Journal from Japan No. 3 - A Conversation with Masahiko Fumimoto; Roastery Owner and Competition Judge
“Here I can do more. I want to be a better judge, barista, and roaster, to elevate my level, and then I can contribute to the coffee industry, society, and also the coffee farmers … that’s my motivation.” From world traveler to coffee competition judge, Masahiko Fumimoto’s life features no shortage of captivating experiences in a multitude of places and with people of various backgrounds coming together to make magic happen. Masahiko is a seasoned coffee professional with a decade and a half of experience in the industry. He’s worked with some of the most incredible coffees on offer and interacted with a multitude of champion baristas during that time, both regionally and on the world scale. It started with $1 lattes at gas stations in Melbourne in 2010 and has evolved to judging the Specialty Coffee Association of Japan’s Brewers Cup, Japan’s most prestigious coffee tournament. In 2016 he founded Mel Coffee Roasters in Osaka, Japan, which is in the process of expanding to a new location where they will be offering a unique coffee experience (more on that later). It was my privilege and honor to sit down with him for a chat. In this candid interview, we discuss his journey, the shifting dynamics in the coffee industry, and get into the weeds regarding a few highly technical aspects of coffee brewing and roasting. Here is my conversation with Masahiko Fumimoto.
The Coffee Plug: “Only one place to start, how did Masahiko Fumimoto get into coffee, and what did the beginnings of that journey look like?”
Masahiko: “I was actually traveling around the world for one year. I was an engineer before I started traveling, then after traveling, I found myself thinking that maybe in the future learning English would be better for communicating with others and will also help connect me [to job opportunities]. I decided that I needed to go to another country to learn English, and I chose Australia because it was very easy to get a visa. It was 2010 when I got to Melbourne, there were so many people drinking coffee. I was impressed. The coffee culture there is amazing and at the time was so different compared to Japan. In Melbourne, they have had specialty-grade coffee [for a long time]. At first, I didn't try specialty coffee because I didn't have much money, but I would still go to the convenience store to buy lattes, where they sell a $1 latte using just a basic espresso machine. But I saw so many lines for coffee shops, and then after maybe two or three months, I tried that first real coffee and it was so amazing it changed my life. It was a place called Brother Baba Buda, it's a very famous coffee stand serving Seven Seeds Coffee. This was the first specialty coffee that I tried. I thought there was not only a coffee taste but also a fruit taste. And I found out, oh, this is real coffee. That was just a latte, but even the latte had a real taste. Before, when I was in Japan I had tried only canned coffee, which was a type of coffee that just had a roasty and smoky flavor. This was still in 2010, that's when my coffee life started, and I tried to find a job as a barista in Melbourne. But it was very difficult to get the job because being a barista is more like a trade there. You need a technique, baristas take pride in how they make coffee, and they truly know about coffee. It was tough to find, but after 6 months, I found a job and then I started working.”
TCP: “How long did you work in coffee before you knew you wanted to start your own coffee company?”
Masahiko: “In Melbourne, I worked for two years as a barista, and then I came back to Japan where I worked at another coffee shop called Mill Pour. That coffee shop was a small coffee stand, but at that time, it was 2012, it was the only coffee shop that had specialty coffee in Osaka. I went to so many shops, but they didn't have specialty coffee beans, or they imported coffee beans from the US.”
TCP: “So, I'm assuming then your idea, and your thinking, was we need more specialty coffee in Osaka, and I’m the one who can do that. I can bring it here.”
Masahiko: “Yes, precisely.”
TCP: “How many different coffee shops have you worked in? Which was your favorite?”
Masahiko: I still like Mill Pour. Yeah, Mill Pour is my favorite. Also Rumble Coffee Roasters in Melbourne. So only a few shops I had experience at [before starting Mel Coffee].”
TCP: “You're now a coffee judge. You judged the Specialty Coffee Association of Japan Brewers Cup most recently. Before judging competitions, I imagine you participated in competitions.”
