haiz coffee in Toyama is this month’s #KurasuPartnerRoaster. “haiz” is read as “haze”, and their philosophy is that “nothing in life is concrete, and everything is like an ever-changing haze. In such a world, the taste of coffee you feel in this moment is the only certain thing you can feel.” haiz coffee focuses on “tasting the moment in this unstable/fluid world” - we asked the owner, Kitagawa-san, about how haiz coffee as a roaster and an importer started and what the future holds for them.
2021 was near to the end when Kitagawa-san and the roaster, Shimizu-san, opened haiz coffee. Kitagawa-san was previously pursuing his career in the IT industry until he met Shimizu-san, and stepped into the world of specialty coffee. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted Kitagawa-san to change his view on work and life, and to want to work internationally. With a love for specialty coffee already in him, Kitagawa-san immediately started the company, and flew to Colombia.
“I remember flying only with a few dozen people on the plane, to meet the coffee producer face to face for the first time. Given I had very little knowledge and experience, everything was so fresh and surprising", Kitagawa-san reflects. While most people would gain experience as a roaster first before starting their origin visits, Kitagawa-san just jumped into it, and came back to Japan with 20kg of green beans. Despite some delays due to the pandemic, they finally opened haiz coffee roastery in March 2023.
They describe the haiz coffee’s identity as a roaster as “Being for the Culture”- they make sure that their every purchase contributes to and encourages a positive cycle in the coffee culture. haiz coffee sources their beans from Colombian small-scale farmers, focusing on the areas’ microclimates and varieties’ characteristics so that their customers can feel the atmosphere of the land and the terroir. “Directly importing the beans enables us to offer the very first lot in the whole world”, Kitagawa-san says.
haiz coffee has already opened their second shop in the Hidatakayama area in Gifu, and they are even planning to open more shops overseas and set up more import bases. Enjoy the terroir of Colombia, and do not miss haiz coffee’s supersonic progress as it flies on!
