Coffee Tasting Date

 Ryan and I have been on a couple of fun dates lately, and I thought I'd tell you about one of them today!

I think I mentioned here on the blog that earlier in September, Ryan and I went to a networking luncheon to represent Love INC. While we were there, we met a sweet lady who runs an art gallery/event center in the same town. She had some flyers with her advertising an upcoming coffee tasting.

YES PLEASE!!!

We purchased tickets that would allow us to sample different kinds of coffee - and there was also an art show for a local artist.

So Ryan and I headed over after work that Thursday evening, ready to learn about coffee!

The first table we visited was from the Alpine Rose Coffee Shoppe in Berne, Indiana. We haven't been there yet, but we need to remedy that! The lady staffing the table was super nice and treated us to a sample of coffee. Then she gave us each a sample bag of coffee beans AND a signature snickerdoodle. (Bonus: I couldn't decide between two coffee bean flavors, so she gave me one of each!) This was a perfect start to the night! 

Then we stopped by the table of the Wake the Land Coffee Roasters. This husband and wife duo roast coffee to sell. They don't have a storefront, but they showed us their scrapbook of their roasting building, and it was REALLY fun to look at that. (I mean really...coffee and scrapbooks. Could life be better?) At their table, I tried a cold brew, and it was really delicious. We talked to them for a while about what it's like to roast coffee, and we had a great time learning from them!

Next, we stopped by the table for the Java Bean. This shop is in Decatur, and we've gone there several times since moving here. Ryan often gets me a treat from there when I work in the office rather than from home. It's a cute shop with good coffee. Their owner spent quite a bit of time with us, showing us some different brewing methods and explaining how the same roast of a bean can taste completely different depending on how it's brewed. Fascinating!

Our last table was the Shaka Shack! This shop was our official coffee shop for Adams County when we visited it back at the very beginning of our county tours! (Who knew we would one day live/work in this area?) It is under new ownership now, and we enjoyed talking to the gentleman who runs the shop now! (And we enjoyed our coffee sample!)

And scattered among our table visits, we were also able to spend some time talking to the lady who owns the venue, and we checked out the art on display. The artist shared a bit of his story with us, too! We also had the chance to meet some Ukrainian people who are living in our community for the foreseeable future. There are a number of families in our area hosting Ukrainian families, so some of them were there together. 

Of course we enjoyed a date night that included coffee. Of course! But we also appreciated the chance to meet new people, make connections, and learn a few things along the way! Coffee tasting for the win!