Glitch Coffee & Roasters

Overview

Glitch was opened in April 2015 in Tokyo's Jimbocho district — a neighborhood of secondhand bookstores and historic kissatens — by Kiyokazu Suzuki, who trained for twelve years as chief barista and head roaster at Paul Bassett's Tokyo operation before going independent. The shop deals exclusively in single-origin light roasts brewed via hand-drip, framing Japanese pour-over technique as the brand's contribution to global specialty coffee culture; Glitch has expanded to additional locations in Akasaka and Nagoya, with Suzuki personally controlling all roasting.

Known for

• Single-origin only, no blends — light roast hand-drip exclusively
• Suzuki's twelve-year Paul Bassett lineage
• Jimbocho location among Tokyo's historic secondhand-bookstore district
• Eight Glitch alumni who have opened their own coffee shops (with company support)
• Reviving Japanese hand-drip culture as global specialty contribution

Why it matters

Glitch sits at the center of Tokyo's third-wave coffee scene and is one of the most internationally recognized Japanese specialty roasters, deliberately positioning the Japanese hand-drip tradition as something to export rather than import. Suzuki's reluctance to scale beyond a small number of locations — to preserve flavor consistency under his own roasting — is itself a notable counter-position to the typical specialty growth path.

Production

head roaster

Kiyokazu Suzuki

roastery location

Jimbocho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

Café

Kanda Nishikicho 3-16, Kamura Building 1F, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0054

Recognitions

• Among Tokyo's most internationally recognized third-wave specialty roasters
• Featured by TYPICA, Time Out Tokyo, and CROWD ROASTER as a leading Japanese specialty operation

Sources

• https://typica.coffee/en/narratives/roasters/glitch-coffee-roasters/
• https://typica.coffee/en/narratives/lab-notes/glitch-coffee-roasters/
• https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/restaurants/glitch-coffee-roasters
• https://crowdroaster.com/en/special/interview/1
• https://origami-kai.com/en/blogs/special-feature/glitch-coffee-roasters
• https://every.coffee/roaster/glitch