Identifying Distinctive Coffee Roasteries Based on Product Descriptions

Abstract

In this paper, we aim to identify the most distinctive coffee roasteries in Hokkaido basedon their product descriptions. Coffee has a variety of characteristics―such as sourness, sweetness, andnutty or floral aromas―that are brought out through the roasting process. Given the large number ofroasteries across Japan―estimated at around 5,607―it is likely that some of them reflect the unique stylesor preferences of individual roasters. By analyzing product descriptions written by these roasteries, wefound that the main topics varied. Specifically, three key points were extracted: “flavor,” “coffee origin,”and “brewing method,” and many roasters mentioned flavor. Although the results have some limitations,among those that focus on coffee origin, the roastery that described “farm” and “excellent” was found tobe the most distinctive.