Kurasu House Blend Dark

Kurasu House Blend Dark is our second creation of Kurasu Blend. It is also our first attempt of making a medium-dark roast coffee.   

We often use “clean” to describe specialty coffee. But what is clean? Kurasu believes that a clean cup is one in which the characters of the beans are fully expressed and boosted. We don’t want to sacrifice any flavor during the roasting process, and it often leads us to having a lightly roasted coffee.

On the other hand, light roast isn't everything nor ultimate form of coffee- depending on places, climates, cultures, there are various standards in the world to define what's good.

Specialty Coffee Association of Japan(SCAJ) notes in the first paragraph of definition of specialty coffee like this- “Specialty coffee should be a coffee that has a superb taste, and that liquid in a cup consumers hold shall provide them with value and satisfaction.”

In Kyoto, with a deeply rooted “Kissaten” culture, we have many customers enjoy darker roast, as it is the traditional Kissaten roast. We have been feeling frustrated that we haven't been able to offer them what they prefer, and that encouraged us to create this blend- the blend that celebrates Kyoto's long running coffee culture, and the people who lived with it and who love it, in the past, present and in the future. 

How we roast this coffee 

Roasting approach of House Blend Dark is different from the one for House Blend Light. If we use the same approach as the lighter roast, by raising the heat in the first half of roasting process and lower it in the second half, the heat wouldn't be sufficient to complete the roasting process. Whereas roasting with high heat all the way through would just burn the coffee.

To achieve our ideal roast, we decided to slow down the initial heating phase, by controlling the endothermic stage. This way, we can increase the heat without worrying about burning the beans at the second half of the process. With many more little tweaks of duration time and temperature, we perfected this beautiful medium-dark roast. To avoid making it too roasty, the duration time is relatively short- the process takes 10’50’’~11’00’', with a finishing temperature at 213℃.

Filter Coffee(Light Roasted)：195~200℃ 9’30’’~10’00’'
House Blend Light：205℃ 10’40’’~10’50’’
House Blend Dark：213℃ 10’50’’~11’00’’