Tucked away on Minnesota Street in St. Joseph, Minnesota is the warm and welcoming Local Blend coffee house. Opening the door, blasted with warm air in contrast to the cold environment outside, my eyes are met with art all over the walls, and of course my nose is greeted with the smell of ground espresso. 

The building they moved into in 2006 has been a longstanding feature in downtown St. Joseph. Since opening, the cafe prides itself on sourcing local ingredients from around the central Minnesota area. The booths were constructed with local wood, the dishes they serve their delicious baked goods, sandwiches, and soups with are made my local artists around the area. The honey is from local farms, deli meat is from right down the street at the St. Joseph meat market, and even the coffee is sourced from local roasteries.

My go to order for any coffee shop is a caramel latte. I like to think of this as my control group, like this is a serious science experiment. The line was short on this Wednesday morning. I ordered a hot caramel latte, almond croissant, and a strawberry cream cheese muffin.