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Kyoto · Japan

Kurasu

Since 2013 · Yozo Otsuki

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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

destoning
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head roaster
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color sorting
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roaster machine
Giesen W6A + Loring S35 Kestrel
filter equipment
Hario V60, Japanese hand-drip equipment range (also retailed)
cupping frequency
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roastery location
Nishijin machiya townhouse roastery, Kyoto + earlier Fushimi Inari roastery (Giesen W6A)
espresso equipment
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annual volume tonnes
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Café

Multiple Kyoto sites including Kyoto Stand, Ebisugawa, and Nishijin Roastery

Sources

More roasters