Hello.

This is Kosuke from Kurasu.

How did you like the Barista Blend project?

 It was still chilly when I started the project. Now the cherry blossoms have fallen and it is getting warmer.

 In this project, I selected only 5 kinds of beans for the baristas.

Can you guess what they were? Brazil, Guatemala, Colombia, El Salvador, and Ethiopia. First, I asked each barista, which bean is their favorite and least favorite.

 It is a precious thing to simply enjoy the delicious taste. At the same time, I believe it is also very important as a coffee provider to think about why the taste is very special to me. I think this is also true for our customers.

 When we baristas find our own sense of taste, we want to make something special.

Here we go on the project!

 No matter how much you like coffee or how good it is, if you aim to make a cup that you’d want to drink every day it will make you happy every time and you won’t get bored, but you may also feel desire to drink something different.

 Even Kume, who loves Ethiopian coffee, would tire of drinking the same crispy sharp espresso every day.

 Setting aside the fact that you could enjoy a break with an espresso, adding and removing certain nuances to a blend is the best part. On the other hand, it is not easy to achieve the exact flavors you imagine.

 At first it was very difficult because the imagined flavor that we were aiming for was vague.

 Even so, little by little Mizuki was able to discover her favorite highlights in the blend she made, through the repeated process of adding things, and removing them.

 Unfortunately we can no longer drink that blend, but if someone told her that they enjoyed its whimsical, lingering aroma of Ethiopia, she would probably be pleased.

Hitomi also went through the same process of trial and error. Her approach was different from Mizuki’s, and it was interesting.

 In order to eliminate preconceptions, basically all cupping was done blind. Hitomi could not bring herself to choose her favorite flavors.

 She didn't want to choose something that the people around her expected her to.

 At the same time, as she chose beans that were out of the ordinary for herself for the blend’s main flavor, it was difficult for her to create a taste that she was satisfied with.

 She kept saying, “not this,” and "not that.” She ended up with a blend of two of her favorite beans.

 Hitomi created this blend by instinct—it was "the Hitomi Blend". lol

 After making the new House Blend Light, I realized that as the name suggests, it was in fact a light roast.

 When I thought about the significance of this light roast, I knew that I wanted as many people as possible to enjoy the variety of flavors, fresh acidity, and fruitiness of fresh coffee.

 This is also the reason why I chose Colombian specialty coffee, with its bright citrus flavor and juicy fruitiness, for the main beans.

 This is just a process.

 Our mission is to establish ourselves in the best position to pass on our fascination with coffee.

 I want as many people as possible to enjoy the same delicious flavors as we do.

 The final step to complete our blend was to fill in the gaps.

 In fact, the new House Blend Light is roasted lighter than the last one, but I roasted it darker than I intended. This was best, because the resulting balance makes the most of its fresh, fruity flavors.

As I mentioned earlier in this article, when this project started, I wanted our baristas to begin each day with joy. This is why I began the project.

 As a result of the realizations and discoveries made during this project, I believe that we were able to create a wonderful house blend, and establish ourselves in the best way to pass on our fascination with coffee.

 This is the new House Blend Light presented by Kurasu.

 I hope you enjoy it for a long time. Thank you.

Kosuke