This year we celebrate the whimsical imagination of a faraway land of fluffy trees and funny hair and lots and lots of Christmas cheer, and one bad apple with a very green hand, who seeks his vengeance on the land… Wait—did that rhyme?

Boy are we thankful for yet another Small Business Saturday! We love a good reason to celebrate around here–especially when it means celebrating the people and the community that are constantly supporting us.

When it came time to craft a house blend and an espresso blend we knew we wanted to exemplify our feelings about coffee in these two staples. We sat around my and Stefan’s tiny apartment table cupping samples to decide our blends. When we finally decided on the recipe, we were all obsessed with the final product. Now, we had to name our blends. We finally settled on what you know today: Ruca and Amoret.

We felt like this summer needed a little something extra, a little more celebration, a little more color and a lot more positive vibes. All summer long we are channeling the chill, care-free vibes with Tala Tiki Time.

In celebration of our two-year anniversary at our café, we are having not one but two giveaways lasting all week long. Be sure to participate for epic prizes, good vibes, fun times and lots of air fives.

Our café birthday is next week, August 11th. Celebrations will look a little different this year, but we are going to celebrate nonetheless! Make sure to mark your calendars because we will have festivities all week long.

Tala Neighborly is like the milk man, but for coffee. Skip the shipping, skip the trip out of the house. Let us hand-deliver your orders so you get them fresh, fast and neighborly.

Today marks the three year anniversary of Tala. That day began a whole host of “firsts” for us. First time selling a bag of coffee, first time being featured in the press, first time hiring a Tala employee, first time opening a cafe. We had talked about each one before launching, looking forward to each as a benchmark of our progress. We’re still hitting firsts today, actually. Every one is exciting and reminds me how worthwhile our hard work has been.

Many of you have been wondering what the recent ban of restaurants and bars in Illinois has meant for Tala. We are making changes to abide by this law, and continuing to be flexible and creative as we approach new ways to serve our customers through this health crisis.

Do you love coffee? Join the club. With our Tala Coffee Club we celebrate all coffee-lovers from the casual coffee consumer to the nerdiest of coffee enthusiasts. We know the importance of your morning cup of coffee and we want to make it easy without compromising quality. Join the club for fresh specialty coffee delivered straight to your door so you can never run out of coffee again. Enjoy member perks like exclusive discounts and insider information.

This time of year you might find a few extra people in your home. Invited, uninvited—who really knows. Keeping the peace and putting your most hospitable foot forward always starts with coffee. Let’s make sure no one catches each other before their morning coffee. It’ll be better that way, won’t it? Here’s a few tips for the best help-yourself coffee station to impress the guests and make your life easier.

This past weekend Highwood celebrated its tenth annual Pumpkin Festival. It’s the biggest celebration of the year in Highwood—which says a lot for a town that has festivals for everything from garlic to country music to a bloody mary. The whole town transforms into a Pumpkin-lined wonderland with scaffolding two stories tall holding pumpkins carved in every imaginable variety. Our cafe sits right outside the boundaries of Pumpkin Fest, so it was a haven to locals trying to escape the crowds and visitors needing a place to warm up.