Courier Coffee Roasters

January 8th? tentative restart. The downtown coffee shop restart basically is determined by Comcast, and the shipment of a card reader/ electronic thing like an ipad. Our dedicated internet line is set to start on January 7th- for taking cards direct, for security, it is best to use an in-house internet line, instead of the free wifi service provided by comcast.

We are looking at being open maybe three days a week, potentially fri, sat, sunday. if people show up, we will open on more days of the week. Bake goods would be pre-ordered (but not exactly guaranteed), and the menu simplified. We will also be selling coffee beans pre-order. Canele need to be prepped a full 24 hours ahead, and i have had some struggles lately with a change in eggs, and milk. Our muffins are the same, in that the batter should be made in advance.

There have been a few days ive made a hundred canele. But there is no venting, and now more than ever we wish to keep the door closed. Canele (when made with tins lined with beeswax) smoke like crazy, i actually used a respirator on my second day of baking. This last month the canele have been very “poofy” honestly i am unsure the reason. I am wondering if its the milk or eggs. Or it could very well be the straining of the batter.

Last step will be to seriously think on a check in- check out method. Unlike most shops we will only have one person staffing and working inside the shop, with full day between people. the person coming to work would clean everything with a stabilized ammonium upon entering, and upon leaving, and there would be a check in check out list. The coffee shop is not exactly some lab clean room, but we need new protocols, and would like to treat it like a super clean space. we want to be safe.

Fast forward to the holidays-

This time of year is pretty awesome. citrus season has just started- which means blood oranges, mandarins, and so many other fruits. You are all loved. I think i can speak for everyone that we miss you, and are with you.

j

Unfortunately a fear among fears is losing my keys, since i have keys to pretty much everything, and many of them i probably should not have, and some of them just work in places they should not. My most important key? The key to the bathroom.

Yesterday i contemplated what would happen without a bathroom key….

Today i checked out craigslist and nextdoor. im hopeful, but could this day get even better.

good news- Rwanda womens coop. coffee has cleared the ports, and will be on a truck to us – and the twiha coffee from the past is also clearing customs, with an eta of mid-month.

i will fill you in on coffee to expect and when on another day.

**********************update******************************

All the keys were found on a street corner, and someone posted them on Nextdoor. Hurray. so there was one day of being bummed out, followed by a day of excitement.

We decided on a long holiday one day before Kate Brown (Governor of Oregon), told everyone else to close for a while. The staff met at the roastery, pretty closely, around the copper bar. Our only Coronavirus precautions were washing our hands super well upon entering the room, and the Chinese Food from Chinese Delicacy (best kimchi in Portland)- had to have serving utensils, so that we did not use our personal ones. We knew it would be a risk to meet closely, but the theory was that we all had been working together at the shop. I was probably at the most risk with my wife and daughter just back from Japan, and my father back from Mexico.

The food was delicious, and it was a wonderful meeting.

I pretty much moved all the items of value from the shop to my house or roastery.

Items of value included: Canelle forms, muffin tins, Ditting grinder, toilet paper, Technics sl-1200, tea, vanilla bean, sugar, oats, four (most of it).

Coming back to the shop today…. I tested the oven. I flushed water from the equipment, and did a light cleaning on surfaces with vinegar. Our sanitizer dispensing unit stopped working- most likely clogged from lack of use (but i just mixed it and used test strips). There is dust, and our broken window is just plywood. I did a silly thing and brought a reciever and speakers, but forgot the speaker wire. something cool was free internet- courtesy of comcast. so i was able to listen to music without wifi. That still kind of amazes me.

While i was doing baking prep i noticed many things. I had left flour from march in a cambro (plastic container brand). Today i tasted all the flour and sugar from different containers and i tasted the salt. It seems the plastic has tainted all ingredients. I actually made a batch of canele but had to toss it, because it had an off taste. (i went through 50 demitasse spoons today tasting).

I know that we will be opening the shop as a walk up- take out thing- very very soon. what is left is to determine hours. it would make sense to do something like 8-11. well… there is a lot to think about- i pretty much have to find a new ‘POS’ system, get internet again, restart laundry, and build a door for the shop that has a cool way to get people things.

The pressure is on- one thing for certain- baking should probably be ordered in advance- when we do reopen. Our method is to bake things and sell them within ten hours- many, most- and think some famous bakeries- bake the day before. not many people work bakers hours in this city. In a similar way we like to roast coffee and get it to you fresh.

In any case- on a personal note- ive been doubling up my mask lately. while i still have some n-95 masks- which work like magic- I am using basic surgical earloop masks with a triple cloth on top. I have also been playing zombie films in the background while i roast coffee- which is a product of my last visit to New York.

I know we have many new people interested in Courier from Hulu- cool- your interest in us is amazing. I know this is the time for us to all try not to go out. I think i can speak for my staff and say that we all remember you, so… please remember us.
********************************UPDATE NOV. 17TH************************

I baked a lot of goods today- if they look funny they will taste more delicious. The canele i made some using aluminum forms, which are super difficult to get the beeswax even. The light color parts had more beeswax contact.

I made Yogurt Oat Muffins with Pears and Apples grown by KIYOKAWA farm, Hood River. After sliding the tins into the oven, minutes later i realize i forgot Baking powder, since my bag of powder remained closed. I was able to save the entire batch.

The cookies were larger than normal, and David was not there to select the best ones.

Cleaning up my floor drain clogged.. somehow its a little cleaner now.

soon- us

I am afraid to watch what happened today on Hulu.

People are now asking for our recipe, but i think that is not what you actually want.