Masahiko: “I actually started as a judge first. For the Brewers Cup, it was 2015. That was around the time Tetsu Kasuya won the World Brewers Cup [becoming the competition’s first champion from Asia]. After two or three years I became the head judge for the Japan Brewers Cup and right now I still keep going with that. But I also competed in roasting at the Specialty Coffee Association of Japan Roasters Championship in 2019, where I got third place.”
TCP: “Very cool. You have done that since 2015, it’s 2025 now, so a whole decade of competition experience for you in some capacity. Over the course of those years, what were your experiences like? How did you evolve the way in which you approach judging competitions, in terms of what you were looking for?”
Masahiko: “I started judging because I wanted to contribute to the coffee industry [in a different way]. Up to that point, I was only buying and selling coffee for a living, so I wanted to do something different, something to help and contribute [on a deeper level]. Judges are volunteers. I wanted to try it, but I didn't have much passion to compete. I wanted to be a judge because I just started my coffee shop and was only thinking about taste. [In judging] it's important to know what is good and bad about coffee. If you’re just tasting by yourself, you can only think [internally], okay, this is good and this is bad. But if you compare it to judges, you can have a reference and learn what’s actually good and what’s actually bad.”
Competition provides regulations and standards for coffee, which could be translated into they way in which you speak to a customer about it. The key point Masahiko is making here is that to test your abilities, one must put their ideas into a setting where they have the potential for peer review. There is little to no point remaining in an internal feedback loop. Eventually, if you wish to be great at a craft such as coffee, you are going to have to expose yourself to the opinion of others who have done it before you. This is only a good thing as it forces you to confront your flaws and allows you to grow in the field.
TCP: “You mentioned having an impact on the coffee industry. When you’re judging you have all kinds of competitors that come across your plate, and giving direct feedback to competitors has a direct influence on the coffee industry, because then they go back to wherever they are working, they take what you noted and apply that.
What are your thoughts on brewing competitions versus roasting competitions versus latte art competitions? Do you prefer one of them? Which ones do you think are the best test for a coffee professional?”
Masahiko: “I still like the Brewers Cup.”
TCP: “Brewing allows somebody to showcase their talents the most?”
Masahiko: “Yes. Because for espresso you need a machine [which isn’t attainable for everyone]. I made so many espresso cups in Melbourne and I'm kind of sick of it. I came back to Japan and started brewing coffee myself. My best pour-over coffee was from Matt Perger in Melbourne though, in 2010. I had his coffee, and it was so amazing. He later became the World Brewers Cup champion. I was thinking that when I go back to Japan, I'll start brewing myself. It's more simple and I can drink it without milk, and I can enjoy it at home.”
TCP: “What inspires you to open cafés, participate as a judge in the coffee competitions, etc.? I know you mentioned having that impact on the industry, but is there anything else which keeps you motivated, and keeps you going?”
Masahiko: “My motivation went down for three years during COVID because I was supposed to open this shop [that we’re sitting in currently, it’s under construction and set to open in Spring 2025], but I couldn't. After 3 years I founded this shop, so right now this shop, and a future third shop, is my motivation. I can do more with coffee. My one shop right now is just a coffee stand and is so busy with orders that I can’t do anything else. Sometimes I can talk to the customer, but over there, every day, it’s just a long queue and it’s very difficult to do something else with coffee. Here I can do more. I want to be a better judge, barista, and roaster, to elevate my level, and then I can contribute to the coffee industry, society, and also the coffee farmers. In the future, I want to do my own fermentation and drying with coffee farmers to create something new. That’s my motivation right now.”
TCP: Starting on slightly more technical coffee topics now, how does technology factor into your roasting versus simply trusting your sensory skills? Tell me about finding the balance in that.
Masahiko: “That's a difficult question. I learned to roast myself. I’ve since developed a brewing and a roasting reference. If you don't have a reference, I can't believe you made great coffee. I always need to see a reference, [a visual representation of] why the coffee is good. I learned what is important and what is less important in coffee with friends.”
What he means by reference here is a collection of notes and charts that accurately pinpoint roast trajectories or brewing techniques. These are a visual representation of his methodology, proving why the coffee is good, which he can use to present to professionals in the industry detailing precisely why he knows the coffee was roasted or brewed well.
