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 to be a "community stand that connects people through coffee."

Seven years have passed since Hashimoto returned to his hometown of Aomori and started running the restaurant with his wife, 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, having twice reached the finals of the Japan AeroPress Championship, 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 Bolivia and Peru, South America, which the owner himself has visited. They stock a wide variety of varieties, including Geisha , Bourbon , Caturra , and Catuai, and they also offer a wide range of production and processing methods. Even with coffee from the same producing country, they are able to express a variety of flavors depending on the farm environment, the producer's ingenuity, and the differences in roasting and extraction.

In addition, with the mission of "creating a world-class coffee culture from Aomori," the cafe develops a variety of original drinks based on the theme of "combining Aomori ingredients with specialty coffee." They create 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 was a barista in Tokyo and Yokohama. He initially purchased roasted beans, but wanted to learn more about roasting and raw beans, so he started roasting his own coffee. In March 2024, he introduced a 15kg roaster made by Giesen in the Netherlands, aiming to roast coffee of higher quality.

The reason I chose Giesen was because it had good heat retention and the taste of the roasted coffee tended to match my personal preferences.
Giesen offers a high degree of freedom in terms of adjusting the heat, drum rotation speed, and exhaust volume, allowing for a wider variety of flavors to be produced, a wider range of roasting options, and a wider range of coffee that can be proposed.

I 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 about "passing the baton" from producers to baristas. He enjoys working as a barista in the store, proposing coffee from producers that has a flavor similar to what customers are looking for, and working with them to find their favorites.

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

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

To commemorate Hashimoto 's arrival, CROWD ROASTER will be releasing a special set that allows you to enjoy comparing special brands roasted by Hashimoto .
This one-of-a-kind coffee was born from an unexpected Manabu between the kind-hearted Mr. Hashimoto and CROWD ROASTER , which is bringing innovation to the coffee industry.

Details of the special set will be announced in the future, so please look forward to it!

2024.03.21

CROWD ROASTER