The Tala Blog
Featured Article
The Return of the Baklava Latte
It started as an experiment, and now it’s the drink our regulars refuse to let us take off the seasonal menu. The beloved Baklava Latte was formerly an exclusive drink at our Libertyville café, but it was met with such rave reviews that we knew it needed a semi-permanent spot on the seasonal menu at all of our cafes.
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.
Bourbon Vanilla Cold Brew Ice Box Pie
This easy ice box pie is the perfect dessert to whip up for all types of events you might be hosting this time of year. It’s the perfect blend of cold brew and our bourbon vanilla—both are available at our cafe! Our house-made syrups make great ingredients in coffee, baking and cocktails! Enjoy this recipe by our very own, Taylor Fletcher.
Guji: Shakiso, Ethiopia - Washed Process
At the beginning of the Summer we got a natural processed Guji Shakiso coffee on the shelves that has been a big hit. Recently, we got a hold of the same coffee, from the exact same farm, with the only traceable difference being process. This Guji Shakiso is a washed coffee—our team’s favorite process—and has many similarities to the natural Shakiso, but the difference in processes makes for a unique contrast of the two crops. This Guji is praised for its light chamomile flavor with deep lemon curd and clover honey sweetness. If you tried our other Guji, make sure to try this one to compare and contrast the processes.
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.
Lainequel Zamora Microlot: La Escuadra, Costa Rica
This coffee comes from the La Escuadra region in Costa Rica. It is a red honey process, which means the mucilage is left on the bean while it dries, usually resulting in a more fruit-forward flavor. This particular coffee tastes like tangerine and blackberries with a nice creamy texture. We think its the perfect way to end the summer.
Guji: Shakiso, Ethiopia - Natural Process
This is our second offering from our of our favorite subregions of Ethiopia: the Guji zone. This coffee is special to us because it is our very first naturally processed coffee that we’ve had as an offering. We taste honey and concord grape-like sweetness with a subtle blueberry aroma. This coffee is everything we love about deeper, rich Ethiopian coffees. This coffee was also chosen with help from our customers at our first public cupping.
Utuezi Jimbo: Kirinyaga, Kenya
Uteuzi Jimbo (oo-tay-oo-zee), meaning ‘country select’, brings the best crops from the Kirinyaga region together for a beautiful cup with notes of candied grapefruit, orange marmalade, and caramel.
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.