Courier Coffee – best in Portland

Stumptown Coffee, I still love you.  Without you, there would be no americano.  Portland wouldn’t be half as hip or nearly as fun on rain-soaked days.

But I have to admit that I’ve found a new brew, thanks to the wonderful (and cute!) souls over at Half & Half.  I go there nearly every day during the week.  Half & Half is the sweet little coffee stop and cafe squeezed between Reading Frenzy and CounterMedia off Burnside and 10th Avenue.  They used to serve Stumptown and only recently switched to a small roaster named Joel, who brings us Courier Coffee.

I was suspicious at first, but I gave it a try and absolutely loved it.  I also loved everything I read about Joel and his indy coffee roasting.
Willamette Week’s 2006 article on Portland’s coffee scene describes Joel a bit:

At 4 o’clock on a Monday morning, Joel Domreis hunches over a tiny coffee roaster in a cluttered workshop on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, scribbling figures in a spiral-bound notebook.

The 26-year-old—he seems more like a teenage mad scientist—has been at it since 3 o’clock. A Portland kid obsessed with coffee since middle school, Domreis started roasting two years ago in his back yard, using an open propane flame and a tin the size of an English muffin. (“That coffee totally rocked.”)

That level of obsession and commitment to detail makes Domreis—even though he’s just starting out—emblematic of the Portland coffee revolution’s spirit.

Neat!   I really like this guy.  The coffee beans at Half & Half are always great – you simply have to try it out for yourself.

The owners at Half & Half talk about Joel on their blog:

On November 1st we made the ‘official’ switch to Courier Coffee. Courier Coffee is one dude, Joel Domries. He has a crazy-manic energy that either says, “passionate about coffee” or “drugs” and sometimes you just have to nod your head and do to the dishes as he describes his roasting adventures. He has been coming in for years, ordering double espressos and talking incessently about roasting. Eventually he started bringing samples, little jelly jars meticulously labeled with dates, times and temperatures, and we witnessed his coffees become magnificent. Joel delivers his beans by bicycle up to 3 times a week, and we’re doing our best to keep our coffee small, local and sustainable.

Head over there and try some Courier for yourself!