The Tala Blog
Featured Article
How Do I Get Better At Tasting Coffee?
If you’ve ever taken a sip of coffee and wondered how some people can pick out tasting notes like peach, jasmine, and caramelized sugar, you’re not alone. Tasting coffee is a skill — one that develops over time.
Spring Drink Menu 2020
Our spring menu launch was delayed a few weeks due to COVID-19, but we’re excited it’s finally here! We have several exciting drinks to introduce to you. You will notice some returning drinks and some new. Overall we wanted to bring exciting, refreshing and comfort to the table with this menu. With the shelter-in-place we definitely think these spring drinks will be the excuse you need to get in your car and take a lap out of the house.
Rations Box
Stay awake this quarantine with our new Bunker Blend, now available in a Rations Box. This box provides you or your loved ones the main essentials: coffee and toilet paper, of course. Now you can hunker down in your bunker knowing you have everything you need.
Bunker Blend
Our new Bunker Blend is the perfect solution for your coffee stockpiling needs. A tasty blend of Guatemala, Honduras and Burundi origins, this coffee provides a smooth cocoa nib body with a stone fruit juiciness. It is approachable but not boring, so it is sure to please any coffee-drinker you’ve found yourself quarantined with.
We're Still Open!
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.
Winter Drink Menu 2020
As much as we all loved our Holiday drinks, it is time for a change! We have three new wintery drinks available at the cafe.
2019 Holiday Gift Guide
It's that time of year again! Everyone is searching for the perfect gift. But look no further for the coffee enthusiasts on your list this year. Check out this years holiday guide.
Holiday Drink Menu 2019
The long-awaited Holiday drinks are now available in the cafe. We have some rock-star drinks returning this year, with some slight improvements. Just the other day I had a customer say, “dude I’ve literally been waiting a year for this.”
Tala Coffee Club
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.
Hosting with Coffee
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.
Pumpkin Fest
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.
Fall Drink Menu 2019
Our Fall drinks are in full-swing at the cafe, and just in time for the last bits of summer to melt away and all the pretty colors to come in! We’re celebrating the autumn vibes with some fun new flavors and some beloved old favorites.
Brew Coffee In The Wild
We’ve partnered with REI to bring you a comprehensive guide to brewing coffee in the wild. For step-by-step instructions as well as tips and tricks from the field, keep reading! We also are celebrating REI’s 81st anniversary with them on Saturday, May 18th by doing a coffee demo at our local REI store. For details check out our event page.