PETALING JAYA, April 23 — Self-taught barista Ben Ramirez has been handing out free coffee to frontliners from his kitchen window using a toy gorilla arm.

The San Francisco resident credits the idea to his five-year-old son Luca, who suggested using the toy to have a six-feet gap between him and patrons as part of social distancing, CNN reported.

A sandwich board sits outside Ramirez's house advertising free pour-over coffee and he’s been making 10 to 15 cups a day on average.

“Even if they don't get a cup of coffee, they can stop at the window and chat.

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“We have a lot of people in the neighbourhood who either are nurses, doctors or postal workers. They're out there on the front lines risking their lives every day.

“They deserve something and they're always happy to see us in the morning,” said Ramirez.

 

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Our trainee program off to a great start! #gorillaarmcoffee

A post shared by Ben Ramirez (@gorillaarmcoffee) on

 

Originally a web designer, Ramirez always had dreams of opening up a cafe and coffee roasting company.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, he already had all the supplies he needed for his project, which he hopes will help keep the community spirit alive now that most of the cafes in his North Beach neighbourhood are closed.

He even has a “secret menu” option where customers can request various types of plant milk to go with their cuppa.

“I did an order on Amazon of cups and lids, and I bought a sandwich board too and a letter board for a menu.

“When we were just starting to shelter in place, my wife ordered cases of oat milk and almond milk. So, I have plenty of milk to put in people's coffee if they want it.”

The father-of-two said he’s grateful for the support of his wife to make his project a reality, adding that she was gracious enough to move her work-from-home meetings to the afternoon so he could spend his mornings making coffee for frontliners.

“She can watch the boys in the morning, and I can hand out my coffee.

“And then we have lunch together and we handoff, and I hang out with the boys. We try and make it a good day.”

One of the perks of running a home cafe is that Ramirez has finally gotten to meet neighbours who have been living down the road from him all this while.

“I've actually met a lot of neighbours who I didn't know that have been on the same street as me since I've lived here, so that's a big plus of doing this too.”