Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Hello!

Less than two weeks from the due date of our daughter, so I figured I should get an update in now.

We had a great birthday celebration towards the end of February. Thank you to everyone who made it out, and continues to support us on other days too! We can't believe how quickly this next year is already passing by.

We have some new items added to the menu, some of which are permanent, and others that are seasonal. As far as seasonal goes...hot apple cider is no longer available, but we have lemonade once again. Try a "tee time" (our silly take on an "Arnold Palmer") which is half lemonade and half iced tea. It is quite refreshing. Also available for the spring/summer months are frozen Snickers bars. No, these are not organic, ice cream bars, or anything besides a Snickers bar frozen into delectable, hard chewiness. They simply remind me of summers spent at the pool, and I like them! So, enjoy one for a buck. Root beer floats have also returned - vanilla ice cream and a Lost Trail root beer. Yum. We can also blend one up for you!

Speaking of blending...that is our biggest change. We now have a very small selection of shakes available! Last summer we noticed some demand for frozen, blended drinks. We were resistant for a couple of reasons. One of the primary reasons is that many of the frozen drinks shops offer come from powdered mixes. Some of these mixes are not terrible, but many of them contain some pretty nasty ingredients. You would think creating a blended coffee drink would be as easy as blending espresso, ice, and milk together, but that just doesn't work well. The texture/consistency is all off.

Our solution? Shakes made with as few ingredients as possible. Healthy? Not quite, but WAY better than powdered mix! There are 3 vanilla ice cream based ones (a surprisingly-few- ingredient vanilla ice cream...hormone-free too!) and one vegan one.

Toddy - vanilla ice cream, toddy concentrate, Shatto milk

Chai - vanilla ice cream, black or green chai

Berry - vanilla ice cream, frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries), Shatto milk

Vegan - frozen banana, frozen berries (same as above), soy milk

They come in one size (16 oz. for $4.25) and are a rich, flavorful treat! We are not a shake or smoothie emporium...no endless choices, but we have created a small, yummy selection that we hope you enjoy. The toddy one is pretty out-of-control! So is the vegan.

Okay, I know that I have been promising this for almost a year, but remember the bike rack we purchased, but never installed? One of our baristas has an incredibly handy father who will be pouring a concrete slab and installing the rack on it within the next couple weeks for sure! It has been a long wait, but will be here this summer. It will be located off the deck that is out in back of the shop.

We have also done some other improvements recently. No more ratty screen door in back! We have a nice, shiny storm door there now. Also, we replaced some of our fridges with a larger, more energy efficient one and a bigger, energy-efficient freezer. There is a glass fronted fridge out front too so you can grab your own bottled drink or sandwich. We feel pretty fancy.

Otherwise, we have to give it up to our wonderful employees. Some have been with us from the start, and have been such a great help and support during a crazy first year. Others are newer, but equally valuable to us. All of them have been so great while we have been getting closer to having a baby. We truly appreciate them all, and we hope that you do too! Sadly we have a barista leaving for Australia next week (happy for her, sad for us!) but we found another great person to step into her shifts. It is hard letting people you like go, but that is the nature of the beast.

That is it for now! Be well, and take care.