Hi everyone! Did you know we serve specialty coffee AND original sweets?
Today I'd like to share with you the story behind Kashi by Kurasu, our original sweets brand.
Why did Kurasu, a specialty coffee shop, began baking sweets? Who is baking them?
By the time you get to the end of the blog post, hopefully you'll have a better understanding of Kashi by Kurasu and our passion for coffee and sweets. Let's get into it!
We Have Coffee. Now We Need Sweets.
From day one of opening our doors at Kurasu Kyoto Stand, we have continuously worked to serve our customers with the best cup of coffee.
Following our passion for coffee, we all share the same goal: "We want to make our customers' coffee scene more fulfilling."
We realized that there was one thing missing in our cafes that had prevented us from moving forward to fulfill this goal; we needed sweets, or "kashi/菓子" in Japanese. Sweets play an essential role in enhancing the flavours and aroma of coffee and we knew had to start baking sweets of our own to maximize the potential of our coffee.
In 2021, we moved our roastery from Fushimi Inari to Nishijin. At the same time, we installed a brand new kitchen space and invited Natsuko to join our team.
The journey of Kashi by Kurasu begins here.
Meet Our Pastry Chef: Natsuko
Prior to joining Kurasu, Natsuko worked as a barista for four years at a coffee shop in Kyoto, while also attending evening courses at a confectionery college. Her passion and deep understanding for coffee is one of her greatest strengths as a pastry chef at Kurasu. Her experience as a barista helps her to come up with sweets that pair beautifully with our coffee. The tender sweetness of her cakes and cookies enhances the fragrant aroma of coffee, and the two bring out the best in each other.
"Sweets have the power to make you happy. But when pairing it with coffee, you need to be careful that sweets will not override the subtle, delicate aroma and aftertaste of coffee. I try to aim for the perfect balance of sweetness and aroma when baking sweets to accompany coffee." - Natsuko
Natsuko has always been a fan of Kurasu long before joining the team, having deep understanding for Kurasu. She was exactly the right person to start the sweets brand. Although she did feel the pressure of starting up the brand, in the end she accepted the offer from our General Manager Ayaka and joined the team. Ever since, she has dedicated her time and effort to produce delicious sweets and pushed Kurasu through to a new stage - Thanks Natsuko!
"Many customers with various preferences visit Kurasu. That's why I would like to offer vegan and gluten-free sweets in addition to regular sweets. I try to keep the ingredients simple, and offer tasty sweets to all of our customers."
Join Us For a Coffee Break
All of our sweets baked by Natsuko are available in our Kyoto Stand, Ebisugawa and Nishijin Roastery.
Snowball cookies using our matcha and hojicha powder, coffee financier cakes made using House Blend Dark...All of these delicious sweets go perfectly well with our specialty coffee.
Stay tuned for further updates on Kashi by Kurasu on Instagram - make sure to follow us on instagram at kurasu.kyoto!
Regular Hours
Kyoto Stand
・MON-FRI 12pm-6pm (Closed WED)
・SAT-SUN 8am-6pm
Ebisugawa
MON-SUN 10am-6pm
Nishijin Roastery
Every second Saturday of the month 10am-4pm (Changes announced on instagram)
