The Story
Glitch Coffee & Roasters opened in Tokyo’s Jimbocho district in 2015 , the creation of Kiyokazu Suzuki, who discovered specialty coffee in his twenties and trained under Australian world barista champion Paul Bassett . Suzuki started his career in sales but felt unfulfilled, sensing that working for a company wasn’t really his calling due to too many restrictions and inability to shine . He decided to set out on his own and try everything he had an interest in to find something that worked for him, including pottery, jewelry crafting, and motorcycle repairing .
The pivotal moment came when he made coffee at home and gave it to friends—he had never received such a positive response from his accessories and vessels, but for some reason, he was able to make people smile with his coffee, making him very happy and touching his heart, leading him to realize this was what he was looking for and deciding to become a barista . After Paul Bassett joined the Japanese coffee market, Suzuki seized the opportunity to be directly mentored by the world’s best barista, immediately applying to work under him and quickly being promoted from top barista to chief roaster to manager . Through his 13 years there, Suzuki saw many trends come and go and roasted with numerous machines including Renegade, Tokyo Sanki Kogyo, Fuji Royal and Probat, eventually deciding he wanted to explore his own roasting style freely .
Sourcing & Relationships
At Glitch, they’ve always placed a strong emphasis on sourcing top-of-the-line specialty beans, with quality being everything, never really looking into farms or producers in detail nor buying coffee based on fame or reputation . However, Suzuki’s approach evolved after a defining week-long trip to Bolivia on TYPICA Lab, which reshaped his definition of quality . The visit was a reminder of how challenging coffee production can be—most farms are on hills with only one harvest season a year, picking cherries is physically demanding requiring hard work and determination, with even roasters unable to keep up with the grueling job after just 15 minutes while local pickers do it all day .
Suzuki was particularly impressed by Andy from 4Llamas farm, a real coffee geek with a curious mind always looking to improve his coffee, who even visited Japan and brought back koji to experiment with . They now talk about working together to surpass the world’s best farm in Bolivia and establishing 4Llamas as the top Bolivian farm, with Suzuki promising straightforward feedback and working toward their shared goal of creating ideal coffee, letting Andy handle harvest, processing, and cupping while Glitch handles roasting and brewing . The producers in Bolivia impressed Suzuki as being driven purely by passion for growing great coffee, which he found refreshing, making him want to keep buying from producers he believes in .
At Glitch, they’ve always focused on single-origin coffee, so telling the stories behind each producer has been important, but after this trip Suzuki has never felt more strongly about conveying the work of producers, as their passion and love for coffee really came alive for him . Rather than working with well-established, famous farms that sell like “Louis Vuitton bags,” Suzuki finds it more exciting to discover hidden gems and work with producers to put them on the map, imagining the satisfaction of people saying “This is the place that made 4Llamas famous!”
Roasting Philosophy
Suzuki’s roasting philosophy leans toward lighter roasts, with Glitch trying to differentiate themselves from chain coffee shops by expressing the character of coffee’s origins, with their roast style dictated not by average consumer tastes but by the unique attributes of each origin they hope to bring out . His goal was to revive Japan’s hand-drip coffee culture and overturn the stereotype that coffee is always bitter, focusing on carefully selected single-origin beans roasted lightly to showcase fruity, complex flavors . Glitch is known for light-roast, single-origin coffee beans all roasted in-house at its Jimbocho location, with only light roasts offered to showcase the original flavor of beans, and no blended coffee as the café aims to highlight the individuality of coffee farms and regions it works with .
Their mission statement of “providing a valuable cup for a limited time” uses only “top of top” quality specialty coffees offering light roasted single origin to convey the original individuality of coffee beans . Suzuki’s unwavering focus on quality is the driving force behind his approach , with him explaining “We’d rather serve a coffee we fully believe in, even if not everyone may enjoy it, than serve a coffee that doesn’t meet our standards” . Suzuki believes hand-drip coffee has an affinity with Japan, feeling there are many high-level hand-drip stores in Japan compared to other countries, with his vision of “Japanese coffee to the world” remaining constant .
Glitch doesn’t seek to shroud their knowledge in secrecy, taking an open-source approach via their “Share Roaster Project,” sharing their German-made Probat coffee roaster with other coffee shops to spread quality coffee to as many local shops as possible, encouraging coffee shops to use their roaster as a timeshare and making daily-updated coffee data publicly available . Currently four other coffee businesses roast on Glitch’s Probat, a strategy Suzuki hopes will benefit not only the Tokyo scene but Japan’s standing in international specialty coffee, believing that sharing knowledge and roaster with local businesses will create growth of high-end coffee beyond increasingly common carts and stands into more brick-and-mortar institutions .
What to Try
The store always has more than 10 types of coffee beans in its lineup, with baristas making proposals tailored to customers offering the best cup, featuring hand drip and espresso drinks with different extraction methods depending on the day of the week . They keep a lineup of around 10 different coffees and when customers ask for recommendations, baristas usually choose three to offer, with long-term success depending on baristas being fans of the coffee first . A good way to experience Glitch is by ordering the coffee flight allowing you to try two or three types of coffee of your choice, and they serve a special single-origin coffee cocktail created by a barista who used to be a bartender, combined with fruity whisky to highlight the refreshing, acidic flavors of lightly roasted beans .
The standout relationship is with Bolivia’s 4Llamas farm, led by young couple Andres and Marita—Andres received a degree in Social Contributions at the University of Geneva while Marita studied Economics in Switzerland, originally thinking of starting an NGO dealing with sustainability but falling in love with coffee and fermentation, deciding to start their business in Bolivia . They built a mill equipped with an egg-shaped fermentation tank used for making wine next to their partner farm , representing Suzuki and Glitch’s ambitious collaboration to establish 4Llamas as Bolivia’s top farm .
For home brewing, you can enjoy unique tastes that reflect characteristics of farms and production areas, with Glitch recommending comparing 2 to 3 types of drinks to appreciate the differences . Their goal is simple: highlight the best notes in each single-origin bean via impeccable in-house roasting and pour-overs, with roasts leaning light and staff more than happy to help you pick something if you’re having trouble deciding . The roastery has been named the 26th best coffee roaster in the world , cementing its reputation as a destination for those seeking the pinnacle of Japanese specialty coffee craftsmanship.