“With this, now I know when you drink a coffee that certain things, for example, come through in the lower or upper parts of the tongue, or [some things, like darkness or harshness, you’ll pick up] from the nose. Chemicals impact roasting. For example, trigonelline [a plant alkaloid in coffee which affects both taste and aromas], it's usually 6 minutes, or whenever you get to 180 degrees Celsius, that trigonelline starts to break down. So, let’s say you want to roast a geisha varietal, you need to roast very fast because you want to create more floral notes. If you roast for a long time, you waste the floral notes. So, because you roast very short, [the resulting coffee usually has a clear and present trigonelline element] for geisha because we roast it very fast. So, I consider coffee varietal, bean processing, moisture content, and the activity of all those things. This is how I approach roasting and create my own style. But there is no perfect approach to roasting, actually. I trust myself and talk to coffee lovers, friends, and judges.”
TCP: “That’s the sensory part of the selection process for coffee, trusting yourself, and then later on the word of others.”
Masahiko: “Yes, sensory skills are important in the selection process. Usually, it’s just roast, cupping, roast, cupping, roast, and so on, that’s it.”
TCP: “Then later on the technical stuff and references follow.”
Masahiko: “Then slowly I get more references, and over time I develop my way to roast. So, back to trigonelline, the trigonelline will develop usually in 6 minutes or 180 degrees Celsius. Usually, the roast is 7 to 8 minutes for the light roasted coffee, or within 9 minutes, but still either way the trigonelline will be here [after 6 minutes]. I track chemical compounds like caffeine, chlorogenic acid, as well as the length of the development stage.”
TCP: “Basically just tracking each of these chemical compounds in the coffee and how they progress through the various stages of the roast.”
Masahiko: “Yes, so before roasting we need to know all these things. Especially right now, with so many people doing their own techniques in fermentation. Longer fermentation leads to more viscosity and is a little bitter. These are basic skills: distinguishing acidity, sweetness, and bitterness. So, when you roast, where do you want to cut the roast? It's the same with brewing.”
TCP: “This is exactly where we bring technology in to track each of these things. Do you have a favorite software you use for roasting?”
Masahiko: “Cropster.”
TCP: “Cropster, yeah that’s a familiar one. Same question now, but for brewing.”
Masahiko: “For brewing, it's the same thing. Before brewing you need to know about the coffee beans also.”
TCP: “This helps you understand where you want to ‘cut’ or end the brew.”
Masahiko: “You need to know, through cupping, what the coffee is like. After you know the beans, you know what’s easy to extract or not. Then you need to find out which kettle and which dripper to use, and why. You need to develop a reference.”
This is where we begin to get really nerdy with it. Pour yourself a fresh cup of coffee and buckle up for the ride.
TCP: “Absolutely. Most of what we talk about in craft coffee brewing these days are the differences in the drippers you use and how much of an effect that has. For example, in terms of temperature control, if you're using plastic, you're going to lose temperature versus a ceramic dripper which is going to hold that temperature better. All these things are hugely important for the final cup.”
Masahiko: “Yes, everything has an effect.”
TCP: “Do you have something that tracks those things for brewing?”
Masahiko: “I do, it’s an Ultrakoki [all-in-one scale and dripper] and for the kettle I use Epeios. I’ve tried so many different drippers and kettles. The water must go straight down, in a direct center pour, not down the side [bypassing the coffee]. Epeios is the best [for getting that precise center pour]. But there is still always a problem. No matter if you're using Epeios or Brewista or something else, everything has this problem: the bottom of the kettle is hotter than the top. [Also, the spout is at a lower temperature than the rest of the kettle]. For the perfect brew, you need the temperature inside the kettle to be consistent. So before I brew, I will pour out 50ml of water. This heats the gooseneck of the kettle. I’m always thinking about the kettle. But in addition to the kettle, I need to think about the temperature of the ground coffee. Ultrakoki will track the temperature [of the bed of coffee]. Every day the weather changes. In the winter, if you pour water that’s 100 degrees Celsius, it’s not actually 100 degrees in the ground coffee, it will drop to 83 degrees Celsius. In the summer if we brew at 100 degrees, the temperature [in the coffee bed] is maybe 96 degrees. All of this affects the brew. You also need to check things like the weight, and the water loss. Ultrakoki has built-in capabilities to track this [time, temperature, ratio], so that’s why it’s the best, in my opinion. Apart from that, I’m also thinking about the paper. I’ve tried so many hydrophobic papers, I think over 50. I’ve gotten some from Taiwan and some from elsewhere. Right now, I think the best is the Precise Brew hydrophobic filter. You can reuse it a thousand times.”
