From the ancient porcelain district of Arita, Japan, these cups are made by our friends at Ojiyama. The handcrafted nature means each has its own beautiful, bespoke imperfections; unique in their difference, sincere in their similarities.
Shop: Australia / New Zealand / UK & EU / Japan
Our aim for the Arita Porcelain Cup project was to create a beautiful object that influenced more sustainable behaviour within our communities.
We recognise that our success as a coffee roaster has been built on the people we partner with, so to create our Arita Porcelain Cup we paired the creative forces of our own Rob Lockyear with Kazhuhisa Iwanaga, a plaster mould craftsman, from Japan.
Through much patience, and many iterations, Iwanaga-San worked with Rob to design a cup that honours Arita’s traditions, yet represents our own. He created over fifty moulds from a hand-shaped former and painstakingly etched our logo onto each one.
Using three different glazes, separated by brush and wax, Iwanaga-San was able to replicate the distinctive dark brown and tan that Allpress has become known for. These colours carry a lot of power for us – communicating quality, consistency, and the promise of a familiar flavour you love.
As a business, we are taking responsibility to minimise our waste and bring conscious intent to how we design our packaging, and our Arita Porcelain Cup is a step in the right direction.
Petter Higashi, one of our Roasters in Japan, visited the team at Ojiyama to capture these beautiful photographs. They say a picture speaks a thousand words but Petters say so much more.
