The scones at Tite Knot Craft Coffee shop in Redmond take about three days to make.

The process involves lamination, the repeated folding and rolling of butter into dough, much like creating the thin layers of a croissant. One is made with layers of cardamom and vanilla and topped with brown sugar filling, while another is folded with organic blueberries and lemon zest ($4.75 each).

The hand-rolled buttermilk biscuits take the same amount of time to prepare. These usually sell out and come dressed with sausage gravy ($11.50) or Justy’s Jelly ($4).

Owner Lauri Dahl said she is careful where she sources flour for her baked goods, opting for ingredients free of conditioners, emulsifiers and preservatives, placing the bulk of her orders with Central Milling and King Arthur Baking Co.

Dahl’s coffee shop celebrates four years of business this week. Last week, it swapped out its food truck with a larger cart that allows more room for preparing drinks.

And although orders are accepted inside a mobile cart, the coffee shop sprawls into a residence with a backyard, offering many cozy nooks and crannies to enjoy a cup of joe.

Pastries made by hand

“This has been the adventure of my life,” Dahl said of the business she founded during the pandemic.

Dahl, who grew up in Redmond, has a heart for the hospitality business.

“I love that it’s different every day. You can be creative. You get to eat,” she said. “You get to see some of the same people every day.”

Early in her career, Dahl soaked up the expertise of talented pastry chefs while living and working in Ithaca, New York. Later, she worked for McMenamins for over a decade, spending time at the brewpub’s Edgefield location in Troutdale and Portland’s Kennedy School. Working for Mike and Brian McMenamin taught Dahl how to be creative in business and less fearless, Dahl said.

“It made me think of business in completely different ways. I think that really helped me envision this space” she said of Tite Knot.

Dahl employs 14 people, some of whom work in the property’s garage next to the cart, which has been transformed into a bakery.

“I pay a lot more in labor because we do everything by hand,” Dahl said.

The menu expands beyond scones and biscuits to include muffins, cookies, granola, scones and more.

There’s brunch-inspired strata, an egg casserole made with the coffeeshop’s housemade sourdough and the option to add the same sausage gravy that drenches the buttermilk biscuits ($10-$12).

A dainty French tea cake called a financier ($1.75) offers a gluten-free sweet treat on the menu. It’s made with almond flour and brown butter and has a crisp exterior that gives way to a dense inside with a distinct nutty flavor.

More Coverage: 3 cottage bakers making sourdough with love in Central Oregon

A consistent cup

Sisters Coffee Co. roasts a blend of coffee beans for the shop, which crafts its lattes with Eberhard’s Dairy. A handful of syrups are made in-house, such as the almond, bourbon vanilla and toasted coconut cinnamon, along with options by Holy Kakow.

Tite Knot keeps its craft coffee consistent by staying on the cutting edge of equipment and investing money in its grinders and espresso machines, Dahl said. Baristas are trained how to pull a shot on an older, manual coffee machine before pulling shots on the new, high-technology GB5 X model by La Marzocco in the coffee cart.

The world of coffee can have an air of pretentiousness, but Dahl believes that’s not necessary. She’s resolute in her pursuit of crafting a high-quality cup, without the snobbery.

“Our job is to know how to make really good coffee and that means everything from our equipment to who we source our beans from,” she said.

“Coffee should never be pretentious.”

More Redmond eats: New High Desert Music Hall restaurant ventures into big, bold flavors of Latin America

Details

What: Tite Knot Craft Coffee

Location: 706 SW 10th St., Redmond

Contact: titeknot.com, 541-526-5568

Hours: 6 a.m.- 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Price Range: Menu items range from $1.75-$12

“Coffee should never be pretentious.”

—Tite Knot Craft Coffee owner Lauri Dahl