Sunday, May 5, 2013

Good Company Coffee Roasters Review

Intrigued by blog posts about locally-roasted coffee and people who roast their own beans at home, I searched the internet for nearby coffee roasters. I found a place called Good Company in Uruma City, but only by the grace of Google Maps on a smart phone. The building looks like a cottage retreat. 
Near the door was an arrangement of barrels and burlap sacks full of green coffee beans, each labeled with country of origin and price per 200 grams. Good Company is a roast-to-order coffee bean shop where you select the beans (they're actually seeds), and they roast them while you wait. 
Junko and Masaki Nakamoto have been doing this for the past 17 years. While bulk roasting with large ovens in the back of the store are probably more profitable, this single-order roasting keeps people coming back.
It is both experiment and performance art, because while you go home with any bean variety roasted any way you like, you also get to watch the owners heat, toss, cool, and clean the beans for you while enjoying a complimentary cup of coffee and a chat.
An added bonus is seeing their roasting equipment, which looks like the love child of a smithy and a steam punk barbecue grill.
I picked a Dark City Roast of their Special Blend, and it really was very nice - fresh and fruity, yet dark and smooth, with no sourness.

Good Company Coffee Roasters
1943-1 Taba, Uruma City, Okinawa Prefecture
Japan 904-2213
TEL:098-974-2002

珈琲豆焙煎工房グッドカンパニー
〒904-2213 沖縄県うるま市田場1943-1
TEL:098-974-2002

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