When I introduced my themes for the year I mentioned the one of my goals with the theme of JAVA was to move away from chain coffee companies and start embracing local coffee shops. I am a little over 4 months into this switch… and I have learned a few things during that time that I hope will keep me going strong with this goal…

1. Local coffee just tastes so much better… I had gotten used to the “burnt” taste of most chain and fast food coffee and told myself it was just strong and most people didn’t like strong coffee. I DO like strong coffee… but I forgot that strong coffee can still have other delicious flavors! Something I have rediscovered by getting coffee at local places with more particular roasts. There was a reason for the last few years that if I was going to go to Starbucks to write or meet a friend I would veer toward their tea instead of coffee, or maybe a chai latte. It was probably the same reason that in my younger days at Starbucks I used to order drinks that were more sugar than actual coffee. Speaking of…
2. My Frappuccino days have been over for a long time. They peaked in high school and college where I would use them as meal substitutes way too often- thinking I needed caffeine more than food. They continued their steady decline until the last few years I basically only got them for my once a year “birthday drink”… but the thing is the last few years I couldn’t handle the sugar shock and would end up splitting it with my husband who mostly drank it because he didn’t want it to go to waste. It is nice to discover new specialty drinks that rotate more seasonally and can have a kick of sweetness when that’s what I’m craving, but also never approach the insanity of Frappuccinos.
3. I’m no longer in the life phase of NEEDING the drive thru instead of going in. When you have a little who just fell asleep in their carseat and you may be able to snag a half hour of beautiful silence to gather your thoughts, there is no way you are picking a local store you have to walk into over the plethora of drive thru option… it just wan’t the right season for me to think of giving chain shops up back then. But now the car naps are a rare occurrence and if my kids are with me and I’m going to grab a coffee, I’ll pick a place where we can talk and have special time together or play a game together or something equally lovely about actually getting out of the car and spending time at a local coffee house. That brings me to point number 3…
4. If you don’t have an hour to spend in a coffee shop, it is usually better to just stick with homebrew. If you are out of coffee at home obviously throw this point out the window. However, Most of the time when I was stopping for Starbucks it wasn’t because we didn’t have coffee at home. it was because I hadn’t planned ahead or I wanted to get some writing done without interruption. I have become much more intentional about bringing a to-go container of coffee that keeps my drink hot for several hours when I leave the house, even if I’m not craving coffee right at that moment I often find that after drop off or a few errands I want some, and my own home brewed coffee hits the spot. As for writing… it is so worth it to go to a coffee shop that has actual comfortable seating. Remember when Starbucks used to have that? Comfy chairs? It has been so nice to find spots that I want to sit down and work at for a long time on something other than hard plastic. Plus, sitting with a “for here” mug they can wash is better for the environment and somehow tricks my brain into thinking it tastes better too.
5. The cost is not that different. One of the reasons I stuck with Starbucks for so long is because it SEEMED like a better deal than my local spots. The opportunity to earn stars and get free drinks along the way was such a shiny prize for going there regularly. And the autoload app option made it easy not to realize just how much I was spending each individual visit. When they switched their star system and made it harder to redeem free stuff, I started really comparing costs, and the differences are slim. In fact, because of the aforementioned point about opting out of drive thru options… I am spending less on coffee than I did before AND enjoying it more.
   6.The local spots have better baked goods. Here’s the trade off… The goods at local places sometimes rotate in and out more. If you want consistency, go to a chain (having worked for Starbucks I can assure you that their baked goods all comes out of plastic packaging shipped to all their various locations. Once again, this is GREAT for consistency and a minimum standard of quality…) if you want freshness and flavor, find a local coffee shop that bakes in house or uses a local baker. The picture above is from my current obsession- Serafina Coffee Roasters.
   7. They have helped me find other local things I love. The great thing about locally owned businesses is they are able to truly connect the community in a way the general notice board at Starbucks just doesn’t. Sure, they may have similar fliers up in their windows as those boards, but they offer so much more. My barista will talk to me about events coming up I may not have heard about otherwise. They know local musicians and showcase local art on the walls.

So if you’ve been debating supporting local- I highly suggest you take the small step of starting with a cute little coffee shop! (PS if you are in the Phoenix metro area I wrote about some of my favorites for Phoenix Moms and you can find that article HERE.)