Hi Normal Nation, I've been so excited this fall to start roasting our holiday blend, Casa, which blew us away last year. I've been testing varietals and roasting profiles in order to recreate the depth, flavor, and feeling of Casa.
And it's back. It's time. It's exciting. And I wanted to tell the story of Casa and why it has taken such a hold on me.
You know we love MOPS (MOPS International, that is), and if you've never heard of it, I'd love it if you would click the link and take a peek around, but I will give you the rundown. MOPS is a community of mommas taking action to better themselves, their communities, and their families by gathering and supporting each other. They believe that coming together face-to-face can transform women and their families, and therefore, their communities, and we at Normal happen to agree wholeheartedly.
I was a stay at home mom for eight years before purchasing Normal Roasting Company and starting my journey as a part time working momma, and MOPS was there for me in my hardest times and my most joyful times. I stretched, I grew, I became good friends with so many other women in my shoes. What I didn't know back them was how large of a sisterhood MOPS really was. After purchasing NRC, I became acquainted with a leader in Latin America, and my heart went out to her and the moms across the globe experiencing MOPS much differently than I was, and I knew that's where I needed to be. We purchased a bag of Guatemala Huehuetenango, a rich coffee with hints of clove and cocoa, and created a yummy holiday blend, planning to donate part of the proceeds to MOPS Latin America.
I typed out a sheet of prayer requests from my friend in Guatemala, clipped it up on the wall at the roastery, and prayed long and hard over that coffee as I roasted and packaged it. That it would bring families together over the holidays, that our small donation would have an impact in communities far from my own, that face-to-face interactions would come from purchasing it. I prayed a few people may come to know about the MOPS sisterhood from it. We even started adding the proceeds from selling our burlap coffee bags to our MOPS donation, and I started seeing stockings, bags, and crafts made with them.
The response was overwhelming. I roasted a lot of Casa, named simply "Home" in Spanish, to say the least. Sending the check to MOPS International was fun and a blessing to us as a business. So this year, we debated and prayed throughout the year about who we would support this holiday season. Other organizations came to mind, but God made it clear that it would be MOPS Latin America again this year, and it only felt right to bring back the coffee that everyone loved.
So here you go. Please take it and enjoy it with family. Share it. Talk face-to-face. If you feel led, post a photo of you gathering around mugs of Casa and use #nrccasa and #roastbrewgather. And if you'd like to gather with us, put December 1 on your calendars, and visit us at our roastery for coffee samples, brewing demonstrations, and tours of our roastery and future retail space. We will be joined by our friends with Abby's Cookies and Cakes, and giving away cookies while supplies last.