Without knowing what was shown on Hulu, here are my tips and tricks.

First question- is there a recipe? For me there is not, not exactly.

Crucial parts of your recipe- for anything. use the best eggs (pasture raised- firm yolks- i prefer brown ones, but color is not a factor). this makes an incredible difference.

Chocolate for most people is expensive- we use a 72% chocolate. Something like Nestle chocolate would be bad.

Lastly- resting your cookie dough- and this could be the thing everyone can pull off- just put it in the fridge, and let it sit for 5 days. The flavor will be much better than the next day.

If you all trust me, i would love to offer guidance on cookies. Baking is my love before coffee. I think that i can give you guidance, but not exactly a recipe. Our recipe is built around our ingredients.

In any case- much love. The fact that We are all here now, is awesome.

Stay safe, and, yes its my personal cell phone number. I go to sleep at 8pm and attempt to wake up at 2 am each morning, although calls are appreciated after 6am.

best joel courier coffee.

so- you have given up on halloween, but a cute kid shows up on your porch with a mask. One of the top two best halloween treats i received as a kid was a can of soup. The second best one was dental floss.

It would be so cool to hand out some pasta, or perhaps tofu. The kid that receives the treat would be impressed.

Whenever i carve a pumpkin i save the seeds. I wash them like rice in a bowl of water, and strain out three times. Then into the oven with light salt, on a clean pan. roasted pumpkin seeds are always a favorite.

There was an amazing kids story about someone who carves a pumpkin, then leaves it in their yard. The story is really about a mouse who crawls into the pumpkin, and eats it, and ends up using the pumpkin as its home for the winter. Letting things decompose in the yard is kind of a great thing.

I know its a pandemic, but thank you everyone who is making it magical.

If you are doing the hands off approach for trick or treaters (good idea), try leaving a ton of candy in a bowl, but then maybe some condiments.

if it wasnt wrong i would give kids coffee beans.

to all of you who have made candy slides, or pulley systems, or model trains to take candy to trick or treaters – awesome. to all of you delivering candy to kids using fishing polls (tape- no hooks)- awesome.

we are in this together- no matter who you vote for- or who you buy coffee from.

If you dont want to have trick or treaters- turn off the lights. Halloween is the only day when we turn off porch lights at home, after the candy runs out.

all of us older people are ok- but the kids are really wanting to go out trick or treating…… catch 22.

I am a last minute voter. I would like my partner/wife to look at the ballot with me. Sakiko is a Permanent Resident, which is kind of awesome. I have asked her to discuss and we will vote together. This year i think it will be decided over the weekend.

I am pretty sure my neighborhood or neighbors have different opinions. The debates/ and talks/ on the radio that i have heard have been really fun for me this year.

This last week was full of political stuff on the radio.

Please vote, if you can vote, and remember there are millions of people living here legally who cannot vote.

there are 8.8 million, who pay taxes, but cannot vote, my wife is one- they took her money, but she cannot speak.

PLEASE VOTE.
show your own opinions and vote for who you want.

and please know that the debates and talks on the radio have been cool. I think the last week has had a lot of information. so listen if you can.

thanks j

and so Courier was broken into last night. The large glass window close to Maurice was half gone.

no tears, so everything is ok.

we are fully confident that the criminal(s) wore face masks, used hand sanitizer, and will be voting in the upcoming election.

wash your hands, be safe, and be well.
we got boarded up. The people came quickly, and i enjoyed their humor. I learned from them by watching how they boarded up. I would not have thought of doing what they did.

Their jokes about the bill- super.

Postmates has removed us- This is amazing news- Super news since we have been on pause since March.

If any of you helped us get removed- you have our thanks. Many people have shared their postmates bad stories, about customers confusing that postmates and the business work together (absolutely not the case).

Personal news-

Halloween is coming up. Since our daughter is 4 years old- we really do want to dress up- however the pandemic is trouble. Of course Santa Clause will wear a mask and get tested before coming to our house, and probably use our bathroom to wash his hands.

On my private list- i would like to learn protocol for Ham radio. There is also a new lego set coming out that uses braille. But the short issue is figuring out how to build a treehouse for winter- that fits code requirements. This year it seems like the health department has given up anyway- which is interesting- from an inspection standpoint- since we should be more concerned. Now they just ask on the phone if we are safe. Cannot speak out- because i always receive retaliation. I can tell you that we take safety for customers above and way beyond.

Also if you are reading this post- I am looking to other families who are as concerned about the pandemic as i am. We have not formed a “pod” or group. and its just my dad, sister and my family. Our daughter likes to run around, speaks Japanese, but i would prefer anything- however it would be cool if it was not english. Mostly because she does get a lot of english anyway. Most important is safety. so our friends safety would be our safety. Korean would be cool because ive been learning it. Spanish would be sweet.

Honestly if you have a kid- and you are really safe- call me. that would be great- joel courier

also- one more thing- deliveries i gave up on today- Interstate was entirely blocked- which cuts up my route. I knew the white supremicist group was going to be downtown, shame on them, and i did not anticipate having my delivery route cut off- my fault, but i will deliver in the night i guess.

BLACK LIVES MATTER. if you have extra posters that kids made to support BLM please let us know- currently we have an artshow in the window which is hard to understand- because it was made by a 4 year old. some of my customers have shared posters with me that have gone up at our house.

We hope everyone is ok today. joel

The staff at postmates seem to know that Guacamole Espresso does not exist- but no one at the company has the power to change the menu.

fyi- we are also still on temporary closure from the Pandemic.

We would like them to stop the menu. and sales of our product- because its not for sale anyway.