Located in Susukino, Sapporo, commonly known as "5 no 5" (Minami 5-jo Nishi 5-chome), is a small coffee shop with a sign that says "Coffee Shop." As the only coffee shop in Susukino, it is popular with a wide range of customers, from businessmen to locals.
In Hokkaido, where winters are long, dark roasted, rich, sweet coffee has been popular since ancient times. Marley continues to propose new coffee styles through chocolate made with home-roasted cocoa beans and selected specialty coffees from around the world, while continuing this tradition.
The owner of Marley, who also serves as a barista and roaster, is Manabu Narita. His roasting techniques, which he learned on his own, have been honed by the taste and sensibilities he has cultivated in various food and beverage businesses, making use of his experience outside the coffee industry.
Roasting techniques acquired at the long-established Miyakoshiya Coffee
Narita started working in the food and beverage industry when he was 18 years old. He worked in restaurants in big cities such as Tokyo and Sapporo. After various encounters, in his late 20s, he began to aspire to open his own business. That's when he came across Miyakoshiya Coffee, a long-established coffee shop that originated in Sapporo.
"Until then, I had been working in the alcohol industry as a bartender in clubs and music bars. That's when I found Miyakoshiya Coffee, which has the concept of carefully brewing home-roasted coffee one by one and serving it in a beautiful cup so that customers can enjoy a relaxing time, and I was really attracted to the atmosphere and the coffee shop."
When Narita saw the master making dark roasted coffee using the cloth drip method, he thought it was cool and decided to become his apprentice. While learning about the atmosphere of Miyakoshiya Coffee, he learned that coffee has a very wide range of aspects, from drip to roasting and bean selection, and became even more absorbed in it. After four years of training, he opened a coffee shop called "Marley" in the same place.
What Third Wave Coffee and Wine Have in Common
Given that he trained at a long-established coffee shop, it makes sense that Marley's atmosphere and focus on dark roasted coffee are the focus of attention. However, what makes Narita unique is that he didn't just inherit the traditions. He took on the trend at the time of lightly roasting single-origin specialty coffee with Marley's own unique approach.
"Light roast specialty coffee first became popular about 10 years ago, and I often drank it in Tokyo and other places because of my job. Coffee with a beautiful color and clean acidity and aroma is still popular today.
However, I personally roast these specialty coffee beans a little more to bring out the undertones. This gives the beans a lot more depth, and you can enjoy everything from a beautiful acidity to a strong coffee flavor."
The way this type of specialty coffee is handled can also be likened to that of wine.
"I thought the trend for natural wines with bright acidity and aromas was very similar to the light roast culture of third wave coffee. But classic Bordeaux and Burgundy-style beautiful wines are also popular."
City roast brings out the special sweetness
Marley has a 2kg roaster made by Tokyo Sanki installed in the store, and sometimes roasts coffee during working hours. The degree of roast is adjusted to suit the beans, but at the lightest it is a city roast, so they prefer dark roasts.
"The reason we use a dark roast is overwhelmingly for the sweetness. We sometimes brew at around 68°C, and at that temperature the coffee tastes very sweet. I think that CROWD ROASTER users tend to drink lightly roasted, clean coffee, even when it comes to specialty coffee, so I think that when they drink our coffee, they feel that it has a lot more body, even though it is the same beans.
We often hear comments like, 'I didn't know that even specialty coffee can be roasted this dark,' and 'This is a bit different from other coffee shops.'"
We want to deliver classic coffee that is unique to Sapporo.
Although Narita is a firm believer in dark roasting, when he opened Marley 13 years ago, he received some negative feedback from local residents in comparison to the previous Miyakoshiya Coffee.
"After starting our own roasting, we gradually started serving medium roast coffee with a beautiful acidity while still keeping the dark roast. At first, some people had trouble getting used to it. They didn't like the lukewarm coffee. But it took a while, but gradually people got used to it."
He learned roasting techniques entirely on his own through trial and error, but he orders and tests a wide variety of beans from all over the world, and there are very few countries and farms where he has not tried them.
Regarding his participation in CROWD ROASTER , Narita responded to user requests by saying, "We want to deliver a dark roast that is unique to Sapporo."
"Using the high-quality, cutting-edge specialty coffee beans available at CROWD ROASTER , I want to convey a classic Sapporo-style city roast with a strong undertone. I want people to enjoy the balance of acidity and bitterness."
Among the roasters participating in CROWD ROASTER , Narita is the first in Hokkaido and can be said to be the poster child for city roasting. We hope you will enjoy the classic taste that is unique to Sapporo by requesting various beans.
SHOP INFORMATION
coffee&chocolate Marley
Head office: 10 Minami 5-jo Nishi 5-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido
East store: 2F Lydia Building, 8-9 Minami 4-jo Nishi 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido
OPEN: 15:00-2:00
*Narita Manabu's participation in CROWD ROASTER is scheduled for around June 2024.
Special coffee by Marley Narita served at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art
CROWD ROASTER will be producing a pop-up cafe at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, where the special exhibition "Rinpa x Anime" - From Ogata Hikaru Rin and Kamisaka Yukika to Astro Boy, Rilakkuma, and Hatsune Miku - will be held for three days only from CROWD ROASTER to Monday, May 6th, 2024. Marley's Manabu Narita will be roasting and brewing the coffee there.
The coffee served will include blends and single-origin coffees inspired by the exhibition, and the food and sweets menu will be provided by Maruyama Dan, a famous Japanese restaurant and natural wine store in Maruyama, Sapporo.
Why not come and enjoy the exhibition along with CROWD ROASTER 's coffee and food this Golden Week?
CROWD ROASTER produces "Rinpa x Anime Exhibition Special Collaboration Cafe"
Venue: Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art (Kita 1-jo Nishi 17-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo)
2nd floor special cafe
Date: May 4th (Sat) - 6th (Mon)
Business hours: 10:00-17:00
