Aomori's popular shop COFFEEMAN good Yudai Hashimoto joins CROWD ROASTER

Yudai Hashimoto , who is joining CROWD ROASTER for the first time, is the owner of COFFEEMAN good , a small coffee stand located in a shopping district in Aomori City.

The concept of this shop is "a community stand that connects people through coffee."

Seven years have passed since Hashimoto returned to his hometown of Aomori and the couple started running the restaurant, and now it is not only beloved by locals, but also attracts many visitors from all over Japan and overseas, creating a new community.

Even before returning home, Hashimoto had been competing in coffee competitions and obtaining qualifications, reaching the finals of the Japan AeroPress Championship twice, placing first in the Tohoku region and third in Japan in 2018, and coming in second in 2022. In 2020, he became the first resident of Aomori City to obtain the international coffee qualification "Q grader."

The shop mainly sells coffee from producers in South America, Bolivia and Peru, which the owner has personally visited. They offer a wide variety of varieties, including Geisha , Bourbon , Caturra, and Catuai, and they also offer a variety of production and processing processes. Even coffee from the same producing country can express a variety of flavors depending on the farm environment, the producer's ingenuity, and differences in roasting and brewing.

Furthermore, with the mission of "creating a coffee culture from Aomori that can be proud of around the world," they are developing a variety of original drinks based on the theme of "combining Aomori ingredients with specialty coffee." They are creating opportunities to enjoy specialty coffee from a unique perspective, with drinks such as "Aomori Cassis and Orange Coffee Tonic" and "Tsugaru Miso Caramel Cappuccino."

Hashimoto -san worked as a barista in Tokyo and Yokohama. Initially, he purchased roasted beans, but his desire to learn more about roasting and green beans led him to start roasting his own coffee. In March 2024, he installed a 15kg roaster made by Giesen in the Netherlands, aiming to roast coffee of even higher quality.

The reason I chose Giesen is because it has excellent heat retention and the taste of the roasted coffee often suits my personal taste.
Giesen offers a high degree of freedom in terms of controlling the heat, drum rotation speed, and exhaust volume, allowing for a wider range of roasting possibilities and a more diverse range of flavors to be produced, which is thought to broaden the range of options that can be offered.

We roast with the intention of first enjoying the taste of the finished roasted beans, then trying out different roasting methods, and taking a bit of an adventure.

Hashimoto believes that roasting is like "passing the baton" from producers to baristas. He also works in the store as a barista, proposing coffee from producers that has a flavor similar to what customers are looking for, and takes pleasure in helping them discover their preferences together.

When asked what kind of roast he prefers, he says that he is happy with all roasts, from light to dark, but he prefers coffee that has a soft, rounded taste that makes you feel like you are enveloped in gentleness. He says that the appeal of coffee is that the roaster's personality is reflected in the ingredients and is reflected in the flavor.

You can now enjoy the coffee roasted by Hashimoto at CROWD ROASTER .
Why not try asking them to roast your favorite brand?