This month’s Kurasu Partner Roaster is MANLY COFFEE from Fukuoka.

In this episode of How They Brew, Sunaga-san shares an AeroPress recipe that has remained largely unchanged since they first started using the brewer in 2010.

The method is simple: 14g of coarsely ground coffee, 200g of water at 92°C, and a one-minute steep. After stirring, the coffee is pressed slowly and evenly, stopping at the first sound of air instead of pushing the plunger all the way through. This small detail helps keep the finish clean.

A bright and refreshing Kenyan coffee

For this brew, Sunaga-san uses a washed coffee from Kenya’s Ki Factory. The resulting cup is vivid and refreshing, with notes reminiscent of tomato juice, blood orange, fresh herbs, ume, and shiso. It is a coffee that tastes beautiful both hot and iced.

Coffee is beautiful, life is beautiful

MANLY COFFEE has been serving coffee for nearly 18 years, guided by a phrase that has remained at its heart:

Coffee is beautiful, life is beautiful.

For Sunaga-san, this is not a goal to be completed, but an idea to return to every day: facing oneself, staying close to coffee, and trying to create something filled with good energy and love.

A recipe refined through repetition, and a philosophy lived day by day. This is how MANLY COFFEE brews.

AeroPress recipe

Method

1. Rinse the paper filter and discard the rinse water.
2. Add 14g of coarsely ground coffee to the AeroPress and level the coffee bed.
3. Start the timer and pour all 200g of water in one continuous pour over approximately 20 seconds.
4. Stir to make sure all the coffee is evenly saturated, then attach the plunger and steep until 1:00.
5. At 1:00, remove the plunger, stir gently, and reattach it.
6. Press slowly and evenly. Stop when you hear the first “pssh” of air, without pressing all the way through.
7. Stir the brewed coffee and enjoy.