This project asks the participating roasters about " CROWD ROASTER ". The second interviewer is " TAKAMURA COFFEE ROASTERS YUYA IWASAKI ".
He joined a wine specialty store as a barista and decided to become a roaster after finding a dusty sample roaster. He came in second at the Japan Coffee Roasting Championship (JCRC) 2018 and won the JAC Roast Competition 2019.
We asked IWASAKI about his impressions of participating in CROWD ROASTER and what he found appealing about it.
He joined a wine specialty store as a barista and decided to become a roaster after finding a dusty sample roaster. He came in second at the Japan Coffee Roasting Championship (JCRC) 2018 and won the JAC Roast Competition 2019.
We asked IWASAKI about his impressions of participating in CROWD ROASTER and what he found appealing about it.
Roasting while rotating shoulders
─ How did you feel when you found out about CROWD ROASTER ?
IWASAKI : It all started when Kiyo-san ( Suzuki Kiyokazu ) from GLITCH contacted me directly. At first, I simply thought it sounded interesting and thought I'd give it a try. At first, there were a lot of roasters from the Kanto region, but not many from the Kansai region, so I was lucky enough to be chosen by Hikaru Sakae.
Roasters and roasters are not very visible in public and have a rather modest job. I think the stars are the baristas who make coffee in front of the customers, so being in the public eye is not something I'm particularly fond of. But I thought it might be interesting for consumers to know what kind of people roast coffee, so I decided to participate.
However, that was only 10% of the reason; 90% was just because it seemed funny (laughs).
─What do you find attractive about having your coffee roasted at CROWD ROASTER ?
IWASAKI : It all started when Kiyo-san ( Suzuki Kiyokazu ) from GLITCH contacted me directly. At first, I simply thought it sounded interesting and thought I'd give it a try. At first, there were a lot of roasters from the Kanto region, but not many from the Kansai region, so I was lucky enough to be chosen by Hikaru Sakae.
Roasters and roasters are not very visible in public and have a rather modest job. I think the stars are the baristas who make coffee in front of the customers, so being in the public eye is not something I'm particularly fond of. But I thought it might be interesting for consumers to know what kind of people roast coffee, so I decided to participate.
However, that was only 10% of the reason; 90% was just because it seemed funny (laughs).
─What do you find attractive about having your coffee roasted at CROWD ROASTER ?
IWASAKI : I think it's really interesting that consumers can choose the individual roaster. I think it's a service that has never been seen before.
Actually, at TAKAMURA COFFEE ROASTERS , I am in charge of basic quality control and roasting profile management for quality control, but I am not the only one who roasts the coffee.
But when it comes to CROWD ROASTER , I'm the only one roasting. Now that I'm not on-site as much, it's fun to be able to roast with my shoulders moving and saying "Yeehaw!"
Also, I often receive comments from users, and I reply in a chat-like format, but I personally enjoy being able to have such personal exchanges between users and roasters. I don't mind receiving more negative feedback, like "This one wasn't that good" (laughs).
We want people to feel closer to the roasters.
-What are your expectations for CROWD ROASTER ?
IWASAKI : I hope that through this service, people will feel closer to the people who roast the coffee.
-Indeed, before we started running CROWD ROASTER , we hardly had any opportunities to talk directly with roasters.
IWASAKI : Even though I'm a roaster, I'm just a person who roasts beans, and I'm not a high-handed roaster either (laughs). I'd be happy if you'd feel free to talk to me with comments or requests for roasting events.
IWASAKI : I hope that through this service, people will feel closer to the people who roast the coffee.
-Indeed, before we started running CROWD ROASTER , we hardly had any opportunities to talk directly with roasters.
IWASAKI : Even though I'm a roaster, I'm just a person who roasts beans, and I'm not a high-handed roaster either (laughs). I'd be happy if you'd feel free to talk to me with comments or requests for roasting events.
- I think the comment exchange is a unique feature of this app. Is there anything else?
IWASAKI : In the world of coffee, it's common knowledge that the selling price is determined by the cost of the ingredients. But I think the price should vary depending on the roaster.
Just as a three-star chef and a housewife can cook the same meat for a completely different price, it would be interesting to see the selling price change depending on the skill and track record of the roaster, and it would be great if customers could see that the taste is so different.
Also, it would be interesting to have a set sale or a set roasting event. I think it would be interesting to send in the coffee that each person roasts the way they like.
-Thank you, IWASAKI -san.
TAKAMURA COFFEE ROASTERS " href="https://takamura-coffee.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> TAKAMURA COFFEE ROASTERS
Address: 2-2-18 Edobori, Nishi-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture
What is CROWD ROASTER ?
High quality coffee beans from around the world and roasters with first-class skills.
If you could freely choose that combination, wouldn't it be possible to create a drink like no other before?
CROWD ROSTER is an app that offers coffee lovers a new way to enjoy coffee, helping them realize their dreams.
You can request your favorite roaster to roast the beans you choose on the app. If you don't have enough beans to roast, you can ask other users to join. If you gather users, you can taste special coffee beans that are only available here.
Click here for details on CROWD ROSTER
If you could freely choose that combination, wouldn't it be possible to create a drink like no other before?
CROWD ROSTER is an app that offers coffee lovers a new way to enjoy coffee, helping them realize their dreams.
You can request your favorite roaster to roast the beans you choose on the app. If you don't have enough beans to roast, you can ask other users to join. If you gather users, you can taste special coffee beans that are only available here.
Click here for details on CROWD ROSTER
