The first thing that draws the eye when you enter Glitch Coffee & Roasters — a third-wave coffee shop located in an unassuming pale pink building in Tokyo's historic Jinbocho neighborhood — is its roaster.
It's an imposing 5-kilogram, gold-and-black Probat roaster, emblazoned with the Glitch logo. The steady churning of the machinery hums constantly beneath the more convivial conversations of patrons. A pair of elongated golden scissors hangs on a hook near the roaster's sensor, there for aesthetic purposes only.
As the roaster rumbles on, staff keep detailed records of the pre- and post-roast bean weight, the temperature inside the roaster's rotating drum, the time until first crack (the audible cracking noise, not unlike popcorn, that coffee beans make when they release internally built-up steam) and the subsequent flavor "development time" on a digital spreadsheet. At Glitch, the roasting process is as much a science as it is an art.