As of July 27th our new Walk-Up Window is open for beverage service. We’re still working out some kinks (and finishing up some construction details) so please bear with us.
Monday - Friday, 8am - 1pm.
Why We're (Still) Closed
Yup, we’re still closed to the public.
It’d be nice to say that my (our) thinking on reopening has evolved since March. But that dang corona seems to be a persistent virus.
So we’re still closed.
“But why?” Yeah, fair question. I walk past and drive by other coffee shops and see customers lounging 😯 INSIDE WITHOUT MASKS 😱 like life is back to normal. Well - and I write this with compassion and empathy and humility - life is not back to normal.
There is a virus active in our community. And this virus is a beast to overcome for many of our fellow people.
So we’re still closed.
If you brew coffee at home and have the means please consider making a purchase on this here website 👉 roundtablecw.com. Thanks and be well.
-Shawn
The Numbers
I know, I know, I know. Y’all are curious. Well maybe concerned is a better word. Or hopeful? Regardless, you wanna know how we’re doing.
So… here’s a little peak behind the scenes. It’s a snapshot with some caveats: these numbers are not normal business, they are indicative of nothing, and they are concurrently enough and not enough.
As of April 30, 2020:
Coffee sold (goal = 600 bags): 513 (12oz) bags of coffee, 31 (5#) bags of coffee, 27 subscriptions. Each bag hand-lettered. 🙌
Stickers & hand-written notes: ~200
Tips collected for Kori and Nathan (goal = $500): $912 🥰
Sleepless nights: 2 … … per week 🥱
Days without email (goal = 0): 4 🤬 dang email hosting service
Masks acquired: 7
Shipments: 300+, up from ~3 shipments/month.
Most visits to USPS in 1 day: 7 🤦♂️
Most USPS branches visited in 1 day: 3
Instagram posts (goal = 3/week): 32 since closing on Mar 17. 💪
Toothpick posts (goal = 1/week): 3 not counting this one 😐
Past due invoices: 0 🖖
Car accidents witnessed at Raymond & Territorial intersection: only 1
Kidney stones (goal = 0): 1 😬
A Day in the Life
A day in the life of your cute, li’l, neighborhood coffee roaster.
Rooster crows.
Roll out of bed. Check email. Check socials. Wash up.
Roll up to Roundtable. Check email. Check socials. Wash hands.
Fire up the roaster. Check email. Check socials. Wash hands.
Make a cup of coffee.
Plan roast day. Weigh out batches. Check email. Check socials. Wash hands.
Send emails. Post to socials. Wash hands.
Prep whole bean bags. Print shipping labels. Write notes. Check email. Check socials. Wash hands.
Drink a cold cup of coffee.
Roast coffee.
Why’s it so quiet? Pick a music station. Don’t forget to press ‘play’. Check email. Check socials. Wash hands.
Roast coffee.
Fill whole bean bags. Match up coffee with shipping labels with notes with boxes. Check email. Check socials. Wash hands.
Breathe.
Say ‘Hi’ to our postal carrier. Remember to thank her profusely. Send coffee on its way to your doorstep. Check email. Check socials. Wash hands.
Appreciate the day’s work.
Tidy up. Check email. Check socials. Wash hands.
Head home. Don’t forget to bring coffee for the wife.
Take Good Care
Over the past week many of y’all have checked in with an email, a knock on Roundtable’s door, or a brief message on the socials.
“How ya holding up? You think it’ll be a while? Is there anything I can do? Is your landlord gonna help with your rent? How’s Kori? How’s Nathan? “
Wow. Thank you so much everybody. 😊 I’ve (we’ve) been serving you for nearly 6 years with pleasure and it warms my heart to have that reciprocated. I’m mostly writing here to let you all know how I’m working to take care of Kori and Nathan firstly and Roundtable secondly.
Firstly, we decided to close Roundtable collectively. For health and safety reasons and to allow Kori and Nathan to apply for unemployment benefits as early as possible. Each of them has Earned PTO/Leave hours to help for a brief closure but not for a prolonged one. I also processed payroll early so that they would receive their paychecks as quick as possible. To make up for their loss of tipped income, I’ve set up a Virtual Tip Jar with 100% of tips collected being dispersed to the crew of two.
Secondly, I decided to continue roasting coffee and offering it (shipped or delivered) via this here web shop.* There is just no way around Roundtable’s need for revenue. 😟 So we’re still open …sort of. Our coffee shop is closed. Our web shop is open.
Prior to closing we received an outpouring of support and I’m here to ask for just a bit more. In response to “Is there anything I can do?”, I humbly ask for you to consider buying some beans and passing us along as a recommendation to your friends and family. Thank you and take good care.
-Shawn
*Of note for you, we heavily disinfected the shop as of closing on Tuesday 3/17 and each day I begin and end with cleaning. While working, I routinely wash my hands to the point of irritation and will continue to do so. Additionally, outside of a couple of quick stops, I’m hunkering down at home.
A New Way
So we’re closing for business temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m not quite sure what to do. It’s scary. Worrisome.
I set out to do business one way: a cute, li’l, walk-up, neighborhood coffee shop with a tight menu of drinks and fresh whole bean coffee. Now I’m tasked with doing business another way: a cute, li’l web shop with whole bean coffee fulfillment.
And it’s just a wholly unnatural way of doing business for me. It’s putting yourself out there, it’s creating awareness, it’s being an extrovert. It’s interacting with people without body language and tone. It’s MARKETING. I’ll just say it; these are not skills that I’ve developed.
So here I am after 11 years (6 in our current iteration) of running a coffee business, relearning on-the-fly how to run my coffee business. I’m out of my element, underprepared, and tired. But I’m motivated, thoughtful, and ready to do the work. Thank you for your support. Feel free to lemme know how I can do things better.
Be well,
Shawn
-Beth Johnson, Instagram @noodoodoodle
Coffee Roaster
I’ve been roasting coffee for over 10 years. Yeah, a decade. Near 40 hrs/week (if not above) standing next to a coffee roaster for a quarter of my life. Patiently. Proactively. With focus. In anticipation. Fulfilled.
How did this happen? When did it happen? Well, it was intentional so I guess those are silly questions to pose. A better question, and what I’m building up to, is this: would I be a Coffee Roaster if I hadn’t developed my own coffee aesthetic? You know, a Coffee Roaster rather than someone who roasts coffee.
The first few years (yeah, years) of roasting coffee was learning. What do I like about coffee? What coffee-producing origins am I most drawn to? Do bean variety and processing really make an impact? Really? (they do and they don’t) What happens when I adjust the burners here or the airflow there? Will my decisions result in coffee that I like to drink? I eventually found comfort and I’m happy with my coffee aesthetic.
Put simply, I accept that coffee is a roasted product. I don’t try to hide the roast yet I don’t want to feature the roast. I choose to roast for balance and everyday drinkability. I also accept that, by nature, coffee is bitter. That doesn’t mean that it can’t be pleasant; just that it’s disposition is a bitter one. My goal (through bean selection, roasting, and brewing) is to balance the bitterness with sweetness, acidity, complexity, floral aromatics, body. To put the bitterness into context.
It’s a moving target; an ever-evolving dance; a never-ending story; a life’s work. The life of a Coffee Roaster.
-Shawn