Goodbye Movember, Hello December

Not sure how it happened but here we are in December already. Before we get into a recap of what's been keeping us busy, here are our holiday hours:

HOLIDAY HOURS:

SUNDAY 19th DECEMBER OPEN 10 AM - 4 PM
MONDAY 20th thru THURSDAY 23rd 8AM - 6 PM
 

CHRISTMAS EVE: FRIDAY 24th 8 AM - 4 PM
 

CHRISTMAS DAY: CLOSED
BOXING DAY: CLOSED

MONDAY 27th thru THURSDAY 30rd 8 AM - 5 PM

NEW YEARS EVE: FRIDAY 31st 9 AM - 4 PM
NEW YEARS DAY: SATURDAY 1st CLOSED

 The Detour Crew participated for the first time in the effort to fight Prostate Cancer by growing our 'Mo's.  As you can see there was a variety of scary facial hair displayed (or attempted to be displayed, ah'em ...Geoff).

 We also saw the end of a few coffees.  A couple weeks ago was the end of our Kenya Karuya Auction lot.  This coffee was fabulous, in a year that was reportedly a poor one for Kenyans.  This week we say goodbye to our Ethiopian Sidama Ardi.  I don't think I've ever tasted a cleaner example of a natural processed Sidama.  Hopefully we can find another fine coffee from the Guji Coop in 2011.

Replacing these coffees, we've got some great, and in season, coffees.  The first debuted a couple weeks ago, San Pedro Organic Colombian Microlot.  We kept the roast light on this coffee to bring out the zesty fruited notes and sweetness.  Next week a stunning Peaberry from Papua New Guinea will hit the shelves.  When I cupped it for the first time it jumped off the cupping table at me, right from the get go starting with the dry grounds.  Apple Pie came to mind when we cupped it and fuller notes will come when we receive and profile it this week.  In the coming weeks, we will be cupping loads of Brazils.  We are sure to find a few winners in the lot and hope to have one or two on the shelves in the new year.

As some of you are aware that we are in the midst of expanding out from the back of the building we are in into the front of it.  We will not only be offering our coffees brewed on a 3 group La Marzocco FB80, pourover station, and batch brewer, but will also be offering a breakfast menu, full cafe lunch menu and brunch service on the weekend.  My wife Crystal is a graduate of the Stratford Chef School, but started working in kithchens in New Zealand when she was 13.  Her vision is for a Kiwi style cafe but with locally sourced and seasonal food.  She will mostly be front of house but we've got a couple Stratford graduates lined up to work in the kitchen.

The current detour space will close during the week and open on Saturdays to accomodate customers wanting beans only.  We are also going to launch brewing and barista classes and public cuppings in the back.  Flash forward to summer and you can look forward to ICE CREAM at the back!  I'm looking forward to experimenting with making cold brewed coffee extract to use as icecream bases.

We were hoping to open December first but par for the course, contruction delays have us set to open now around the 10th of January.

Finally, as the holiday season is upon us, we have decided to extend our opening hours to now open on Monday and Tuesdays as well meaning that we are open everyday except Sunday.  

Looking for some great gift ideas for the holidays?

GEAR: We've got some great single cup coffee brewers and grinders for the office including a wide array of Hario equipment, or the amazingly simple Aeropress.  For something a bit more substantial, check out the Technivorm brewer we've got.  Right now we are offering free shipping on it.

COFFEE: A great option for your coffee loving friend is a 3 month subscription to our coffees.  By delivering 2 bags at a time, we basically absorb the shipping on our end.  Or check out our new Holiday Blend or Sampler Bag which includes 4 different coffees.