TRUNK COFFEE BAR

Owner Barista / Yasuo Suzuki

In 2010, he started his career as the first Japanese barista in Northern Europe Denmark, which was said to be the cutting edge of coffee at that time. In 2014, he established trunk coffee in Nagoya. Currently, it has 3 coffee shops in Japan and 2 coffee shops in China. With the theme of "free coffee", we are creating new things and new value in the industry.
He travels around the world all year round, participates in events, and spends his days involved in the promotion and development of manufacturers.
In the coffee industry, it is called a unique barista.

As a brand partner of ORIGAMI since 2014, he has been involved in product development since the brand was born.

http://www.trunkcoffee.com/

This time, we interviewed Mr. Yasuo Suzuki, the owner/barista of TRUNK COFFEE who co-developed this flavor cup, in order to know the development background and his commitment, as well as to reveal the mechanism of the taste changes.

Create a new concept of coffee cups

First of all, please tell us how you decided to develop the ORIGAMI Flavor Cup, which allows users to enjoy the difference in coffee taste depending on the cup shape.

When the ORIGAMI brand was born, there were almost no Japan-made espresso cups, and the finish of cups sold in the global market seemed to be still rougher than they are now. However, the situation around coffee has changed in the last few years. Drip coffee has become more and more popular all over the world. At the same time, people gradually became enjoying the difference in taste depending on the producing area and variety such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Brazil, and so on. Nowadays, some even say that the way of enjoying coffee is similar to that of wine.

As to wine glass, it is now natural to link fragrance and taste with the glass shape, but coffee cups haven't had that kind of idea. Speaking of wine, RIEDEL* changed the concept of wine glasses. Until then, everyone was drinking wine in ordinary glasses. In the world of coffee, I thought that ORIGAMI should lead the world in proposing the value of new cups, so this flavor cup was born.

*RIEDEL is an Austrian wine glass maker. Focusing on the fact that the fragrance and taste change depending on the glass shape, they developed the world's first glass with a shape that matches each grape variety.

The new value created by sticking to the elements related to the five senses

These three flavor cups have different shapes, and it is unique that the taste changes for each cup.

The three shapes; "Aroma", "Barrel" and "Pinot" are inspired by the shapes often used in ordinary wine glasses. During development, I interviewed a sommelier to learn how to achieve intended tastes as my own knowledge was not enough. I came up with these shapes through the interview and the discovery of my own theory. I think each shape is realizing a nice difference.

First of all, the fragrance and taste change depending on the cup shape, because the angle of the chin changes. Usually, manufacturers of flavor cups often pay attention to the structure that covers the nose. However, in these three types of cups, the key is the degree to which the chin is lifted when pouring coffee into the mouth.

The angle of the chin?

If the angle changes, coffee touches a different part of the tongue when enters the mouth. It is said that the tongue has a different sense of taste depending on the part, so many wine glasses are designed based on this idea.

I see. So what kind of flavor does each of the three flavor cups make it easier to feel?

In the three flavor cups, the chin is lifted more in the order of Barrel, Pinot, and Aroma.

From the left, Barrel, Pinot, Aroma

Barrel does not require lifting the chin so much, so coffee flows from the tip of the tongue. As a result, you can feel more sweetness and enjoy the mellow taste.

Using Pinot, coffee will be easier to flow into the center of the tongue and spreads well in the mouth. So, you can capture the well-balanced sweetness, sourness, and bitterness, enjoying more complex flavors. This cup is recommended when you want to taste a well-balanced taste.

With Aroma, coffee does not flow into the mouth unless the chin is lifted considerably, but it hits the back of the tongue and flows sideways. Therefore, it is suitable for tasting sourness and bitterness. This cup gives you a stronger sense of fruit.

The chin does not be lifted when drinking with a normal cup.

With aroma, you can see that the chin is lifted considerably.

This time, there are two color options; white and black. Do you have any reason for this as well?

The taste is felt by all five senses, so the color also matters. It is said that the warm-colored cups make a more fruity taste, and the dark-colored ones make a more bitter taste. This time, I chose two colors, white and black, so that users can feel different tastes in a neutral sense.

It's really packed with elements to be felt with the five senses!

そThat's right. Since there's no handle, it is easy to feel the temperature. The weight of the cup also affects the taste, so we made it moderate, not too heavy nor too light, so as to be as neutral as possible... What I really want to emphasize as a feature of this flavor cup is that the shape is achieved after calculating various elements related to the five senses. You will surely enjoy a way of drinking that you have never experienced before.

It has been very well received globally. Even in the global coffee scene, I feel that there is growing interest in new ways of enjoying coffee.

At present, I feel that foreign people are more interested than Japanese. There are several reasons, for example, Japan has a long history of coffee. Drip coffee has been popular in Japan and not a few people brew what is sold at supermarkets. Because it has penetrated our culture, we are kind of careless and still remain in the old stereotypes. So, it is difficult to change our minds even if a new wind comes in.

On the other hand, there are many places outside Japan where the espresso culture existed first, so I think the drip culture is attracting attention as it has been introduced later. People in other countries wish for different values for coffee. Their style is more like hand-dripping of specialty coffee.

Also, drinking plenty of black coffee with a mug was the major style in Western countries, but the style of "tasting fine coffee little by little" gets trendy in the last few years. I think that the shape and size of this cup fit into that trend.

Now I see that there is still room to spread the new value.

I agree. I want to continue to tell that the drinking styles are evolving as well as coffee beans. It would be great if people enjoy more specialty coffee with added value.

Now we can get nice mugs even at 100-yen shops, and I believe that increasing the added value of cups will be more important in the future. I also think that there are many things that ORIGAMI can do as a brand that keeps challenging to create new devices to enjoy delicious coffee.

USER PROFILE

TRUNK COFFEE

Owner Barista / Yasuo Suzuki

1F, Towa Takadake Building, 2-28-24 Izumi, Higashi-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi

TEL 052-325-7662

TRUNK COFFEE web site

http://www.trunkcoffee.com/