Barista Magazine

AUG-SEP 2013

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MASTER Kentaro Maruyama Zen and the Art of Cupping Interview by Sarah Allen ANYONE WHO HAS JUDGED a Cup of Excellence (COE) competition is likely to have run into Kentaro Maruyama; he's usually the one with a quick wit, astute perceptions, and a jolly smile. Those same people would be surprised to know, then, that Kentaro's early path was steering him toward monkhood. The same level of commitment required of a Buddhist monk applies to a coffee professional of Kentaro's stature, and no where is this more evident than in his dedication to the Cup of Excellence program. No one person has served on international COE juries more than Kentaro, who is the immediate past chair of the Alliance for Coffee Excellence, which oversees the Cup of Excellence programs around the world. I asked how many total he had been involved in—and remember, a jury takes a week from start to finish. "Over 40. I stopped counting," he laughs. "When it becomes 52, I will say, 'I spent one year cupping in COE [of] my whole life!'" Even after so many juries, Kentaro, 45, says he is still discovering coffees through the COE that he never would have found otherwise. "Always I find something new in COE," he says. "Last year I found some great coffees [from] Burundi through COE." As much of a time commitment as COE is for Kentaro, however, he is involved in myriad other projects, from training some of the best baristas in the world, including the national barista champions Hidenori Izaki and Miki Suzuki, to launching a remarkable new training program with 2002 World Barista Champion Fritz Storm called the Barista Camp, to expanding his own business, Maruyama Coffee, to be one of the top roasters in www.baristamagazine.com 81

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