Cafe run by Japanese island's only foreigner aims to be new tourist spot

It sounds like the guy is retired. Ii na!

To be full "Aussie Cafe", the guy needs a hat with corks, some shrimp on the barbie, and some beers in an esky.

His footwear is different colours.

Despite the language barrier and cultural differences, the islanders welcomed Widmer warmly, allowing him to settle easily into the community.

As it should be - the norm not the exception. Good for him and them.

Great story - love getting a glimpse of an alternative way of life that has some allure. Good for him!

Good luck with his coffee shop. The bright colored building make quite a contrast to the ones next to it.

His footwear is different colours.

He has another pair just like those.

Great story!

A question: the article states that he imports his coffee beans from Australia. Are the beans grown in Australia, or are they merely moved through Australia? I suppose it is possible to grow coffee beans in a few tropical areas in the north of the country, but definitely not something I have ever heard about.

Someone tried growing bananas on the coast of California a few decades ago, but I don't think it worked out. Coffee beans are grown as far north as Mexico, but my favorite coffee bar uses Guatemalan beans. IMO they are excellent and underrated.

They grow coffee in the Byron Shire on the North Coast of NSW.

Big coffee culture among the yuppies in Australia.

But...how many coffees do you have to sell , in a place with limited "walking traffic " to make a living.

Hard yakka mate.

Thanks for the info, Guru. Now you got me wanting to taste Australian coffee beans.

Found a Dutch company that will ship Australian Organic coffee, but way too expensive for my taste. A shame.

Did some more digging. Di Lorenzo is a coffee company based in Sydney, run by children of Italian immigrants. On the web site, couldn't find any coffee for sale grown in Australia. Everything listed is imported and then roasted in Australia. Not to say that they don't have any Aussie grown coffee......a Dutch company offers it for a very high price.....but most of their beans are not Australian grown.

To answer your question 1Glenn, I spoke to the owner a few months back and I think I recall it was the company you mentioned, Lorenzo coffee. I'm familiar with it from when I lived in Australia, a lot of cafes use it. The beans aren't grown in Australia but they're roasted there. The reason the owner imports the beans from Australia is because Japanese roasters refused to roast them the way he wanted, claiming they all over-roasted the beans compared to Australian roasters. I had a cup and it tasted like a good Melbourne coffee ☕ a lot different from Japanese cafe's coffee so I think he's onto something. Some people chalk it up to the water being different but I don't think that's the case after trying his coffee, you can get a good coffee if you use imported roasted beans.

But...how many coffees do you have to sell , in a place with limited "walking traffic " to make a living.

Doesn't have to and he probably doesn't care. I'm about to do the same with a micro-pub. It's for me & my mates more than anything but customers can enjoy it too if they want.