Guatemala

Beans: Guatemala
Roaster: Rokuyosha
Roasting Degree: Medium 

【Impression】
Dark to medium dark, smooth body, nutty sweetness, roasted black soy beans sweet & bitter aroma, sweetness of Hazel nuts  with a tip of cacao nibs bitterness, mellow, mature, well-balanced, a thin layer of light bitterness mixed with a tint, mild acidity of Kumquat, thick sweetness of Dutch black cocoa in core, tangy bitterness followed by a tip of citric acidity as  a long lasting aftertaste.
Good combination with almond milk creamer to enhance nutty flavor.  Combination with light texture of sweets, like Pâte feuilletée, Palmiers, may create wonderful tea break.
Sourness enhanced once a cup gets cold. 

【Note】
Typical Guatemalan flavor: fruity, aroma-full, well-balanced, mellow, light acidity cored with sweetness and average flavor balance.  This may fit with water brew methods to extract full flavor, "essence", of the beans.  


     




【Roasting】
Due to roasting volume, light charcoal like bitterness detected when water temperature is high.  It seems that high temperature enhance bitterness and diminish Sweetness of beans.  Although it's changing, average size of roasting machine in Japan is smaller compared with US.  As it said, the highest quality coffee beans has been shipped to this island country so that roasting technique is developed in a aspect of "HOW TO educe flavor of beans".  The smaller size roasting machines has higher ability to manage lighter degree roasting, which somehow fits to the country of space limitation.  

Cuba

Beans: Cuba
Roaster: Rokuyosha
Roasting Degree: Medium Dark

【Impression】
Light to medium, transparent but tangy body, spicy citric aroma with a tint vanilla aroma, unique, complex, cacao beans, a pinch of white pepper with demerara crystal sugar, moderate bitterness, raw almond sweetness, anise, a thin layer of gentle bitterness over rice malt like mild sweetness as a short lasting aftertaste.

【Note】
This one comes from Rokuyosha Chika-ten, which I called "the Real Rokuyosha".
There are variety of single origin coffee offered  there but ID by only names of country.  Rokuyosha stays traditional style, not ruffled by "the wave" of specialty coffee or single origin.  Their standing position is stable: offering flavorful beans with respect.
It's relieved to know that "trend" does not strong enough to drift or to wash all coffee roasters/cafes to single origin, COE, or something new. 

Rokuyosha Chika-ten

 Take an hour in the afternoon to unplug yourself from the merry-go-round world at Rokuyosha Chika-ten, where provides luxurious and hidden space for coffee lover with a fine mixture of retro and modern elements.  Once you step in, time will stop.

Rokuyosha is a coffee roaster as well, so that there are always variety of fresh roasted beans from selected estates and countries available at Chika-ten.  Having a wonderful hand-brew cup with doughnuts there may provide "FULL TIME OFF", and take out beans may extend coffee break even longer.  Taste a cup there and take out.

  

   

Today's selection are Cuba and Guatemala.

The roaster added unique flavors to beans by roasting technique so that flavor become even special. 

ROKUYOSHA Original Blend

Beans: Original Blend

Roaster: Rokuyosha Coffee

Roasting degree: City

【 Impression 】

Medium Dark, full bod y w/ light texture, lemony + lime mixed with Roasted Forastero Cacao beans aroma, tangy bitterness combined with thin layer of barley malts' sweetness, acidity of grapefruits on top, light chocolate flavor as a long lasting aftertaste with growing freshly roasted almonds flavor.  Well balanced and harmonized coffee.  Unlike visual impression, flavor gives dark full bodied, flavor-full.  Texture is light as water but the harmony of aroma and flavor leaves strong impression with a layer of long lasting after taste.

【Note】
Well balanced and selected combination of beans comes certainly from Roasting and blending techniques of Chika-ten.  This blend beans are sold ROKUYOSHA on the ground, reasonable price for morning coffee.  Kyoto Coffee shops often rise their prices with reputation, but it does not apply to Rokuyosha.    

Rokuyosha Coffee ten

 If you are in Kyoto, visit Rokuyosha coffee on Kawara-machi, Sanjyo.
Many many Japanese cafe, Kissa-ten, allow you to stay enough time to infiltrate your "parched" body with a cup of coffee, but not to relax fully.  There are always a line in front of a cafe urges you through "assistance" of waiters/waitresses, unsaid pressure.  It is difficult to find Starbucks type, "stay as long as you want" type, Kissa-ten in Japan, especially in a tourist area like Shijo/Sanjyo.

Rokuyosha is the one.


Comfortable and cozy small cafe allow you to stay with a cup of coffee and books/newspaper...and with a cigar.   For Non smokers & coffee lovers, I recommend to dive in Chika-ten, Rokuyosha underground.

I may say Chika-ten is ROKUYOSHA.
The reputations of ROKUYOSHA has been created by this Chika-ten, which serves flavorful dark roast beans, well harmonized blends, and well chosen specialty beans.  Without a doubt, a cup of coffee here gives you a moment to relax yourself with a cup and a sweets, reasonably priced.  Doughnuts they have costs you only JPY120, amazing price for Kissa-ten.
As the sign says, Chika-ten's atmosphere is "a bar" type, a little bit dark with down-lights, a counter, narrow space, and so on, but comfortable for a coffee lover to drop in.  The cafe welcomes you and entertains you with a cup of dark flavorful coffee selection.
    
Chika-ten opens at 11am, so come and join your afternoon and evening cup.  Rokuyosha on the ground opens earlier but serves only one BLEND coffee; so, I recommend to go to Chika-ten if you LOVE coffee and want to ENJOY full aspects of your cup.