Designing the Roast Curve: A Coffee Playroom Worth Lingering In

SUCRÉ BEANS Coffee Roaster

Tucked into a quiet residential lane in Da’an District, Sean brews coffee with practiced ease behind a wide glass window. SUCRÉ BEANS is under 33 square meters, and like its founder, it is simple and capable, yet full of detail.
Sean is the founder of SUCRÉ BEANS Coffee Roaster, a designer, and the founder of a stationery brand. He jokes that he is easily distracted by different things, but in every role he plays, his attention to detail is clear.

SUCRÉ BEANS is more than a coffee roasting studio. It is also one of Sean’s works as a corporate identity (CI) designer, combining brand management and CI design in one place. Beyond his everyday design work, at SUCRÉ BEANS he also designs roast curves. This constant exploration has grown into an ecosystem that is uniquely SUCRÉ BEANS.

Q: How did you decide to start SUCRÉ BEANS Coffee Roaster?

A: It all happened naturally. It started with drinking coffee, a habit I have kept for 35 years. Whenever clients or friends came by, I would brew coffee; coffee is a kind of social lubricant. I never planned to roast beans myself and did not think it was something I would get into. Then a friend introduced me to it (Sean laughs that every branch in his life comes with its own story), and I was hooked after my first roast. At first I borrowed someone else’s roasting space. I never studied under a master; I learned by trial and error, and whether a batch was good or not, I had to finish it myself (laughs). Over time, a group of customers who liked my roasts formed. As that group grew, I decided to buy a roaster, and that is how SUCRÉ BEANS Coffee Roaster began.

Q: You call SUCRÉ BEANS a coffee playroom. What does that name mean?

A: Coffee today is no longer the bitter, burnt drink many people imagine. Every step — growing, farm management, harvesting, processing, roasting and extraction — has changed. The flavors we can get go far beyond bitterness. The whole process involves a lot of experimenting, so I would rather call it play.

Q: We heard you do graphic design at your studio in the morning and brew coffee here in the afternoon.

How did you come to be both a graphic designer and the founder of a coffee brand?

A: I started out in CI design, and first taught in the art and design department at a school. After I retired, some regular clients kept asking me to do CI work for them, so I naturally started my own design company, Bravo Design.

Before SUCRÉ BEANS existed, brewing coffee was simply for my wife’s and my daily cups. Once I started roasting, I brewed mainly to taste each roast and use it as a reference for the next one. Then people began asking whether I sold coffee, and that is how serving cups began.

After founding SUCRÉ BEANS, I converted my home’s parking space, enclosed the empty space with glass, and moved the coffee bar from indoors to outside. I began opening a few days a week and kept mornings for design work, which is why SUCRÉ BEANS opens at noon.

Q: How does your way of working differ between your roles as a designer and as a coffee roaster?

A: I do not deliberately follow a set way of working.

To me, the roast curve is very similar to CI design: both are refined through endless practice. I treat running SUCRÉ BEANS as part of CI design. I am my own client and my own supplier, and SUCRÉ BEANS is a real, working example that shows my clients what is possible.

Design training also shapes how I roast. A design structure starts from small elements and expands, moving through different stages before it becomes something physical. Roasting works the same way: first I set the basic roast curve, then I expand on it and fine-tune the details within the curve.

Some people focus wholeheartedly on one thing. I am not that focused; I tend to get drawn into everything within the larger system, and that has led to encounters I never expected. I have since applied what I learned in one area to others, such as roasting, running SUCRÉ BEANS, and design.

Q: Many people have essential tools for work and life. As a designer and a barista, what are your essentials?

A: A pen.

Every designer is demanding about pens. I have tried countless pens from my student days to my working life. Once I find a pen I am used to, I tend to use it for a long time.

Q: What does stationery mean to you?

A: When ideas are flowing freely, it lets you capture a flash of inspiration the moment it happens.

Q: Why do you write your roasting notes by hand instead of on a computer? How does writing feel to you?

A: As I always say, “Being able to keep working when there is no power — that is real productivity.”

In design work, even without power or a computer, you can still take out paper, a pen and a ruler and finish the job. I think that is what being productive means. Handwriting shows the traces of daily life; you can even read emotions in the way the letters are written. Only handwriting can do that.

Q: What do you think of Pen S mini after using it?

A: Pen S mini is compact and light, and its dual-purpose touch tip is important to me.

What matters to me is that it fits the needs of this space, SUCRÉ BEANS. My roasting equipment has a touchscreen, and during roasting it is not convenient to use my fingers on it. I also need to write roasting notes, so a pen that does both works well for me and meets my needs.