The Tala Blog

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Espresso at Home - from Budget to Bougie

“Making coffee at home is incredible fun. It can be relaxing, ritualistic, convenient, and comforting. Or, like myself, you are simply fascinated and enamored with the brewing process. Whatever the case, I’m here to guide you down the road of buying a new espresso set up.”

News, Community Joanna Tong News, Community Joanna Tong

Best Chicago Coffee for SCA Expo

If you’re visiting from out of town, you may be interested to hear what the best places to go are from a local’s perspective. Whenever I travel, I look for the opinions of real people—in fact, I usually just ask the baristas at the first cafe I go to where I should go. Consider this that conversation, except ahead of time.

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Community Haley Horvat Community Haley Horvat

One Year With 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. 

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Behind the Bar, Community Haley Horvat Behind the Bar, Community Haley Horvat

Behind the Bar with Sydney

Sydney started working at Tala as a Neighborly delivery driver in the summer of 2022. Long before she was an employee, Syd was a regular at the cafe—partly because her sister Lucy worked with us, but also because it’s where she did homework almost every day after school. After doing Neighborly for a few months, Sydney joined the cafe team and has worked steadily ever since!

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Community Joanna Tong Community Joanna Tong

Outside is Open: Adventure Coffee

Lockdown obviously has changed all of our lives in a lot of ways, but the good news is that outside is still open! It isn’t exaclty atypical for me to spend lots of time outside but in this season the time feels even more important. There’s something about the fresh air and the open spaces that feels so safe and comforting. In the midst of the lockdown the outdoors is the gift we didn’t know we needed.

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