Hey everyone, it’s Kosuke.

Today, I will tell you about the time when our roasting room suddenly turned into Gesha Village. ...I can sense your confusion. But I can explain.

Before we get to it, I just wanted to check if you have heard about a word, “profile”. To put it simply, it’s about how to roast the beans.

It can take a day of trial and error to get the full characteristics of each coffee, discovering details such as “I can roast this one with high heat from the beginning”, or “I shouldn’t lower the heat until the very end for this one”, and because there is not one single roasting solution, it means we try many different ways of roasting before reaching the “aha!” moment. Our software keeps a detailed log of the roasting process, and we call that a“profile”.

So, back to the Gesha Village in Kyoto.

My head is usually filled with ideas and thoughts 24/7 about what I will try in the next roasting session. That’s especially the case ahead of a test roasting with new beans. I’m thinking about it so much that sometimes it gives me sleepless nights, like when I suddenly have a flash of inspiration the night before the roasting day, and I become too excited to sleep.

Our new Ethiopian Gesha Village gave me quite the struggle to sleep too – I was going through my past logs, reflecting on the many pieces of information scattered in my head...and then it happened. The next day was my roasting day so I tried the idea out straight away, and when I got to the Gesha beans after going through 10 batches of other beans, they looked somewhat happy, as if they knew it would be a successful day.

The first half of the roasting process went on as I predicted, and the key moment was just around the corner as the beans started to crack and develop. As the timer counted 1 minute and 9 seconds, 10, 12, 14, 16...and the next moment, an abundance of sweet, floral aroma bursted out of the machine, so intense that it felt like I was transported to Gesha Village, full of blooming flowers.

I even thought for a moment that flower petals, instead of beans, will flood out if I open the roasting chamber! Just kidding...

I was relieved that they were still beans when they came out, but I hope I conveyed at least a tiny part of how nice it was, the aroma that filled the roasting room. A few days later I opened a container of the same beans and this time they smelt like a banana. Moments like this remind me of the privilege of being a roaster.

I really wish I could share this amazing experience with you, but actually, anyone can “go” to Gesha Village if you follow my instructions below.

Here you go.

<How to go to Gesha Village>

1) Go to Kurasu’s online shop and order a bag of Ethiopia Gesha Village Chaka Natural.

2) Once you received the bag, check out the roasting day. If it was less than 7 days ago, be patient, it must have been roasted at least 7 days ago. If it’s already been 7 days or more, they are ready to go.

3) Blow your nose to clear it out.

4) Give the bag a good shake before opening.

5) Immediately open the bag right under your nose.

6) Close your eyes and you will find yourself standing in Gesha Village.

See you there,

Kosuke