diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/ImplicitConversions.scala b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/ImplicitConversions.scala
index d9a087db7..7a673ac9a 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/ImplicitConversions.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/ImplicitConversions.scala
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ package com.lightbend.kafka.scala.streams
 import org.apache.kafka.streams.kstream._
 import org.apache.kafka.streams.{Consumed, KeyValue}
 import org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.Serde
-
 import scala.language.implicitConversions
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/KGroupedStreamS.scala b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/KGroupedStreamS.scala
index 57551f9ff..d3f9dc1ee 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/KGroupedStreamS.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/KGroupedStreamS.scala
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ package com.lightbend.kafka.scala.streams
 import org.apache.kafka.streams.kstream._
 import org.apache.kafka.streams.state.KeyValueStore
 import org.apache.kafka.common.utils.Bytes
-import org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.Serde
 import ImplicitConversions._
 import FunctionConversions._
 
@@ -16,19 +15,10 @@ import FunctionConversions._
   */
 class KGroupedStreamS[K, V](inner: KGroupedStream[K, V]) {
 
-  def count(): KTableS[K, Long] = {
-    val c: KTableS[K, java.lang.Long] = inner.count()
-    c.mapValues[Long](Long2long _)
-  }
+  def count(): KTableS[K, Long] = inner.count().asInstanceOf[KTable[K, Long]]
 
-  def count(store: String, keySerde: Option[Serde[K]] = None): KTableS[K, Long] = {
-    val materialized = keySerde.foldLeft(Materialized.as[K, java.lang.Long, KeyValueStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]](store))(
-      (m, serde) => m.withKeySerde(serde)
-    )
-
-    val c: KTableS[K, java.lang.Long] = inner.count(materialized)
-    c.mapValues[Long](Long2long _)
-  }
+  def count(materialized: Materialized[K, Long, KeyValueStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]]): KTableS[K, Long] =
+    inner.count(materialized)
 
   def reduce(reducer: (V, V) => V): KTableS[K, V] =
     inner.reduce((v1, v2) => reducer(v1, v2))
@@ -38,18 +28,6 @@ class KGroupedStreamS[K, V](inner: KGroupedStream[K, V]) {
     // works perfectly with Scala 2.12 though
     inner.reduce(((v1: V, v2: V) => reducer(v1, v2)).asReducer, materialized)
 
-  def reduce(reducer: (V, V) => V, storeName: String)(implicit keySerde: Serde[K],
-                                                      valueSerde: Serde[V]): KTableS[K, V] =
-    // need this explicit asReducer for Scala 2.11 or else the SAM conversion doesn't take place
-    // works perfectly with Scala 2.12 though
-    inner.reduce(
-      ((v1: V, v2: V) => reducer(v1, v2)).asReducer,
-      Materialized
-        .as[K, V, KeyValueStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]](storeName)
-        .withKeySerde(keySerde)
-        .withValueSerde(valueSerde)
-    )
-
   def aggregate[VR](initializer: () => VR, aggregator: (K, V, VR) => VR): KTableS[K, VR] =
     inner.aggregate(initializer.asInitializer, aggregator.asAggregator)
 
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/KGroupedTableS.scala b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/KGroupedTableS.scala
index 08acabd71..c1e512d23 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/KGroupedTableS.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/KGroupedTableS.scala
@@ -15,14 +15,9 @@ import FunctionConversions._
   */
 class KGroupedTableS[K, V](inner: KGroupedTable[K, V]) {
 
-  type ByteArrayKVStore = KeyValueStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]
+  def count(): KTableS[K, Long] = inner.count().asInstanceOf[KTable[K, Long]]
 