TCP: “Explain hydrophobic vs hydrophilic papers, for those that aren’t familiar.”
Masahiko: Using a paper filter wastes water and coffee beans because the coffee will absorb into the paper. This is a hydrophilic filter. In a hydrophobic filter, the water flows through [without absorbing into the material of the filter]. Like I said I’ve tried over 50 hydrophobic papers, and this one [Precise Brew] is so far, the best. The only problem is that this one is a 60-degree angle, so I would like it if they made a 62-degree angle.”
A 60-degree dripper creates a bigger hole at the opening of the cone, so once you start brewing, a lot more water is allowed to bypass. This is especially true in a dripper like a Hario. So, you want to close that opening a little bit by changing the angle.
“If there is a gap, when you pour water, it will bypass down the side, which means you didn't extract the coffee. We want a more even extraction. The trend seems to be to brew evenly [over a flat bed], like in espresso, but if there is no gap [no cone], the extraction is high but very slow. So, you still need some gap [and a cone shape], but the idea is to figure out how to narrow it.
TCP: Speaking of espresso, I’m sure you’ve worked on both simple espresso machines as well as some advanced technology espresso machines. Which do you prefer? Are there any elements of those super high-tech espresso machines you find unnecessary? I feel like we are risking baristas losing touch with, and understanding of, espresso by making them work on some of these machines.
Masahiko: That’s a difficult question to answer. I used so many different espresso machines, but the important thing they need is a Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) system, which allows us to control the coffee more, and the other is to have a double boiler [to enable a better workflow]. The most important thing in espresso is the grind. So, the grinder is more important. This year I will switch to an FM 120mm grinder. A 98mm burr grinder, like an EK43, is a really good grinder by the way.”
But with larger burrs, we have more surface area which allows a more consistent grind. Another major problem with grinders with smaller burrs, specifically the ones 83mm and below, is the possibility of heat building up, which can have a detrimental impact on the oils in coffee. Grinders with larger burrs don’t face this problem as they can spin slower while still grinding the same amount of beans.
“When coffee beans go through a grinder the beans come from the center to the outside, where they are ground, either coarser or finer. Burr sizes less than 98mm are imprecise around the edges, so they can't grind very evenly. An EK43 SSP burrs are very consistent, with a long burr. My new one, the 120mm, is longer with a bigger base and more chance to grind evenly. Also important is the pressure. Generic grinders have weak springs [they wear out easily], so they cannot grind precisely. The EK43 is very strong and can grind consistently.”
TCP: “With this next question I'm trying to gauge your view on the future of where coffee is headed. Fourth-wave coffee seems to be trending towards being a fully automated coffee experience. The other day I went to a café in Kyoto, 2050 Coffee, that was specialty coffee served entirely by a machine. . The coffee was outstanding, but as a barista, it kind of made me feel irrelevant and I felt a lack of interaction with baristas. Should we, as baristas, maintain our roles as facilitators of the coffee experience or do we make way for technology to create its own coffee experience?”
