Surveying a row of black containers behind the stone counter of Kuro Mame coffee salon, Emi Fukahori says, “Let's find out what kind of coffee you like.”
She hands me a tin of coffee beans to smell. The aroma is seductive — floral and nutty, almost perfumed. With the precision of someone who has spent years perfecting her craft, Fukahori pours the coffee into a black-and-white cup made from Arita porcelain.
"This one is very special, from a farm in Panama located 2,100 meters above sea level," she explains.
I'm drinking a Geisha coffee (an Arabica varietal that originated in Ethiopia) from Finca Sophia, a farm in Panama whose coffee fetched a jaw-dropping $10,000 per kilogram at the World of Coffee auction in Dubai this February. The coffee in my cup comes from the Colibri lot — only 35 kilograms were produced, and Fukahori purchased the entire harvest.
Its brew is a mix of delicate aromas tinged with jasmine and bergamot that give way to a long, honeyed finish — an irresistible, comforting cup of joe.
Equally serene is Kuro Mame’s setting. Sand-colored, curved walls wrap the space in a warm embrace, with recessed shelving displaying canisters of coffee beans, most of which Fukahori imports herself. A chocolate-brown curved banquette lines the far wall, shaped like a chapel apse, while soft leather chairs face slender oval-shaped windows. From one shelf, a golden coffee pot — the trophy from Fukahori's win at the 2018 World Brewers Cup championship — catches the light.
"I wanted the interior to look like a spa, a place to relax," she says.
Fair-skinned with a thick fringe and a mischievous grin, the 37-year-old bears a resemblance to the Icelandic singer, Bjork. "If people want to talk (to me), I'm happy to chat, but they don't have to if they just want to zone out,” she adds cheerfully.
A life-changing cuppa
To the left of Kuro Mame’s main coffee bar is a gleaming espresso machine with a custom inscription that reads, "The best coffee is the one you like." It’s a philosophy that has shaped Fukahori's evolution from complete coffee novice to world champion and successful cafe owner — and it was all sparked by a single, revelatory cup.
Born in Fukuoka and raised in Saga, she initially pursued a career in tourism, studying English in London before attending the International Management Institute in Lucerne. She specialized in inbound operations to Switzerland for four years, content in her hospitality career. A chance encounter in 2014 changed everything.
"I was at an event organized by a roaster in Zurich," she recalls. “Nina Rimpl, the winner of the Swiss Barista Championship (of 2014), was preparing for a competition, practicing her presentation. I was curious about what she was doing because she was just speaking to the air, with no one watching."
When Fukahori asked Rimpl what she was doing, the barista invited her to try her competition coffee. "She said it would taste like strawberry and chocolate, and I was like, 'What do you mean?' Then I had a sip and thought, 'Oh my God, it does taste like strawberry. But it's coffee!’ I just didn’t understand any of it.”
When Rimpl’s coach suggested Fukahori could learn more by taking part in a competition, something clicked. She decided to join the 2015 Swiss Barista Championship, which was just 11 months away.
Fukahori threw herself into training with an intensity that bordered on obsession.
"I went to Henauer roastery (in Zurich) every single day for half a year after work," she says. "I was buying 10 liters of milk a day, seven days a week, just to practice steaming milk. It took me three months to learn how to steam milk properly."
The roastery gave her a key to the facility, allowing her to practice from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. every night.
Around the same time, she met Mathieu Theis — her eventual partner in life as well as business — at a coffee tasting. He had followed a similarly unconventional path as an engineer who transferred from Paris to Zurich and found himself with three months to kill after his company went bankrupt. Like Fukahori, he dove into the craft and went on to compete.
"We were the crazy ones spending every day at the roastery," she recalls.
Fukahori’s dedication paid off — she won the championship in 2015. The success prompted a complete career change. In 2016, Fukahori left tourism behind and took a job at a local specialty coffee shop in Zurich. "I thought if I want to be on the same level as those talented baristas, I have to be in the same industry," she explains. "Otherwise, I'm not going to be taken seriously."
When the specialty cafe closed in 2017, she suddenly found herself without a job. Rather than panic, she saw opportunity. She decided to start something small with Theis, a place where they can “showcase the beauty of specialty coffee.”
The pair pooled their resources — she invested everything she had, while Theis contributed his savings from his engineering career. "We weren't thinking this big at the time. We were just thinking that maybe it's the right time,” says Fukahori, who also went on to win the World Brewers Cup title in Brazil in 2018.
What started as a means to self-employment became the foundation for an international coffee empire: Their cafe, Mame, began as a single shop in Zurich, but has since grown into a network of five locations across Switzerland, with a roastery that supplies wholesale accounts throughout Asia and the United States.
Tokyo grind
With Kuro Mame, Fukahori brings her unique approach to Tokyo's sophisticated coffee scene. The decision was both strategic and personal. "We have very nice customers in Asia and the U.S. when it comes to wholesale accounts," she explains, adding that her Asian clients tend to be repeat buyers.
Switzerland's niche market and cautious spending habits on food and drinks made further expansion there challenging, while Asian customers have been enthusiastic supporters of Mame since her championship days. "Being in Switzerland, which isn’t part of the EU, Europe is not our market," she notes.
After years of building a sustainable team structure that could operate without her constant presence, she felt ready for her expansion into Japan. "We wanted to make sure the team is right, with the right circumstances. It has to be sustainable from a business point of view,” she says.
Located in the upscale Kamiyacho neighborhood, steps away from the mammoth Azabudai Hills luxury shopping complex, the Tokyo shop, which opened this June, actually comprises two concepts: Mame, the takeaway coffee corner, allows customers to pick up more accessible coffee starting at ¥800 per cup. Kuro Mame, where I’m seated, is the premium coffee salon — an elevated experience with brews starting from ¥4,000. Reservations, available online, are required, and each slot is limited to one hour.
There isn’t a menu. Baristas talk with customers to find out what kind of coffee they would enjoy — each brew is custom-made for each guest.
“We ask questions like how they feel today or if there is something they don’t like,” says Fukahori, adding that baristas pick up on keywords involving flavors or brewing processes and lean toward those preferences. “We try not to talk too much about the information on the package — or whatever you can read yourself — but communicate colors, tastes and textures instead.”
By the end of my hour at Kuro Mame, I’ve sampled two brews, but the Finca Sophia Colibri Geisha is the one that sends me down a Google rabbit hole almost immediately.
“When I came back to Japan, I learned a word for that (act): ‘numaru,’” Fukahori says, referring to the Japanese slang used for getting caught up in something. “Once you get in, you keep getting deeper and deeper. But you don’t have to go that far. Coffee should make your day a little brighter.”
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