The final of the 1ST CRACK COFFEE CHALLENGE (1CCC), a roasting competition aimed at discovering and nurturing young roasters under the age of 35, was held at Tokyo Culture Culture on Friday, September 13, 2024, and Keita Tatsuno of THE ROASTERS in Wakayama City won the championship.
After a preliminary round in which they competed on "roasting techniques" based on aroma analysis using gas chromatography, six finalists advanced to the finals.
In the final stage, all six contestants will gather together and be scored by four judges for their 20-minute "presentation" and "welcome drink" sessions. The final champion will be decided based on the total score.
After going through such rigorous judging, the winner of this competition was Tatsuno, a young coffee roaster who is only 20 years old.
Tatsuno began with a self-introduction that included how after graduating from high school he was torn between being an auto mechanic or coffee and chose coffee, and how he developed a passion for coffee while working at "THE ROASTERS." He then went on to learn about the current state of coffee around the world and the state of coffee farms. He then compared this with stories of the hardships of farming that he had heard from his father, who has been a farmer for many years. He shared his unique perspective of learning about and imagining the world through the real words of people close to him.
In announcing this year's theme , "What roasters can do for sustainable coffee ," he presented the idea of " transforming the supply chain into a loop " from the perspective of a roaster, under the title "What we can do for the future of coffee."
While considering the relationships with the buyers and consumers that roasters come into direct contact with, the roasters want to create a new "circle" by using social media and other online media in a way that is typical of young people, to convey their feelings to producers directly, something that previously could only be conveyed through importers and unions. It seems that the judges were struck by the straightforward and pure desire of the 20-somethings to create a new "circle."
We interviewed Tatsuno at the venue, while the afterglow of the final was still fresh.
Although she was the youngest, she was impressive with her firm belief and the look in her eyes that conveyed hope for the future.
The preliminary round will involve more than 10 roasts. Submit the beans that you feel are the closest to the original roast.
--Congratulations on winning "1CCC 2024"! It just finished, but please tell us your thoughts on today's final stage.
Tatsuno-san: Personally, I wanted to use all the knowledge I have and convey it to the audience. I'm very happy that I was able to convey the results I've gained through my studies.
--How did you approach roasting for the preliminary round?
Tatsuno-san: The taste of the first sample roasted beans (beans roasted by Yoshiyuki Nakamura of mamepolepole ) left a lasting impression on me. Although it was just my own impression, I tried out about 10 different patterns myself, adjusting the color and heat of the hand-cranked roaster, roasting a small amount each time. I cupped them all and narrowed it down to those that were similar in roasting, and then selected from those.
The improvement of roasting techniques was made possible by the help of fellow roasters from his hometown, Wakayama
--During your presentation, you also talked about your career as a roaster. You said that you only started roasting in April of this year, but how did you acquire the skills to roast?
Tatsuno-san: I was able to improve my roasting skills thanks to the connections between roasters and the local roaster gatherings. There aren't many people drinking coffee in Wakayama City, so we were a group that came together with the idea of livening things up in Wakayama! We were all able to cooperate and share information, and I learned a lot.
──How do you evaluate your current roasting skills?
Tatsuno-san: I think I still have a lot to learn in terms of roasting skills. To be honest, I think I can roast reasonably tasty beans myself, but the amount of knowledge of the people who teach me and the way they evaluate coffee when they drink it are completely different. There are many people who I think are better than me, so I still have a lot to learn.
I want to steadily expand the network of local roasters.
--You've just become the young coffee roaster champion at 1CCC. What changes do you think this award will bring to you as a coffee roaster?
Tatsuno-san: I received the award (for being the "1CCC" champion), but I still want to continue to work hard, starting with expanding the connections between local roasters. My dream is to make sure that "THE ROASTERS," the group I'm currently a member of, doesn't disappear.
I also want a roaster. We have a 3kg Lucky Coffee roaster at the store, but I haven't used it yet, so I'd like to take this opportunity to get to know the roaster a little bit.
Anyway, I just need to "move forward to the next step." Until now, I've only been taught, but from now on, I want to be the one to lead.
Thank you, Tatsuno-san.
The winner, Tatsuno, will also be appearing at the Giessen Japan booth at SCAJ2024, Asia's largest specialty coffee festival, which will be held at Tokyo Big Sight from Wednesday, October 9th to Friday, October 11th. A collaboration project is also planned at CROWD ROASTER booth.
More details will be released later, so please check it out.
In the second part of the article, we asked the four judges and Fukuzawa-san, the representative of Giessen Japan, to look back on this tournament. Please look forward to this as well.
1CCC 2024
"1CCC 2024" special feature
・1CCC 2024 Final Stage Report <Part 1> Interview with Champion Keita Tatsuno (THE ROASTERS) ・1CCC 2024 Final Stage Report <Part 2> Interview with Judge & Giessen Japan's Fukuzawa
