Hi everyone!

Introducing our new blog series "Our Coffee Story." 

Kurasu is a team of coffee lovers and in this series, we'd like to share each member's personal side centred around coffee. 

Today Nao from the Overseas Marketing Team will share her story. Having no prior experience working in the coffee industry, she used to occasionally visit Kurasu as a customer. 

Read along to find out how she grew up with coffee and her favourite brew gears!

Chapter 1 
"Coffee and communication" 

Chapter 2
"Diving into the world of specialty coffee"

Chapter 3
"My favourite brew gears

Chapter 1: "Coffee and communication" 

My parents love coffee, so it was natural to find coffee in a family scene. 

I moved to Australia with my family when I was 5 years old, and spent 11 years of my childhood there. After class, my parents would pick me up to drive me to my dance classes and they would wait for me in a cafe. I always looked forward to joining their coffee break with a babycino - brings back good memories! 

Although I couldn't drink coffee at the time, I have grown up seeing my parents appreciate the taste of coffee and enjoy conversations in coffee shops with their friends. I found coffee in every scene of communication, and how I wished I could drink it myself!

I ended up returning to Japan without being able to take a single sip of coffee, but I was able to achieve my dream of "having a casual chat with friends over coffee" several years later in the UK. 

Chapter 2: "Diving into the world of specialty coffee"

I spent a year in university studying abroad in the UK. By then I was able to drink coffee but mainly for productivity purposes. 

The city I studied in was small yet it was home to many individual coffee shops. I quickly became fascinated with the uniqueness of each coffee shop, and enjoyed coffee shop hopping with my friends after class. Time quickly passed by as we talked about our backgrounds and school life; I experienced first-hand how good coffee can bring people together. 

I was very fortunate to become friends with a coffee expert; he taught me a lot about great coffee shops and introduced me to specialty coffee. He would invite his friends over to his flat and brewed us delicious light roast coffee. I still remember how exhausting it was grinding light roast coffee beans for the first time with his hand grinder. We still keep in contact and of course I messaged him with the news of joining Kurasu!

Reflecting on my time in the UK, I was able to experience "coffee and communication," something I admired my parents doing during our time in Australia. Needless to say I'm building up fun memories with coffee and friends, family and colleagues to this day - I'm sure I will be sharing many more coffee breaks with the people I love!

Chapter 3: "My favourite brew gears"

My favourite dripper is ORIGAMI dripper. 

I've always enjoyed drinking coffee especially since my experience in the UK, but I never had the chance to start brewing coffee myself until I moved out from home to live on my own in 2020. You've guessed it, I had loads of time on my own in the midst of COVID, and thought I would give home-brewing a go. It helped me ease the stress and anxiety, too. 

I purchased an entire home-brew set-up at Kurasu Ebisugawa. I still remember our director Ayaka-san explaining to me how yellow origami dripper set with coffee grounds would look like a sunflower. In addition to the yellow origami dripper, I also bought Tetsu Kasuya kettle, Pitchii server and Wilfa grinder as I started experimenting with home-brews. 

I personally love ORIGAMI for the sweet and clean taste it produces. Equally to the functionality, I simply appreciate the resemblance of sunflower. I usually brew coffee at home when I'm feeling tired or want to stay cozy at home, and brewing with this cute dripper would brighten up my mood.

For the recipe, I follow Kurasu basic brew guide. Kosuke-san mentioned that the key to success is keeping the time and ratio, so I do my best to perform each brew with consistency. By keeping a fixed recipe, I can notice the subtle differences among each brew and I'd know what to work on for next time.

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How was Nao's story? Coffee brings people together and boosts conversations; it's a common communication tool amongst people around the world. 

Who will be sharing their coffee story next? Stay tuned to find out more about Kurasu staff members!