, easy-going California chic.

The cafe is in a really nice location. There are only a few seats in there, at a front counter that runs along the window, and it's right across from one of the leafy parts of Nakajima Park. It's a pretty nice, chilled view having a big green park right across from the cafe, and one that you don't get often in Sapporo.

Normally at any independent cafe I wouldn't want to give my opinion on the coffee without trying a real, hot coffee. But hell, I'm wrapping this blog up soon and it's sweltering summer at the moment, so I only got an iced coffee I'm afraid.

But I think iced coffee can tell you a lot about the place too. Most iced coffee tastes terrible, like a cold mockery of that wonderful drink, and it's only very rarely that I find a good iced coffee. But Smooch goes into the very short list of places that do an iced coffee that you might order for a reason other than Japan's hideous summer heat. Also, it's served in a hipster-friendly jar, as you can see.

You can buy all sorts of beans there, the coffee was good, the food (including little cornbread rolls) looked very nice (I want to go back and try it), and if you're looking for a coffee shop around Nakajima it's worth checking out. It's on the map, so go take a look!

Public Service Announcement

Hey there, hello there, how are you doing? If you happen to follow this blog, or if a search for something in Sapporo leads you here then thanks for checking the place out. Here is the news.

I've been living in Sapporo for just over six years now, and I love it here but for the time being I'm leaving. Updates here have been sporadic to non-existent for a while now because things have been super busy for me. Possibly hyper busy. I've applied for a post-graduate course, been accepted and so I'll be moving to Europe this month to study. So long for now, Sapporo! It's been a blast.

Originally this blog was just a way to make me write everyday, and over time I decided to turn it away from whatever I was digging that day and towards being some kind of useful site for people living in, or visiting Sapporo. I don't know how successful that was, but I think I helped a couple of people out so it was probably worth it. I eat out a lot and love finding new places to eat, and I hope that a few people found places because of this blog.

Also, blogs are dead too. Everyone knows that.

So I'll go through the map and some old posts and clear away any shops that I know have been closed down. I'll try and write a few more reviews and recommendations and maybe finish the independent cafe list-post thing I was working on a while back. And then I'll leave the blog here with the disclaimer that I don't live here any more, and maybe someone can miss that information, find a cafe they want to check out, and then get pissed off when they turn up and it doesn't exist any more.

Oh, and I'll probably be back here someday because my wife is from here. So I reckon I'll pick things up again then!

You're all alarmingly attractive, talented people. Thanks for reading.