Masahiko: “Coffee has so many magical things that people don't understand. This gives us more chances to learn techniques and be next-level baristas. We can communicate with the customer and use equipment with purpose, there is a reason why we are using these things. If the customer understands what we are doing, they will pay more. Allowing us to buy better coffee from the farmer and create a next-level coffee. For me, yes [it's important that actual people are still serving coffee]. But, if people just want to drink a good coffee that’s an automatic coffee, it's okay too. I do think it’s a good concept. But you can do that at home. If you go out, you want a different feeling, you want a coffee experience. At home, the machine is fine. But if you pay money, you want a good experience with great baristas. [Elevating our level of coffee service means] we can demand more money from the customer and pay the baristas more. This is important to me because when I was in Melbourne, the pay was higher. To get paid more in Japan, we need to be at an even higher level. Coffee and people will always be connected.”
TCP: “Shifting over to Mel Coffee specifically now. How do you go about sourcing coffee? What's important to you when selecting a new coffee?”
Masahiko: “I usually check the coffee used in competitions, especially in the final stages. I believe that is the really good coffee, so I buy it. I haven't had time to visit coffee farms since COVID, but before that, I went to at least two countries every year. It's very competitive to buy competition lots, so I try to find good beans from friends, green coffee suppliers, or directly.”
TCP: “Coffee prices are at a 47-year high. Reports this week from the New York Times, and reports from Japan Times, NPR, BBC over this past month suggest that coffee prices are going to continue rising. How do you, as a business owner, plan for that?”
Masahiko: “I am thinking about how we buy the coffee beans and how we serve the coffee. We have three different types of coffee: specialty grade (83-86 points), high specialty grade (86-89 points), and competition lot (90+ points). Competition lots are more special, so I want to understand the customers and what they want.”
TCP: “So, you’d say having that range of prices allows you to, when you sell the competition coffee, have a bigger margin, and that’s how you keep more from that sale and can kind of maneuver the market?”
Masahiko: “Yes. If I’m a customer, a coffee lover, who’s looking for an upper echelon coffee it's difficult to find competition lots here; only a few shops in Osaka have them.”
TCP: “How do you adapt to other market changes or challenges? How do you stay on top of people's preferences changing? How do you understand which customer is coming for basic specialty and which customer is coming for the competitive lot?”
Masahiko: “That’s difficult. I’m thinking, because I don’t know one answer for that. Look, this coffee shop [where we’re doing this interview right now, soon to be opened] will be a different kind of café. The quality, and therefore the price is a little higher. We’re going to be doing a different style, using some really good beans. Our target customers are people who like fine dining and coffee. Our target for this place is different.”
TCP: “I'm assuming the way you bring that kind of customer in here is you're probably targeting a customer base that's going to, say, a Michelin-starred restaurant for dinner, but maybe they come here for lunch.”
Masahiko: “Yes, exactly.”
TCP: “Consistency is key in this industry. What are some tactics that Mel Coffee employs to maintain quality? In terms of technology, what kind of technology, such as roasting software, espresso shot tracking, etc. do you use for this?”
Masahiko: “I trust cupping. We cup every day and share tasting notes amongst the staff. We roast every day, we share every day, [we reassess every day]. For example, we once had a problem with the grind size of our cupping system and with the water, I didn’t know something then, but now I know. Now I make sure the calcium and magnesium content of the water is 75 PPM and that I’m brewing on a 725-micrometer grind size.”
TCP: “Coffee is this highly sensory experience, but this is where we now have the technology to actually measure all these abstract things. Sensory skills take us very far, but we use technology to confirm and keep track of things.
How do you measure success at Mel Coffee? Meaning at the end of the day when you can say ‘We had a good day today.’ What determines that?”
Masahiko: “Again, a hard question, because nobody knows. It’s a feeling.”
TCP: “Just keep the vibes up?”
Masahiko: “Yeah, keep the vibes and keep going. Over and over again, for a long time. We trust ourselves, share coffee, talk to customers, join competitions, get more information, and look for the next best coffee. Keep going, every day.”
TCP: “Right now we're sitting in your next location, so I wanted to ask you what's next for you and to walk me through the aspects of this project we haven’t covered yet. You mentioned a fine-dining-like experience, tell me about what’s going to be happening here.”
Masahiko: “This coffee shop will be a more upscale, memorable brewed coffee concept. The idea is to take our baristas to the next level. We will explain the coffee, why we brew it, and how to taste it. It's an experience where customers and baristas can share more coffee. We will be using competition lot coffees. It’ll be something different. You can see the green beans, roasting, and brewing all in here.”
