This month’s #KurasuPartnerRoaster is HSKWKF (Hoshikawa cafe) in Kumagaya, Saitama.
The owner, Suzuki-san first opened his flagship store on Hoshikawa-dori in 2009, and has been successfully growing the community in Saitama with 2 additional shops opened in the area in the following years. Suzuki-san roasts his coffee beloved by not only locally but nationally with his vintage 5kg Probat at a roastery that celebrates its 13th anniversary soon.
Suzuki-san’s first encounter with coffee was with a flavored coffee he tried at Gloria Jean's Coffees in Melbourne, 16 years ago. One thing led to another, he found himself running their first branch in the Kanto area after coming back to Japan. Suzuki-san was pursuing his career in the music industry before stepping into the world of coffee- but the unstable nature of the industry and in the memory of his grandfather who used to run a kissaten, he decided to follow a completely different path. Later on he was captivated by the charm of specialty coffee, and that prompted him to move another step forward and open his own shop, HSKWKF.
Each of his 3 shops has different concepts- each tailored to the local community to really be integrated with people’s lives there, and to contribute to the growth of the community by joining the events and festivals. When a roaster runs several shops with different concepts they often use coffee of different grades and roasting levels to adapt to the needs of their customers. Suzuki-san, however, approaches the business differently- he uses the same, high quality, finely selected specialty coffee but applying them differently by adjusting the grind size and yields, perfectly accommodating varieties of tastes and needs of each of his customers.
Another notable point of this Saitama’s leading roaster is their beautiful package art. Each piece is hand drawn by Suzuki-san, inspired by his experience with each coffee. When you receive the parcel, take a moment to have a look, and imagine the flavor and how Suzuki-san sees the world.
“For me, roasting and serving coffee is like an act of capturing and expressing the nature of coffee through our Another notable point of this Saitama’s leading roaster is their beautiful package art. Each piece is hand drawn by Suzuki-san, inspired by his experience with each coffee. When you receive the parcel, take a moment to have a look, and imagine the flavor and how Suzuki-san sees the world.
camera lens- I hope, one day, we get to visit the producers in person. I hope you'll like what we deliver”, Suzuki-san shared his philosophy with his usual, shy smile. Suzuki-san is also hoping to become a role model of the young generation of Saitama, aspiring to grow with their hometown- HSKWKF will surely continue to be the inspiration to many in the emerging specialty coffee scene in Saitama.
