Nestlé Opens Coffee Fragrance Experience Store in Harajuku, Tokyo! Can Baristas Wear Perfume?

The aroma of coffee is strong and pleasant, often drawing passersby from afar. You can smell the rich scent of milk and the roasted fragrance of coffee before you even see the shop. You find the nearest café, push open the door, and immerse yourself completely in the coffee experience, drinking it all in at once — yet the aroma lingers long after. As a giant of the coffee industry, Nestlé Coffee has taken significant steps to capture customers' love of coffee aroma. According to Yahoo News, the "Nestlé Coffee Aroma Experience Café" in Harajuku, Tokyo, will open on October 13th, and official announcements indicate that this experiential store will remain open for 12 days. According to the official introduction, it is an event designed to let customers enjoy a range of specific aroma experiences, with the goal of showcasing the fragrance of the new "Nescafé Gold Blend" and other series products to the fullest.

For this occasion, Nestlé Japan has collaborated with three aroma professionals: perfumer Yuko Kono, sommelier Risaburo Endo, and sake master Yasuyuki Kitahara. They will taste Nestlé's "Nescafé Gold Blend," "Deepen the Rich," and "Gorgeous Fragrance" series products, and will write coffee aroma descriptions based on the coffee's characteristics and their own expressive methods.

The Café Experience

So how will this soon-to-open "Nestlé Coffee Aroma Experience Café" operate? First, when customers sit down, staff will provide them with a menu book. While reading the "aroma descriptions" written by the experts, customers can choose their favorite scents based on their own feelings. The aroma descriptions on the menu will change daily.

According to photos, there is a "giant coffee cup-style" seat in the center of the café. This coffee seat uses a special device that can emit coffee aroma from overhead. While drinking coffee, customers can fully immerse themselves in the Nestlé coffee experience. In addition, Nestlé Coffee has introduced three dessert sets based on different product series: sweet potato chiffon cake, cream chocolate cake, and apple pie. Paired with Nestlé Gold Blend coffee, the tax-inclusive price is 1,000 yen (approximately 58 RMB). Do you think it's worth it?

Bringing the Experience Home

For those who can't travel to Japan, how can one have an immersive coffee experience? I strongly recommend trying coffee perfume. I believe many sophisticated individuals have the habit of wearing perfume daily, and coffee perfume is simply a blessing for many coffee enthusiasts. Imagine a crisp autumn day with falling leaves. During a leisurely afternoon, catching a faint coffee aroma can instantly transport you to your favorite café.

In fact, regular café patrons may have noticed that some coffee shops place freshly ground coffee powder in small aroma bottles before pour-over brewing, allowing customers to smell the dry aroma, which often has subtle floral, fruity, or spicy notes. This method of smelling the dry aroma helps customers choose their favorite coffee beans, and it is remarkably similar to Nestlé Coffee's "order by aroma" approach.

A Note for Baristas

Here's a reminder for barista friends: even if you love perfume, it's best to avoid wearing it while working. When judging whether a cup of coffee tastes good, the sense of smell is just as important as taste. Any fragrance will affect the coffee's natural aroma. Using perfume not only skews your own sensory perception but also affects your customers.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this story about smelling coffee before you taste it has you thinking about aroma, the espresso blends from FrontStreet Coffee are a great place to start, because their dry fragrance is where the character of each cup begins. The FrontStreet Classic Blend was inspired by the old "Mamba" style of Mandheling and Brazil and adds a touch of Robusta for aroma and crema, making it an easy way for beginners to pull a shot with golden crema at home. For a nuttier, low-acidity profile, the FrontStreet Signature Blend pairs washed Colombian with semi-washed Brazilian beans for notes of nuts, dark chocolate, and caramel — smooth in a latte and with the aroma richness that makes café drinks so inviting. If you prefer a sweeter, more fruit-driven aroma, the FrontStreet Strawberry Candy blend brings rose florals plus grape, dried blueberry, sweet orange, and fruit-candy notes to both Americanos and lattes. All FrontStreet Coffee beans ship within five days of roasting so the aromatics are at their peak when they reach you.