Coffee 'Paperboy' Turns Pandemic Gig Into Full-Time Business

SOMERVILLE, MA — Armed with a mountain bike and a home roaster, Paul Delmonico set out with a modest goal when the pandemic hit: to bring coffee to his friends in and around Somerville.

It started with a Facebook post on March 16, 2020: "Home Roasting...message me if you are running low..." Delmonico recognized that people might be apprehensive about going to the store or café to get their coffee.

In the year since, Delmonico has roasted and delivered more than 500 pounds of coffee.

"In Somerville, Cambridge, Arlington and Medford, I have jumped on my Mountain Bike and channeled my inner paperboy and delivered bags of coffee to over 50 different families," he wrote in an email to Patch.

Delmonico started calling his business Del's Coffee Roasters, fielding orders from across the country. He recently signed a lease in Waltham and bought a small commercial coffee roaster to continue the business on a larger scale.

But the most rewarding part of the experience has been staying in touch with friends and neighbors.

"Many of my bike deliveries have turned into five- or 10-minute sidewalk-to-front door conversations and check-ins to see how everyone is getting by, sharing of pandemic pains and struggles and connecting during a time when that alone is difficult," Delmonico said. "I feel very lucky to have been able to keep my community caffeinated with freshly roasted coffee, it has kept me busy and connected."