Hello, 2022. Be Kind, Please.
A New Year’s post, on January 10th?! That’s right, we’re CRAZY here at Whink’s - we don’t need no stinking calendar to tell US when to celebrate the death of 2021!
Okay, in all seriousness - Kayla and I took some much-needed time off for the past 3 weeks and have been on an “all things work-related” blackout since Christmas Eve (as you might have seen if you’ve tried to order anything the past few weeks). And as much as I wanted that work hiatus to continue indefinitely, we just couldn’t stop the flow of Whink’s to your doorstep any longer - it just would be right, ya know?
Still, even with that time off, Whink’s was never far from our minds. We took some time to reflect on the previous year, our first full calendar year as Whink’s Coffee Roasters. Admittedly, I feel a bit conflicted about it all. As a business, we have been overwhelmed by the amount of positive support. We’re regularly shipping across the country, the number of subscription coffee-drinkers is growing, and the love from our local Alexandria community has hit heights that I could have never anticipated when we started sales in July 2020. We have a new look and a new website that we debuted to some incredibly positive support and launched some exciting new coffees, including a barrel-aged coffee which flew off the shelves faster than we could roast it!
So why do I feel so conflicted? Well, I think we can all agree that it’s a strange time to feel excited when the backdrop of 2021 was (and at the beginning of 2022, still is) a devastating global pandemic. We’re so happy with the ways in which Whink’s has grown and the ways in which we have grown as business owners, but a quick visit to the grocery store or a scroll on (insert favorite source of news here) reminds us of a sobering reality.
Still, we’re doing our best to focus on the positives of 2021 and the promise of 2022. New coffees, new merchandise, new events and retail partnerships. NO new variants, NO new illnesses. Time will tell, I reckon, but we’re choosing optimism.
Finally, I’ll close with a sincere thank you. Thank you for your support, for your passion, for your love. You can get your coffee anywhere, but you got it from us. And for that, we are grateful.
Cheers,
Michael