Kyoto · Japan
Kurasu
Kurasu roasts in Kyoto, Nishijin / Ebisugawa / Fushimi Inari.
Since 2013 · Yozo Otsuki
Overview
Kurasu was launched in May 2013 by Yozo Otsuki, a former Goldman Sachs Tokyo banker who had moved to Sydney looking for a different working life and started selling Japanese homewares online. By 2015 he had pivoted exclusively to Japanese coffee equipment — Hario, Kalita and the like — and in August 2016 opened the 28m² Kurasu Kyoto Stand in his hometown, choosing the low-counter Sydney coffee-stand format to cut against Japan's quieter kissaten convention.
Known for
- Sydney-born, Kyoto-based — translates Japanese craft equipment to a global specialty audience
- Founder Yozo Otsuki grew up in Manhattan, university in Toronto, ex-Goldman Sachs Tokyo
- Nishijin Roastery in a renovated machiya townhouse runs both a Giesen W6A and a Loring S35 Kestrel
- Family lineage of Kyoto Jazz Kissaten owners (mother and father)
- Seven outlets — Kyoto, Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Dubai — with monthly partner-roaster subscription since October 2015
Why it matters
Built the first global retail-and-cafe brand exporting Japanese specialty coffee craft outward — Kurasu is the channel through which much of the world buys Hario or experiences Kyoto-quality pour-over.
Production
- roaster machine
- Giesen W6A + Loring S35 Kestrel
- filter equipment
- Hario V60, Japanese hand-drip equipment range (also retailed)
- roastery location
- Nishijin machiya townhouse roastery, Kyoto + earlier Fushimi Inari roastery (Giesen W6A)
Café
Multiple Kyoto sites including Kyoto Stand, Ebisugawa, and Nishijin Roastery