Coffee begins as fruit.
Fine Robusta from Vietnam and Yirgacheffe G1 from Ethiopia.
Roasted light, on purpose.
Roasted light to keep more of the bean's caffeine and chlorogenic acids.
Who it's for
For people who time their coffee: before a session, before a race, before the work that has to be finished today.
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The coffee
Both are roasted light to keep as much of the bean's caffeine and chlorogenic acids as we can.
Recommended serving
8 g per cup
Performance+ is higher in caffeine than ordinary coffee, so a cup uses about half the usual beans.
Tasting notes
Ripe cherry, dark chocolate, rich honey
Finish
Elegant, wine-like aroma with a smooth, syrupy body
Flavour
Price: ¥2,480 / 200 gtax included
Notify me when the shop opensNot cupped yet. Tasting notes and price will be published at launch.
Calculator
Choose your body weight, dose and brew method to estimate the caffeine and chlorogenic acids (CGA) in one cup.
Sports-research range: 3–6 mg/kg
This cup is below the range. At 75 kg that is 225–450 mg. Context, not a recommendation.
EFSA guidance
Performance+ figures are for our roast: 28.4 mg caffeine and 44.4 mg CGA per gram of coffee. Lifestyle uses typical Arabica values until our lot is measured, so it is an estimate. Extraction is modelled per method, with pour-over at 1:16. Grind, water temperature and time change the real figure, so treat every result as a guide.
Sources: EFSA (2015), ISSN (2021)
Why this exists
I'm a personal trainer in Tokyo. For years I relied on chemical pre-workouts and energy drinks before training, and they gave me crashes.
Cheap dark-roast robusta worked, but it tasted bad.
So I roast my own coffee, light: the coffee I wanted before training, and one I actually enjoy drinking.
— Founder, Optimized Roast
The science
Chlorogenic acids (CGA) are the main polyphenols in coffee beans, and roasting transforms and breaks them down. A study of four coffees roasted light, medium and dark found polyphenols and CGA highest at light and medium roasts, and caffeine falling as the roast got darker.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that, for healthy adults, single doses of up to 200 mg and intakes of up to 400 mg a day, from all sources, raise no safety concerns. In pregnancy, its figure is up to 200 mg a day. It also found that single doses of 100 mg may affect sleep in some adults, particularly close to bedtime.
Coffee oils carry two diterpenes, cafestol and kahweol. A paper filter holds back most of them: one analysis found negligible amounts in drip-filtered coffee, intermediate amounts in espresso and the most in boiled coffee. Methods also extract different amounts of caffeine and CGA.
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