Interview with roaster, MACHI KODAMA

"To the most colorful and gentle world." No matter how difficult it is, I want to roast in my own way. The persistence of a roaster who sticks to shallow roasting.

Mrs. Kodama single-handedly supports the roasting of coffee beans for online sales.

She grew up in California, the United States, where there is a rich food culture, until she graduated from college. She has her own unique world of colorful flavors that she is able to bring out only because of her background.

We interviewed Ms. Kodama about the behind-the-scenes of roasting and her enthusiasm for her work. We get an inside look at one of the few young female roasters in the coffee industry.

---- Below, Interview content--

-I love "delicious" more than anything else. My roots are in the taste sensibility I developed growing up in the free American food culture.

Machi: I have loved to eat since I was a little girl. Looking back, my food experience in the United States is where it all began for me. As you may know, American food is truly a food rich, free and multicolored culture. Starting with Greek food, Southern food, Mexican food, and so much more. For example, in Japan, you would never eat a salad by itself, but in America, it is a "staple food. People eat salads with a variety of ingredients as they like! Because of the variety of food culture, there are many different vegetables and fruits, such as artichokes. Blackberries, which are expensive in Japan, are readily available. Everything is available all year round. For a picky eater like me, it was truly a food heaven! Laughs.

My family also had a big influence on me. My family environment was a bit unique to begin with, as my mother was Korean, and we had a culture of going out to eat good food and enjoying eating together as a family. Growing up in such an environment, I loved "eating" and was more interested in it than most people, and I had been wanting to learn more about and explore "food" since I was a student. So, I obtained a food coordinator certification for my studies and joined a gastronomy club during my time in Washington, DC. This is called Restaurant Week in the United States. Did you know that? Oh my gosh, during that week, even students get to eat at fine restaurants at a discount! At that time, club members and I would go to all the hottest and best restaurants until we couldn't walk anymore.

-From "I don't like coffee" to "It tastes good", the excitement of a cup of coffee became the trigger for roasting.

Machi: Actually, I used to not like coffee that much. I used to get a stomach ache easily when it was deep roasted, lol. What got me hooked on coffee was a cup of coffee that was served to me when I stayed at a friend's house in college. It had been a while since I had had a good cup of coffee, and I suddenly thought, "Coffee is interesting. I want to know more about it. After returning to Japan, I found time to visit various coffee shops. Specialty coffees were just starting to become popular, and I was captivated by the fruity, not bitter, taste of coffee. Drinking coffee every morning became my daily routine, and I started hand-dripping coffee at home for its delicious taste. As an extension of that, I tried hand-drip roasting out of curiosity and got hooked on it because it was so much fun. It was truly a fateful encounter for me.

-Meet the perfect roasting machine. Introduced a difficult type of light type sample low star.

Then I would like to think more about roasting, and I think that I want to make a little longer the time to face the roasting machine even more than teaching the seminar, and I think that I want to make a little longer. I decided. There were several candidate roasting machines, but finally, we purchased a roasted machine of Fujikasa who responded to more kind to sales. It is a sample low star of a direct-fire type called discovery.

I chose a direct fire type, because I used a favorite shop such as Obscula (at that time), and I thought that the taste was close to my image. As the punch hole is open to the drum, it is characterized by direct fire with beans and the fragrant aroma is easy to get fragrant and the followability of firepower control is good and easy to put calories in the timing "here!" is.

However, with this type of roasted roasting is "very difficult" laughs. The reproducibility was difficult and I was very hard. How did you learn roasting technology, reading a book at a self-orally, and you also saw youtube of Mill City Roasters / Cafe Import. I also read it because it is a writer and there was a roasting relationship. It is unfortunately not so much compared to Japanese books and content. After the roasting machine introduction, there were many encounters in SCAJ, and the opportunity to be taught or discussed from people, and the roasting style that nature and the themselves were completed think. The roasting style has various ideas and approaches by roasted people, which is not correct answer. So there is a creative sided that makes the believers to believe, and it may be one of the reasons I like roasting.

-Is the word "delicious" of friends,I would like to have a favorite roasting to work.

Small ball:When there is a drinking coffee beans that can not be swallowed, "coffee has a taste and tasting. It is easy to drink and delicious." And I can not forget that I was very happy. That's why the word of mouth spread little by little, the voice saying "I want to drink" from acquaintance has gradually increased. I would like to bake more coffee beans.I want to share what I thought is delicious. I want to work with my favorite things. The thought is strong, and there was also a postparty of partner (Takanaka), and decided to open a coffee mail dealer.

I want to change the common sense of the roasted industry. I want you to notice. Roasting machine is actually cute.

Small ball:The opens have introduced the Giesen of the drowning machine for a long time. The reason you choose is, of course, the performance side (described later), but more "cute" is a deciding. Lol. The roasting industry is still rude, while there are many mechachical roasting machines in a male society, Giesen can choose the design and coloring freely, so it's a good idea, even if it comes to me, even women are roasted I had a feeling of being able to be free. Therefore, we also decide coloring, pastel green (Japan's first!), Soon, wallpapers were also colored with flowers. My cute workplace has been completed!