-  def count(): KTableS[K, Long] = {
-    val c: KTableS[K, java.lang.Long] = inner.count()
-    c.mapValues[Long](Long2long(_))
-  }
-
-  def count(materialized: Materialized[K, Long, ByteArrayKVStore]): KTableS[K, Long] =
+  def count(materialized: Materialized[K, Long, KeyValueStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]]): KTableS[K, Long] =
     inner.count(materialized)
 
   def reduce(adder: (V, V) => V, subTractor: (V, V) => V): KTableS[K, V] =
@@ -32,7 +27,7 @@ class KGroupedTableS[K, V](inner: KGroupedTable[K, V]) {
 
   def reduce(adder: (V, V) => V,
              subtractor: (V, V) => V,
-             materialized: Materialized[K, V, ByteArrayKVStore]): KTableS[K, V] =
+             materialized: Materialized[K, V, KeyValueStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]]): KTableS[K, V] =
     // need this explicit asReducer for Scala 2.11 or else the SAM conversion doesn't take place
     // works perfectly with Scala 2.12 though
     inner.reduce(((v1, v2) => adder(v1, v2)).asReducer, ((v1, v2) => subtractor(v1, v2)).asReducer, materialized)
@@ -43,6 +38,6 @@ class KGroupedTableS[K, V](inner: KGroupedTable[K, V]) {
   def aggregate[VR](initializer: () => VR,
                     adder: (K, V, VR) => VR,
                     subtractor: (K, V, VR) => VR,
-                    materialized: Materialized[K, VR, ByteArrayKVStore]): KTableS[K, VR] =
+                    materialized: Materialized[K, VR, KeyValueStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]]): KTableS[K, VR] =
     inner.aggregate(initializer.asInitializer, adder.asAggregator, subtractor.asAggregator, materialized)
 }
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/Materialized.scala b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/Materialized.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..32d1b00c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/Materialized.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package com.lightbend.kafka.scala.streams
+
+import org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.Serde
+import org.apache.kafka.common.utils.Bytes
+import org.apache.kafka.streams.kstream.{Materialized => JavaMaterialized}
+import org.apache.kafka.streams.processor.StateStore
+import org.apache.kafka.streams.state._
+
+object Materialized {
+
+  def as[K, V, S <: StateStore](storeName: String)(implicit keySerde: Serde[K],
+                                                   valueSerde: Serde[V]): JavaMaterialized[K, V, S] =
+    JavaMaterialized.as(storeName).withKeySerde(keySerde).withValueSerde(valueSerde)
+
+  def as[K, V](
+    supplier: WindowBytesStoreSupplier
+  )(implicit keySerde: Serde[K], valueSerde: Serde[V]): JavaMaterialized[K, V, WindowStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]] =
+    JavaMaterialized.as(supplier).withKeySerde(keySerde).withValueSerde(valueSerde)
+
+  def as[K, V](
+    supplier: SessionBytesStoreSupplier
+  )(implicit keySerde: Serde[K], valueSerde: Serde[V]): JavaMaterialized[K, V, SessionStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]] =
+    JavaMaterialized.as(supplier).withKeySerde(keySerde).withValueSerde(valueSerde)
+
+  def as[K, V](
+    supplier: KeyValueBytesStoreSupplier
+  )(implicit keySerde: Serde[K], valueSerde: Serde[V]): JavaMaterialized[K, V, KeyValueStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]] =
+    JavaMaterialized.as(supplier).withKeySerde(keySerde).withValueSerde(valueSerde)
+}
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/SessionWindowedKStreamS.scala b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/SessionWindowedKStreamS.scala
index 39475a83f..65535ab3b 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/SessionWindowedKStreamS.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/SessionWindowedKStreamS.scala
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import org.apache.kafka.streams.kstream._
 import org.apache.kafka.streams.state.SessionStore
 import org.apache.kafka.common.utils.Bytes
 import FunctionConversions._
-
 import ImplicitConversions._
 
 /**
@@ -27,10 +26,7 @@ class SessionWindowedKStreamS[K, V](val inner: SessionWindowedKStream[K, V]) {
                     materialized: Materialized[K, VR, SessionStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]]): KTableS[Windowed[K], VR] =
     inner.aggregate(initializer.asInitializer, aggregator.asAggregator, merger.asMerger, materialized)
 
