Maebashi, the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, is packed full of interesting spots to visit for foodies. As it turns out, it's quite the gem for coffee lovers, too. One spot that offers a quality caffeine fix is 13 Coffee Roasters, which truly treats the preparation of coffee as an art form.
If you enjoy wine, you may have heard the French word terroir before, which refers to the environmental conditions that give wines their different tastes and aromas. 13 Coffee Roasters see part of their mission as showing patrons those elements in different coffees as well.
As 13 Coffee Roasters is a small-batch roaster, it enables them to bring out the uniqueness of each single-origin coffee as much as possible. Their roasting machine is a high-quality Giesen branded model from Holland, and they take pride in this - there's a huge level of commitment to producing the absolute best cup of coffee possible. They go the extra mile to achieve it, so much so that they hand-sort the beans after the roasting process to find any defects. The beans are also stored in a special cellar which helps control temperature and humidity throughout the year, protecting them from dry winters and damp summers.
The beans at 13 Coffee come from several locations across the globe, including Nicaragua, Ethiopia, and Indonesia to name a few. If you're not sure what beans to opt for, the store has three original blends - the Haruna (Ethiopia/Brazil/Guatemala), Akagi (Nicaragua/Brazil/Guatemala), and Myougi (Ethiopia/Brazil/Guatemala) - which are light, medium, and dark roasts respectively. If you think the blend names sound a little familiar, it may be because they're named after Gunma's three important mountains.
If you're not in the Gunma area, you can still get your hands on products from 13 Coffee Roasters via their online store. There are various types of beans, stylishly packaged gift sets, and even cute merchandise like tote bags available.
