KickaWHAT? Kickapoo.

As you may have noticed, we've switched things up a bit with our roaster or maybe you just noticed a password change on the downtown wi-fi. Either way, we are proud to be serving you Kickapoo Coffee. Kickapoo roasts organic, fair-trade coffee in Viroqua, WI. Here are the top five things you need to know about our stellar new roaster.

1. Serious about Sourcing

Kickapoo is a member-owner of Cooperative Coffees (coopcoffees.com), a fair-trade importing business made up of 23 like-minded companies. They pool their resources to make importing quality coffee better for everyone by setting their minimum price significantly higher than the Fair Trade minimum, offering pre-harvest financing to farmer members, and holding an annual meeting for all members and farmers to deepen their relationships and learn from each other.

2. Sticklers for Quality

By starting with all organic, fairly traded coffee, Kickapoo definitely has a leg up on other roasters, but it all comes down to their dedication. From a specially designed storage space to daily quality control cupping, they leave no room for sub-par coffee and it shows. They are consistently recognized as stars in the industry and recently won a Good Food Award for their Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Idido.

3. What's with the Cans?

Not only does their steel can retail packaging look great and lock in freshness, it's made of 80% post-consumer recycled steel and helps Kickapoo avoid the use of plastic in their operation. Any other packaging shipped to us is biodegradable. Groovy.

4. Support

After working with Kickapoo for just three months, we have been blown away by the support they've given us. With help and support for our sample bag program, our latest TNT, and consistently tasty coffee, we feel like this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

5. The Proof is in the Pudding ... er, coffee.

All that being said, the main thing you need to know about Kickapoo is their coffee tastes amazing. Their magical formula of sustainable sourcing, quality, and love brings us the most delicious coffee every week and we love nothing more than sharing it with you!

See you soon!

Treat Yo'self!

Valentine's Day is not just for lovers anymore. You know that and we know that, so this year Aromas and Bliss are planning something special for you: An evening of delicious treats, beautiful coffees, and cheerful company to celebrate love in all its forms.

Join us on Valentine's Day evening at 7:30 p.m. at our spacious downtown location for Treat Yo'self! For $10 per person (no couples pricing here!) enjoy coffee and treat pairings led by our knowledgable baristas and answer quirky love trivia for chances to win great prizes from Omaha Wallflower, Aromas, and Kickapoo Coffee! Expect plenty of V-day puns, coffee jokes, and pretty things to help activate your warm fuzzies.

This event has limited seating, so buy your tickets at either shop today! Tickets will also be sold at the door pending availability.

Featured Coffee: Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Idido

You may have been drinking an award-winning coffee for the past month and not even known it!

Our lovely Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Idido from Kickapoo Coffee is one of the best coffees to come

out of that region last year. A recent winner of a Good Food Award and 94-point score from

CoffeeReview.com, this bean is a must-try.

Yirgacheffe is a town in Southwestern Ethiopia with perfect conditions for great coffee: high

altitudes, fertile soil, good processing systems, and heirloom varietals. The Idido Cooperative

there is one of the most well-respected coops in the industry. Our friends at Kickapoo visited

the co-op in 2011 and have nothing but great things to say about the people who turn out these

beautiful coffees. According to Kickapoo, Idido was established in the late 1970's and joined

the ranks of Yirgacheffe Farmer's Union in 2002. The cooperative has roughly 1000 active

members who cultivate farms averaging 1.5 hectares.

We offer this coffee on a regular basis as one of our daily brews downtown, and you can find it

on the Brew Bar in Benson. It's buttery body, floral aroma, and notes of cherry and lemon shine

in a Clever or a Chemex, so give it a try!

Come here often?

We considered using Members Only Jackets, but they are a bit lightweight for a Nebraska winter.

Instead, here at Aromas Coffeehouse, we are using keychains as a way for you, our loyal customer, to be part of the inner circle.  For $35, your email address, and zip code, you will receive 15% off each and every purchase for 2014 and a monthly newsletter to your inbox.  

This is not junk mail.  

No, no, it will be chock-full of upcoming events and new product offerings and include additional perks and discounts for our keychain club.

We realize that our regular customer is the lifeblood of our shop, so we want to stay better connected with you and provide a discount to you with each purchase.  Thank you for your investment and support.  We love sharing the city with you and look forward to developing some secret handshakes and key jingles and a proprietary “high sign” together.  

Flower Power

Let me just tell you how much we like decorating cakes with fresh flowers.  Here are some photographs of wedding cakes that we have created this past year.  They are delicious and less expensive if we can team up with your florist instead of creating fondant or gum paste garnishes  Don't get me wrong, no matter how you slice it, we are happy to create the wedding cake of your dreams.  (Pun intended.)  Fresh flowers, however, are a great way to coordinate with the rest of the decor, save a little money, and have a gorgeous cake.

If you are in the market, please give us a call (402.934.7450) or send us an email (info@blissbakery.com) and we will set-up a cake tasting for you to sample our product and talk about ideas for your celebration.

TNT at Aromas Benson

Thursday, January 16th, Aromas in Benson will host what is sure to be an epic battle of microfoam and moxie:  Thursday Night Throwdown!

All area baristas are invited to compete in a head-to-head latte art competition starting at 6:30pm.  $5 guarantees you a spot on the bracket and a chance to win great prizes including coffee, cash, and beer.  Aromas is proud to sponsor this even alongside Benson Brewery, Muglife Coffee, and Kickapoo Coffee Roasters.

The details of the pours are TBA, but you are welcome to bring your own pitchers and friends!  All art must be free pour and it will be judged by a qualified panel.  Any questions may be directed to Kait at Aromas - kait.berreckman@gmail.com.

See you there!

@aromasbliss

We were late to the party, but created our very own account on Instagram in 2013.  You are cordially invited to follow us at aromasbliss and use our various hash-tags as well:

#blissoldmarketbakery

#aromascoffeehouse

#aromasbenson

We want to see your mad photo skills and also reward your artistry.  Starting this very month we will pick a favorite customer Instagram and reward it with 12 oz. of delicious, whole bean coffee. So come on in.  Enjoy a hot beverage and pecan roll and get your Ansel Adams on.