Thanks for Celebrating
This past weekend, we celebrated Nine Years as a business. As usual, we threw a big party. Thank you to everyone who came out to have a fun time on Sunday, whether you got a Birthday Cake Latte, enjoyed something epic from one of our pop-ups, came to our roastery tour, grabbed a slice of cake, or—my personal favorite—drew your smiley face on our community self portrait. We had so much fun with you all!
Prizes and Giveaways
We had a few fun competitions, prizes, and giveaways as part of our big celebration. It is always so fun to see everyone’s answers and guesses when we do things like this. If you won, you will be (or already have been) contacted via email. But for everyone who is curious to know, we have the answers for you here.
Grand Prize
We had a raffle going all day, with folks getting tickets for things like buying drinks, attending our roasting demo, subscribing to our newsletter, etc. It’s always fun to watch as the jar fills up with little slips of paper every day. The winner of the grand prize received a 1-year coffee club subscription and a $100 cafe gift card.
BEan Counting
For many years running, we’ve had a giant jar of beans and asked you to guess the number. The person whose guess was closest to the actual number won a $50 cafe gift card. That lucky person guessed 9720. The real number? 9763. That’s a remarkable 43 beans off!
Tala Trivia
We’ve done some kind of Tala Trivia since our very first birthday (hey, that’s a little trivia right there), and it’s always a lot of fun. As the years go on, I feel like I am reaching further and further into obscurity to find questions we haven’t done before. I guess this year I went a little too obscure, because no one got every answer right. The best results were 8/10 questions. Rest assured, we are giving the top 9 scorers a $15 gift card anyway. If you’re curious how your answers measured up to the facts, read on.
Tala Trivia Uncovered
Tala’s public debut was at which farmers' market?
Answer: Ravinia Farmer’s Market. We did this market every week in the summer of 2017, and a few weeks later, the Highwood evening market as well, for a very full Wednesday each week.
What country was Tala’s first-ever single-origin coffee from?
Answer: Peru! Our very first single-origin was a Cajamarca from Peru. We were so small that we only got a 60-lb bag of it at first. Today, we could roast that whole bag in about 30 minutes.
What was the first syrup ever featured on a Tala menu?
Answer: Bourbon Vanilla. Almost every person got this right. Good job, guys!
What are Tala’s four core values?
Answer: Quality, Approachability, Intentionality, Connection. Amazingly, every single person got this answer right. I am so surprised and impressed.
What is the name of the fan favorite eggnog chai latte from the Holiday menu?
Answer: Sleigh Ride! If you haven’t tried this drink, you’re missing out.
In what order were the cafes opened?
Answer: Highwood, Libertyville, Winnetka. Although the majority of folks got this one right, it is easy to see how Libertyville and Winnetka could get mixed up, as they were opened less than two months apart.
What is Talas free local delivery program called?
Answer: Neighborly. You all got this one right. Good work.
What is Tala’s coffee subscription called?
Answer: Coffee Club.
Which cafe’s current seasonal exclusive drink is made without any milk?
Answer: Highwood. Their Peachy Bean is a cold brew lemonade with peach. If you haven’t tried it yet, you absolutely should before the menu switches this month.
Which of the following has Tala featured on a seasonal drink menu in the past:
Affogatos
Cold Brew Floats
Boba
Slushies
Con Panas
Answer: Affogatos, cold brew floats, and slushies. And yes, they were all delicious.
Joanna Tong
Joanna is one of the owners here at Tala, heading up Operations and Strategy. Born and raised in Minnesota, she moved to Illinois in 2014 with no intention of staying long-term until the idea of Tala came to light. When not in the office or the cafe, you can find her in a forest preserve enjoying the outdoors or at home hanging out with her cat.
