UPDATED January 2020:
Kohei Matsuno (the creator of these amazing 3D latte art creations) has opened his own cafe. The new place is called Hat Coffee Latte Art Club and is located in the Asakusa/Kuramae area.
I am a huge fan of latte art, from the simple heart to the more complex designs. It makes me happy when the cup is set down in front of me and there’s a cute design on top. In Japan, artists bring this craft to a new level.
Reissue- Latte Art Café
At Reissue in Harajuku, artists create amazing creations on and with the foam of a latte, cappuccino, and even hot chocolate. You can choose either 2D or 3D latte art added as an extra cost. Reissue is easy to walk to from the main touristy street in Harajuku called Takeshita. You could easily miss the doorway that leads to the 2nd-floor cafe. The narrow street and easy-to-miss door makes me think I’m in the know and have been invited to an exclusive club.
Cool Vibe
Reissue is a hip cafe decorated with mid-century furniture mixed with record sleeves and afghans from the ’70s. It felt to me like someone living in the ’70s, whose apartment was furnished with hand-me-down furniture from their parents. It is a funky mix that works.
On the Menu
We ordered two lattes and one hot chocolate latte. The waitress asked if we wanted a specific design and our daughter asked for a dog. Josh and I asked to be surprised and were very happy with the outcome. The creations were almost too good to drink…almost. The drinks didn’t let us down on flavor, they were delicious.
You can see from this menu that there are quite a lot of options on which to have the latte art created.
3D Latte Art
The creator of the 3D lattes, Kohei Matsuno, brought our drinks to the table. It was great to meet him and he was very nice.
The 3D art is impressive, but don’t discount the 2D art. Check out Matsuno’s Instagram to see his 3D work and also his 2D masterpieces (really, he takes classic art and recreates it on top of a latte).
How to Visit Reissue
Reissue is located just off the main street of Takeshita in Harajuku.
Take the Yamanote Line (free if you have the JR pass) to the Harajuku Station. On exiting the station, look straight ahead to the start of the very crowded, but fun, Takeshita street. Enjoy your walk and people watching. Once you reach the end of the street, follow this map a short distance to the café. The entire walk from the Harajuku station to Reissue is 7 minutes, but that doesn’t include the time to stop and eat a HUGE cotton candy.
If you are in Tokyo, check out this café. The drinks aren’t just works of art, they taste great, too!
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Only in Tokyo would this be a thing. We have never seen this before, the idea of the 3d latte art is really cool and fun. They certainly have some amazing skills.
Thanks for sharing. Keep travel blogging. Adventure is better shared with friends!
Right? Only in Tokyo…where people spend generations learning a profession, spend hours upon hours to become the assistant’s assistant to the sushi chef. I love the Japanese work ethic and want for perfection! Thanks, Anthony.
Haha, oh my gosh I LOVE 3D latte art, its so skillful (and cute!) Thank you for sharing, added to the bucket list!
Ya, Rachel, it is amazing to see these creations out of foam! Thanks for the comment.
The coffee is almost too good to drink! I like the small artworks and I’m glad that you introduced us to that. I have not seen that yet.
It was really hard to drink it…after many pictures we finally did. And it tasted good, too!
This article is so cool! I’ve just acquired a love for coffee this year and I’m loving it, yet pissed at all the of the money I’m throwing away from clever little shops with fancy offerings. I would totally go broke in Tokyo! These creations are unbelievable!
Thanks, Melody. Welcome to the coffee lovers club. I love all coffee shops, but the ones that create cool art are the best.
These baristas are insanely talented! I think I would be too afraid to drink the coffee with such beautiful works of art!
Hey, Astrid. It was actually fun to drink them and see the animals change shape 🙂 I do think it would be hard to create the art, knowing that it would disappear in a few minutes.
Only in Japan! I definitely want to check Reissue out when I go to Tokyo. I am a trained barista myself, but can’t even imagine creating suck works of art. I love the hand-me-down trend as well! Sounds like a cafe I’d love to hang out with a good book and a couple of cups of beautiful coffee!
You should definitely go there, Kreete. As a trained barista I’m sure you would appreciate it even more than the average person. If this coffee shop was near me, I would hang out there all the time! Thanks for commenting.
Only in Japan!!! that have definitely taken latte art to a whole another level, it is super impressive what they can do with the form though. I would love to go to Reissue and try one of the 2D or 3D latte art for the extra cost, as it looks amazing.
Thanks for commenting, Mel. The 2D latte’s art are probably more impressive than the 3D, but the 3D are so much fun!
Wow never heard of this before.. Cool idea ! 🙂 How would you feel like having your latte though:)
It is super cool, Rohini. It was tough to drink it, but fun to watch it change shapes as it disappeared.
This is so cool, I’ve recently got into drinking coffee and I just love how the Japanese have really embraced it and made it their own in that typical Japanese way!
Thanks, Nic. It is amazing to experience the Japanese culture and the way the elevate everything from garbage collection to latte art to architecture to food preparation. And every job is important.
This is mind-blowing. How can one make 3D milk foam sculptures is beyond me! Thanks for opening my eyes to this, seriously.
It is a true talent. I’ve tried to do the simple heart and can’t do it, and here Matsuno is creating masterpieces. Thanks for commenting, Jenia.
[…] If you are heading to Harajuku, then you MUST stop into this awe-inspiring café. The owner creates works of art with the foam of your latte, cappuccino, or hot chocolate. See more pictures of his creations and read about the café in our article here. […]