The Most Expensive Coffee! How to Make Aged Oak Barrel Fermented Coffee - Japanese Coffee Shop Recommendations

Once again, FrontStreet Coffee is astonished by the Japanese pursuit of coffee. They are willing to wait an hour for a single extraction, or even decades for a coffee to age, all to taste a rich, full-bodied cup with extremely high sweetness.

In Yao City, Osaka, Japan, there is a self-roasting coffee shop called "The Münch" that sells the most expensive coffee in all of Japan: "Genso Sosaku" (Illusory Creation) low-temperature slow-aged coffee. How slow is the aging? First, beans that have been stored for 15-30 years are deeply roasted. Then a super-concentrated coffee is brewed using flannel filters. Afterward, inspired by winemaking, the coffee is stored in dedicated wooden barrels and kept in cold storage at -3°C for 20-30 years to mature. By that reckoning, the youngest coffee in these barrels has already seen 35 springs, summers, autumns and winters.

- Shop owner Mr. Tanaka and his aged coffee made in June 1995 (Heisei 7)

Extraordinary Extraction Methods

The brewing method for aged coffee goes well beyond our everyday understanding of coffee extraction. Typically, when we brew a pour-over by conventional methods, we use about 13-20g of coffee grounds at a coffee-to-water ratio (the ratio of grounds weight to extracted liquid weight) of roughly 1:13, with a total extraction time of about 2-3 minutes. For flannel-filtered coffee by conventional methods, we use about 20-25g of grounds at a ratio of roughly 1:10, also taking about 2-3 minutes. When Mr. Tanaka brews coffee for aging, however, he uses 100g of grounds at a 1:1 ratio, and the total extraction lasts up to an hour.

Pricing and Value

Is aged coffee expensive? Judging by age alone, 40ml sells for 100,000 yen (at current exchange rates, roughly RMB 5,500), with a tasting portion at 2,000 yen (roughly RMB 110). That seems, perhaps, reasonable. After all, time is money.

- The 40ml version

Flavor Profile

What does it taste like? According to reports (when our writer has the chance to visit and taste it, we promise to write a detailed account of the experience), this coffee is like noble rot white wine, leaving an endless fruity sweetness lingering on the palate. The aroma of aged coffee is very deep, but the moment it enters the mouth its unique fragrance unfolds instantly. Its fruity sweetness creates the illusion of drinking wine, and it is very sweet in the aftertaste.

- A tasting portion of just a few drops

Even for their regular coffees, they primarily use flannel-filtered concentrated extraction. Each cup requires approximately 45-100g of coffee grounds, and depending on the flavor profile the beans present, the brewing ratio is approximately 1:1.5 to 1:2. When a cup is complete it often requires waiting 30-50 minutes, and the menu also indicates the extraction time for each coffee.

Unique Brewing Philosophy

Is it very strong? Yes, indeed it is very strong. The coffee has a syrup-like viscosity, and each cup is exceptionally rich and substantial. The owner says this method was inspired when a young Mr. Tanaka, during a coffee training session, accidentally tasted coffee from a famous Ginza shop. He then spent 8 years perfecting the taste he envisioned and vowed to make the best-tasting coffee in all of Japan. Whether it is delicious is a personal experience, but we believe that those who pursue coffee will always have their own distinctive side when brewing it.

- This brewing amount is quite impressive.

With such long extraction times, customers must get very bored. Not at all. Friends who have visited told our writer that Mr. Tanaka is very talkative and extremely friendly and enthusiastic toward foreigners. The whole waiting process is never boring; he chats with customers about his stories and about how he fulfilled his commitment to coffee.

A Search for a Successor

During the conversation, Mr. Tanaka asked our writer's friend whether they were interested in taking over the coffee shop. They were surprised by this seemingly joking question. Mr. Tanaka mentioned that his wife and son had passed away and there was no one to inherit the shop. One day, when he can no longer work, the shop will have to close, which he feels very reluctant about. Perhaps everyone thinks Mr. Tanaka is joking, but maybe he genuinely hopes someone can inherit this craft, the art of making aged coffee.

The Origin of the Name

The shop's name comes from a limited-edition, discontinued Münch motorcycle displayed inside. According to Mr. Tanaka, this motorcycle was manufactured in the former East Germany (German Democratic Republic), with only one in all of Japan and only five in the world. It is also the world's first two-rotor motorcycle.

From this motorcycle we can see that Mr. Tanaka was a motorcycle enthusiast in his youth. When talking with customers, he likes to take out photos from his younger days and recount his life story. He also shares poems he has written, narrating the small details of life.

- Young Mr. Tanaka, quite handsome.

Coffee as Life's Expression

Every cup of coffee here tells the story of Mr. Tanaka's unrestrained and free life. From coffee brewing to the creation of aged coffee, he was not constrained by frameworks but accomplished what many dare not. Perhaps many will say this is just a gimmick, but Mr. Tanaka dared to break through boundaries.

Like the unique stewed coffee created by a Shanghai gentleman, he did what others haven't done, dare not do, or would not think of doing. That is true innovation, rather than being limited by existing extraction methods and theories.

Image source: Internet

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Mr. Tanaka's aged coffee is a once-in-a-lifetime curiosity, but for the flavor-driven pour-over that most of us drink every day, the V60 is the tool of choice. Hario, the Japanese glassmaker founded in Tokyo in 1921, redesigned the V60's precursor in 2004 and released it a year later, naming it for its 60° cone and V shape. The cone forces water to the center before it drips, lengthening contact between water and grounds, while the single large hole lets the flow run free, so the brewer's control shows directly in the cup; that fast, even extraction is what brings out delicate aromatics and lively acidity.

For coffees that reward a V60, FrontStreet Coffee recommends our Yirgacheffe Gotiti, with its citrus, berry and green-tea notes; our Hambella Flower Queen, whose tropical strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit and lychee aromas come with vivid sweetness and almost no bitterness; and our Strawberry Candy, combining a Costa Rican honey process with Panama Geisha for delicate florals and sweet fruit. All three carry the floral-fruit character that a V60 is built to showcase.