TCP: “I'm very excited to come back here and experience this. It's something that's going to keep me motivated to come back to Japan in the future.”
TCP: '“Okay, those were all the hard questions. We're going to do some fun ones and then wrap this up. What is your favorite coffee or coffee drink to drink? What does Masahiko order at a café?”
Masahiko: “Colombian, Kenyan, or Panamanian coffee. These three origins are my favorite. Especially Kenyan. Kenyan coffee is really high quality.”
TCP: “What's your favorite coffee drink to make?”
Masahiko: “Hand drip.”
TCP: “Nice and simple answer.
Which coffee publications do you read to stay on top of things?”
Masahiko: “I am busy, I am a little bit lazy, so I am not reading probably as much as I should. But I am subscribed to so many things, like Standart and SCA’s 25 publication.”
TCP: “What's more important to you: good coffee or good culture and community? Obviously, both are important, so how do you find the balance?”
Masahiko: “I mean, that's everything. It’s all important. But if you ask me, I want to create the best coffee. And then we can communicate with each other about it.”
TCP: “Is there a favorite coffee you've had on your menu?”
Masahiko: “Colombia Mikava, a carbonic maceration natural geisha from Santuario. That one was the best.”
TCP: “Is there a coffee varietal that changed how you think about coffee?”
Masahiko: “Geisha and SL34. I also roasted Liberica before. Very, very difficult to roast. It has a different texture. It also has less caffeine and higher proteins and has a taste kind of like chewing gum. But I could never roast it perfectly.”
TCP: “Last question. Funniest customer interaction?”
Masahiko: “When we opened the shop, so many coffee people came and talked to me about the coffee. Then they ordered coffee and brought out their own cupping spoons and cupped the coffee in front of me and tried to explain to me what the coffee tastes like.”
TCP: Thank you very much. This has been a fantastically intriguing conversation.
I spent a while walking around the streets of Osaka reflecting on this experience, listening back to the recording and assessing what I could learn from him. I found myself with a recurring thought regarding his desire to bring an elevated coffee experience to his next location. He kept returning to this theme of staffing it with high caliber baristas because what’s important to him is providing an experience deserving of higher prices. Prices which will let him pay baristas in Japan more, closer to what he was getting paid in Melbourne, and that will allow him to return more funding to coffee farmers. Masahiko will tell you that making the best coffee is most important to him, and while that’s certainly true, it’s clear that he wants to take care of those around him. Those that have helped make his goals and ambitions into reality. He looks to foster an elevated coffee experience so that he can bring better coffees to the table, again taking care of people, meaning the coffee lovers who come through his shop. It’s this type of motivation and approach to coffee that I wanted to convey by bringing this interview to you. In my opinion, any coffee professional must understand that ultimately you are doing a service for your community. Giving back, whether that’s finding ways to pay your baristas more, or giving notes to competitors so they can apply them in their craft, or putting coffees in front of customers that they couldn’t even imagine, is cornerstone to this industry. The human element of all this is incredibly important. We mustn’t lose sight of that in the rapidly changing world we live in. Masahiko Fumimoto embodies these core tenets of coffee to the utmost degree, which is shown in his work up until now and through his ambitions for the future. In this interview he provides a clear picture of his working philosophy. For a coffee professional, many of the things covered here can sometimes fall to the wayside as we get caught up in the daily routine aspects of the job. It’s hard to think about things like how much coffee we lose to hydrophilic paper filters or what temperature the bed of grounds is at in every pour over when we are focused on making hundreds of drinks in a matter of a few short hours. However, in this conversation, Masahiko provides a few of the tools and tactics he utilizes to get ahead of these problems, so hopefully you were able to obtain some new concepts to consider. I’ll end this by reiterating that it’s crucial to put your coffee in front of others. For me, I learned a lot from Masahiko Fumimoto, so I’ll be getting back to refining my approach to coffee given many of these ideas.
