One Year With Coffee Club
A Member Story
When Billy was dating Maria—his now wife—he began bringing Tala Coffee to Mexico with him as a gift to her and her family when he visited. One time, he shipped her Tala but the Federales confiscated the shipment and she never got it. To avoid further disappointment he made sure to hand deliver the coffees from then on. At the time, Maria was living with her cousin in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. The two girls loved it: “we would always get really excited when Billy was coming over because he would always come with coffee beans and we would go directly to our coffee machine every morning and start making new coffee! I was not a big coffee person but I love making it and trying it.”
Maria is pretty whimsical when it comes to making her coffee in the morning: “I grind the beans, I don’t measure, I think that's wrong. Maybe I'll stop doing that. It’s what my heart tells me I should put in there,” Maria jokes. She goes on: “Then I make two cups of coffee with the Origami [a Japanese pour-over method] one for me and one for Billy. But he always wakes up later than me so it’s kind of cold when he goes to drink it. We’re trying to fix that.”
Billy chimed in that this routine is the best because he gets to wake up to the smell of coffee. He is also quick to mention he is a little more scientific when it comes to home brewing, using a scale to ensure proper input and output ratios.
“Sometimes, once in a blue moon, I wake up earlier and she says, ‘can you make us coffee?’” Billy adds.
“To be honest when he makes it it’s way better. He thinks I say that so that he will make it instead of me but it’s 100% honest. He makes better coffee,” Maria insists.
Billy grew up with a father who always used the Aeropress at home, so he followed suit when he began making his own coffee: “I started making my coffee with an Aeropress but didn’t really know what I should be doing with water temperature and all that stuff. Then I transitioned to a Chemex and I just found myself on your website a lot (for the brew guides).” Billy discovered Tala through Keith, the head roaster and one of the owners: “I’ve known Keith for a really long time (since high school) and visited him at his previous shop. That’s where I started trying espresso. He was really into espresso. He was calling them ‘spros’, ‘spros’ for the bros. Then I went to Tala when it opened but at the time I wasn’t a cyclist and had to drive out there. I think Ruca (the house blend), that’s been around forever, is where I started. It was some of those staples. I just thought it would be great to get involved with one brand and see how they do it and get involved with all their different coffee releases.”
Billy then decided to try out Tala’s Coffee Club: “I noticed that you had a Coffee Club subscription, and I just thought it would be a great way to dive in and explore what your business has to offer.” One year later Billy and Maria are still loving the perks and new experiences that come with trying a different coffee every month.
“I wanted to stick with one roaster so I could see the full spectrum of what you guys were doing but also wanted to try the different blends and things you were coming out with. I started to realize there was a lot more depth to each coffee that I could focus on instead of just if I liked it or didn’t like it,” He continues.
Billy and Maria have built coffee into their daily routine. From days when they work at home together and crank out Chemexes all morning, to waking up and making the other person their first cup of the day, they are always connecting through their appreciation for coffee. Getting different single origin bags each month also helps to keep things interesting and gives them something to look forward to. Coffee isn’t the only thoughtful thing they share though—they also collect mugs together which just adds to their routine! “The collection is getting pretty big now but it’s fun picking one for each other every morning,” Billy adds.
Being a part of the Coffee Club makes this routine even easier because they don’t need to think about ordering or going out and getting more coffee at the end of the month. It’s just delivered straight to their door! Billy notes that one of his favorite things is how it arrives in its perfect packaging—a mailer envelope with a cute little Coffee Club stamp on front, fresh roasted coffee inside, and often a gift specifically for Coffee Club members. Another neat part about the Club is that there are exclusive coffees roasted and delivered solely to Coffee Club members. These limited release coffees don’t appear online or in the Cafe so the only way to know about them is by signing up!
When asked what their favorite coffees from the past year have been Billy confidently answered Teremuka Estate AA: Nakuru, Kenya which was a Coffee Club exclusive release from Spring 2022. He also mentioned Finca Don Jaime, one of our current offerings, and Johnny Lemus, a coffee from summer of 2022.
“I like the surprise of what it is going to be. It’s never the same one twice in a row but they also bring back roasts that I had seen previously. The diversity of what you get really helps you dial in your preferences… I really can’t tell you how acidic this one is but I drink them and I’m like, ‘I like this one for certain reasons. I like this one better than the last one.’ I know which ones I like the best. I’m really an amateur as far as what my palette can recognize. Some make you more thirsty and some I could drink all day long. This one, Finca Don Jaime, I could drink all day long. I love this one. Getting the variety is really fun! It’s my favorite part,” Billy notes. “[With Coffee Club] I’m not stuck in my own ways of picking what I like. I get them curated and then it’s time to try a new one. And one way or another we finish all of them. There’s never ones I don’t like, some I just won’t drink three cups a day!”
Maria also shares that Coffee Club has helped them to expand their palettes when it comes to trying new coffees. “You get used to trying exotic and new flavors so you want to keep trying more. It definitely made me more excited about different coffees. I started noticing different hints and flavors each [coffee] has.”
Billy has also used Coffee Club to teach him more about the different technical aspects of coffee that lead to different flavor profiles in the beans: “It has helped me to know when I'm in a shop to look at the packaging. I tried one once that was just so fruity and I didn’t really like it that much. I've grown to like it now, but Keith explained to me the natural versus the washed process. So now I know to check, ‘if this is a natural processed coffee I have to be careful’. It has helped me figure out what I like and don’t like.”
“I don’t think I’m a very sophisticated coffee drinker, but I focus really hard on making it. I don’t know about my reviews but I’m learning with you guys. It’s like I’m taking a class with you guys.” Billy shares regarding his year of experience with Coffee Club.
Coffee Club has a lot of perks. There’s the coffee variety, the special discounts and gifts that are shared exclusively with members, the Coffee Club exclusive shop online and the convenient arrival of coffee straight to your door weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. There are also customizations for the amount of coffee and the option to choose your roast or decide on the rotating ‘roaster’s choice’ for something new in every shipment.
Gifting a Coffee Club membership is a great way to share a little piece of home with friends and family, whether they’re local, across the country, or international. Who knows, maybe this small act of kindness through sharing coffee could start yet another unexpected connection. Coffee Club is a simple way to learn more about coffee and to experience new things together—and it's the perfect way to start each day!
Haley Horvat
Adventure marks Haley in both big and little ways. Her grand escapades and little joys are all punctuated with an emphatic attitude that is contagious to all. Although a long-time barista for Tala, you’ll now catch Haley behind bar between other adventures—like an upcoming trip to Norway!