-  def count(): KTableS[Windowed[K], Long] = {
-    val c: KTableS[Windowed[K], java.lang.Long] = inner.count()
-    c.mapValues[Long](Long2long(_))
-  }
+  def count(): KTableS[K, Long] = inner.count().asInstanceOf[KTable[K, Long]]
 
   def count(materialized: Materialized[K, Long, SessionStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]]): KTableS[Windowed[K], Long] =
     inner.count(materialized)
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/StreamsBuilderS.scala b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/StreamsBuilderS.scala
index e5b342761..128edc622 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/StreamsBuilderS.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/StreamsBuilderS.scala
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import java.util.regex.Pattern
 
 import com.lightbend.kafka.scala.streams.ImplicitConversions._
 import org.apache.kafka.common.utils.Bytes
-import org.apache.kafka.streams.kstream.{GlobalKTable, Materialized}
+import org.apache.kafka.streams.kstream.{GlobalKTable, Materialized => JavaMaterialized}
 import org.apache.kafka.streams.processor.{ProcessorSupplier, StateStore}
 import org.apache.kafka.streams.state.{KeyValueStore, StoreBuilder}
 import org.apache.kafka.streams.{Consumed, StreamsBuilder, Topology}
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class StreamsBuilderS(inner: StreamsBuilder = new StreamsBuilder) {
   def table[K, V](topic: String)(implicit consumed: Consumed[K, V]): KTableS[K, V] =
     inner.table[K, V](topic, consumed)
 
-  def table[K, V](topic: String, materialized: Materialized[K, V, KeyValueStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]])(
+  def table[K, V](topic: String, materialized: JavaMaterialized[K, V, KeyValueStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]])(
     implicit consumed: Consumed[K, V]
   ): KTableS[K, V] =
     inner.table[K, V](topic, consumed, materialized)
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class StreamsBuilderS(inner: StreamsBuilder = new StreamsBuilder) {
   def globalTable[K, V](topic: String)(implicit consumed: Consumed[K, V]): GlobalKTable[K, V] =
     inner.globalTable(topic, consumed)
 
-  def globalTable[K, V](topic: String, materialized: Materialized[K, V, KeyValueStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]])(
+  def globalTable[K, V](topic: String, materialized: JavaMaterialized[K, V, KeyValueStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]])(
     implicit consumed: Consumed[K, V]
   ): GlobalKTable[K, V] =
     inner.globalTable(topic, consumed, materialized)
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/TimeWindowedKStreamS.scala b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/TimeWindowedKStreamS.scala
index ee484f6c7..e4291c7af 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/TimeWindowedKStreamS.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/lightbend/kafka/scala/streams/TimeWindowedKStreamS.scala
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ package com.lightbend.kafka.scala.streams
 import org.apache.kafka.streams.kstream._
 import org.apache.kafka.streams.state.WindowStore
 import org.apache.kafka.common.utils.Bytes
-import org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.Serde
 import ImplicitConversions._
 import FunctionConversions._
 
@@ -24,19 +23,12 @@ class TimeWindowedKStreamS[K, V](val inner: TimeWindowedKStream[K, V]) {
                     materialized: Materialized[K, VR, WindowStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]]): KTableS[Windowed[K], VR] =
     inner.aggregate(initializer.asInitializer, aggregator.asAggregator, materialized)
 
-  def count(): KTableS[Windowed[K], Long] = {
-    val c: KTableS[Windowed[K], java.lang.Long] = inner.count()
-    c.mapValues[Long](Long2long(_))
-  }
-
-  def count(store: String, keySerde: Option[Serde[K]] = None): KTableS[Windowed[K], Long] = {
-    val materialized = {
-      val m = Materialized.as[K, java.lang.Long, WindowStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]](store)
-      keySerde.foldLeft(m)((m, serde) => m.withKeySerde(serde))
-    }
-    val c: KTableS[Windowed[K], java.lang.Long] = inner.count(materialized)
-    c.mapValues[Long](Long2long(_))
-  }
+  def count(): KTableS[Windowed[K], Long] = inner.count().asInstanceOf[KTable[Windowed[K], Long]]
+
+  def count(
+    materialized: Materialized[Windowed[K], Long, WindowStore[Bytes, Array[Byte]]]
+  ): KTableS[Windowed[K], Long] =
+    inner.count(materialized)
 
   def reduce(reducer: (V, V) => V): KTableS[Windowed[K], V] =
     inner.reduce(reducer.asReducer)