Think Global, Buy Local

Happy New Year! We hope you had a lovely New Year's Eve, whether it was a big party or a solitary night of rest. The new year is a natural time to reflect on what went well and what we'd like to change or improve for the coming year. We've given up on "resolutions;" it seems like a quick way to feel good and then a quick way to feel bad when we forget, fail, or find that we were too ambitious in our goals.

Instead, we set intentions for the year. Things that we'd like to use as guidelines for our thoughts and actions to help achieve that change and improvement we tried to find through resolutions to do this or be that. An intention that we have every year (and have some stake in, let's be honest) is to buy from small businesses when we can.

It's not just a vague "feel-good" concept. Buying from local, small businesses has noticeable, discrete effects that go beyond theory. When we're talking coffee, it's simple -- when you buy from a local roaster (Spiritus!), you get fresher coffee, which leads to better flavor and quality of bean. And that's what we're going for, right? Delicious coffee? (A: Yes, it is.) Our coffee doesn't sit in a warehouse for months at a time; it's going from green to roasted bean and to your door in two to three days. It's magic!

But, it's also bigger than the cup. Buying local encourages sustainability; there's a smaller carbon footprint when there aren't trucks and warehouses and overproduction (waste). It stimulates the local economy, creating jobs and helping small businesses thrive. And, let's be honest -- you're not going to get better customer service from a chain -- because every single customer matters to us and we are always working to innovate and grow with you.

In Lombard, we are collaborating with Soapy Roads -- they've made one of their handcrafted soaps with our coffee!! We personally roast our coffee, and they are personally making soap with all sorts of different scents (but we're partial to the coffee). We are a local business, and we also support our fellows. Go and check them out -- they're on Instagram here and Facebook here.

Happy New Year to all!