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    Barista

    Eiichi Kunitomo

    Founder and Barista, Koffee Mameya Kakeru

    Discipline
    Barista
    Based in
    Tokyo, Japan
    Portrait of Eiichi Kunitomo

    i. Biography

    Eiichi Kunitomo has run specialty coffee as a trade of precision rather than display: since 2018, he has been founder and barista of Koffee Mameya in Tokyo. The work is built around making coffee more exact, more personal, and less abstract, with Koffee Mameya naming that tight relationship between bean and barista.

    Coming Up

    The early foundation was set by working across two coffee cultures. Eiichi Kunitomo served as a barista at Osaka coffee shop in Osaka, Japan, then as a barista at Neapolitan coffee shop in Italy, learning how service, flavor, and pace shift from one market to another. Those years established the discipline behind the later work: repetition, contrast, and a way of treating coffee as technique as much as drink.

    Where They Are Now

    Since 2018, the bar at Koffee Mameya has been organized around clarity: what goes into the cup, how it is presented, and how directly it can be read by the guest. In 2021, Eiichi Kunitomo founded Koffee Mameya Kakeru in Koto, Tokyo, where the coffee omakase and tasting-course format pushes the bean through coldbrew, milkbrew, mocktails, and cocktails. The point is range without obscurity, and language that stays concrete rather than relying on tasting shorthand. His position on that language is explicit: “It’s not easy to understand ‘hint of lemon’ and that kind of thing.”

    Career - founder and barista — Koffee Mameya, Tokyo, Japan (2018–present) - founder — Koffee Mameya Kakeru, Koto, Tokyo, Japan (2021–present) - barista — Osaka coffee shop, Osaka, Japan - barista — Neapolitan coffee shop, Italy

    Signature

    Eiichi's signature dishes include Koffee Mameya and Koffee Mameya Kakeru.

    In Their Words “It’s not easy to understand ‘hint of lemon’ and that kind of thing.”

    FAQ What is Eiichi Kunitomo's current role? Eiichi Kunitomo is founder and barista. Where did Eiichi Kunitomo work before? Earlier in their career, Eiichi Kunitomo worked at Osaka coffee shop and Neapolitan coffee shop.