This month’s #KurasuPartnerRoaster is PASSAGE COFFEE from Tokyo, making this our third collaboration since 2020.
Their owner, Sasaki-san, became the first Japanese world champion at the World AeroPress Championship in 2014. Inspired by the vision of “making specialty coffee a part of morning culture,” Sasaki-san opened his first shop in Tamachi in 2017. Today, PASSAGE COFFEE operates four locations in Tokyo, including its roastery. We asked Sasaki-san to share his current take on coffee.
The coffees Sasaki-san selected for our subscription both come from origins he personally visited. The Ethiopian coffee is sourced from an exporter he has worked with since his days at Paul Bassett. “It gets better every year—it’s amazing,” says Sasaki-san. In January this year, he visited the washing station and dry mill that he’s sourced from for many years. He was especially impressed by the meticulous sorting process at the dry mill. “That level of strict quality control explains why the coffee is so consistently good,” he remarked. Moreover, he observed meaningful social initiatives on the ground—proceeds going toward building a local elementary school, and seasonal workers receiving advance payments. “These are the kind of producers I want to keep supporting,” he shared.
As for the Colombian coffee, Sasaki-san describes the origin as “a region where you really feel that coffee is about people connecting with people.” Fair Field Trading, the partner he visited, works closely with small-scale farmers, and their environment and work ethic are directly reflected in the cup. When visiting the farms, he felt the producers’ deep passion for coffee. Among them, Astrid Medina-san’s coffee is one he buys every year. “Each season, I look forward to seeing how her coffee will roast and taste,” he smiled.
Sasaki-san explains his approach to roasting that he focuses on “highlighting a structured acidity—like building a backbone—while maintaining balance and a clean cup.” The cast-iron Giesen roaster boasts power which brings out sweetness very well, but Sasaki-san carefully manages the development process to avoid over-roasting. “How not to over-develop the flavor—that’s a key theme in my roasting.”
Looking ahead, Sasaki-san aims to focus on opening a new roastery while also improving the quality at his existing locations. “Beyond just coffee quality, I want to elevate the value of the coffee shop as a space—a place for social interaction,” he said. “At our shops, we want to cherish the space created by baristas and customers— a place born of interaction between people.”
Despite the physical distance between the origins and the consumers, Sasaki-san and PASSAGE COFFEE continue to connect and encourage us to cross paths - leading us to a great cup of coffee.