Giesen is the official sponsor of World Coffee Roasting Chamionship, and is supported from many top offers as a world tournament model. The heat storage is high, and it is characterized in that it is characterized by being charged and stabilized and reproducible, while the digital control is also an advanced machine that actively incorporates digital control, and the roasted person can freely operate It is a popular reason for more accurate roasting. I'm rather a style of "roasting while consulting with beans", so it was actively test spoon and proceeds while confirming the condition of the beans, so it was fitted to my style.

-I want to pull out a soft and delicate flavor.I want people who are not good at coffee.

Small ball：Especially Person who likes new gourmet experience,People who do not like bitter coffee,People who like flavor and fragrant experiences like teaI want to drink.

There is a clear vision for our desired taste. Specifically, it is rich in flavor and wants to roast coffee with a balanced basis, taste, and sweetness. Of course, we emphasize cleanness (transparency) as trends and trends in the coffee world, but not only that, but I want to pull out the taste that suits the beans. I did not intend to stick to shallow roasting from the beginning, but in our field of our technology, I want to convey the fun of the maximum flavor, as a result of the search as a shallow roll lineup You will.

Not only that, "I want to deliver delicious and delicious things to customers quickly", making it a small number of varieties and caring out the quality of coffee beans. Especially, the fruit-based flavor needs to choose a freshness, and we are evaluating samples from various trading companies every week. Because it is a small shop, I would like to take care of its speed and release the new beans as it weekly.

I think that there is a possibility of the number of roasters. So I would like to have it.

Small ball:It is the best pleasure when you have roasted that you want to drink and taste it. Even with beans of the same farm, it will vary in that year. It is possible to extend the possibility to find out the flavor by roasting. Roasting is different for each person, and I think it is one of the semantic expressions because it is not exactly the same. There are a lot of great coffee shops in the middle rush, deep hurdly. Rather than seeking it, I respect you. That's why we will play with shallow roamy coffee. You can do it because we areI'm glad if you enjoy the view of the world of flavors, texture and elegance.

Now, in the style of order roasting, we roast it after ordering it and ship it in a fresh state. Because the supply is not large, we carefully roast while thinking of each customer. Since we are doing the shop with two people in real terms, we are proceeding little by little at our own pace, but we want to value communication with each person because there are no physical stores. Every order is handmade, not stocked, and we prepare it after we have ordered it. Sometimes I pack until after 2:00 a.m. lol.

- Roasting as a team has given me great growth.What we learned from the Roarst Mmasters Team Challenge 2019

Kodama:In 2019, we actively created time to learn. In May, I participated in the Q Arabica Grader training camp, in June I participated in a retreat (roasting camp), and the Roast Masters Team Challenge. In particular, I learned a lot about team challenges. Roasting tends to be a work alone by all means. But by sharing roasting with others, you can see unknown discoveries and ways of thinking about others. The Kanto A team was blessed with really good members, and we were blessed with a sense of achievement that we were blessed with a taste while discussing, and we were allowed to do what kind of approach we would take alone, and above all, we were left in shape. We are separated now, but we are still good friends.

- Coffee is from a package of cups.I hope you enjoy your new discoveries.

Kodama:Thanks to you, many people say "Cute! It has been well received lol. The most popular Sakura-Ume-Momo-li Premium Selection started with the hope that you would feel free to enjoy high-quality specialty coffee. You can enjoy 6 kinds of coffee.

The original roots are my friends' souvenir beans, and when coffee lovers gather, they sometimes bring only a cup of coffee beans as souvenirs. It's just a coffee party. In that way, it was easy to start by saying, "I hope I can easily carry around one package."

The other is to increase the number of chances of "new discoveries" as much as possible. The more you like coffee, the narrower your options tend to be. "I have such an interesting coffee!" I would be happy if the actual experience of the impression increased even a little.

Recently, we have started selling even one cup. This is the aim of making it easier to buy expensive coffee beans. Of course, the better ones are, the higher the price. We want the 20g style to be an approach to solving the challenge of how to lower the purchasing hurdle.

In addition, we will provide seasonal, various combinations, and other lineups to deliver "new discovery opportunities" to everyone. Of courseDelicious beans are a big premise lol. "Great coffee!" I would like to make it a familiar brand that can provide.I want you to handle it at coffee select shops, etc., and I want to create an experience where you can drink delicious coffee in everyday life like a small designer hotel.

- A message to the customers who support us.

Kodama:Thank you for your order! It is a small roastery in Sumida-ku, Tokyo, but I think that it should be familiar to customers. In the future, I would like to continue to liven up video distribution and SNS, so thank you for your support.

Thank you for reading to the end!

Shinji Kodama Profile

Raised in Los Angeles, USA. WashingtonDcAfter graduating from university, he returned to Japan.In addition to his work in the apparel industry, consultants, and English teachers, he became interested in roasting coffee and started home roasting using sample roasters.2019From 2000, he studied barista skills at a café in Harajuku. In addition, in addition, it is an international qualification to learn the taste technology of coffee in earnest.QGet arabica grader. And roasting camp retreats andRMTC2019to hone their roasting skills.10In May, personal projectsLily& Coffee And opened a store at an event in Yamagata.2020World Congress official roasting machine in 2008GiesenIntroduced. Based on his brightness and inquiring mind, he continues to train roasting techniques in search of a new generation of specialty coffee.