Dani Fox Real Estate Team

The Real Estate Industry is Fueled by Coffee

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Here are the Best Places to Fuel Up in the Central Valley, According to the DBRE Family 

Something you may or may not know is that Real Estate Professionals drink 58% percent of all coffee consumed in the US. Hahaha… just kidding, just kidding! We do not have science backing our claim that we all have coffee coursing through our veins at every moment of everyday, only just some anecdotal evidence that would suggest we are coffee experts. So, since we are self proclaimed experts, we figured we would share with you our favorite local spots to grab a nice cup of joe. 

Our team here at Dani Blain Real Estate has a wide range of taste as it relates to their coffee shop of choice. From the neighborhood gas station, to making their own at home, and on to the old stand by of Starbucks – and more in between, we will take you through some of the responses we got when we asked about where they go to buy their favorite beverage. 

Starbucks is an easy place to love. They are easy to find, you always know that your order will taste the same from location to location, and there are plenty of options on the menu to be able to mix it up often. Lana, our Administrative Director, even has her own favorite Starbucks she likes best. The one on Caldwell and Demaree is her go-to… she loves that it has a drive-thru, its close to the office, and since everyone that works there knows her – they of course love her like we do! Her drink order is nice and simple, a hot Cafe Mocha – but when she is feeling like she needs an extra bit of some sweet goodness, she orders her Grande drink in a Venti cup, so she can ask for extra whipped cream. Genius! 

Some other teammates also called out Starbs as their favorite place to get coffee and they may have an order you can try – or shoot, you can even surprise them with their favorite drink, if you’d like! 🙂 

  • Daisy loves the Iced Shaken Brown Sugar Oatmilk Espresso (but be sure to ask them to hold the cinnamon and add an extra splash of oatmilk.) 
  • Before Steven Duck was a Realtor, he used to be a Starbucksf barista – so you can bet his order is not only good, but not too high maintenance for the crew member making the drink. He gets a Venti Cold Brew, Classic Syrup, and Light ice (another tip of the trade – less ice = more drink.) 
  • Jen, our Controller, likes the ever classic Iced Americano… plain and simple, just like she keeps things around the office for us. 
  • Lori is another oatmilk fan… she likes to get an Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk coffee, shaken – not stirred. (We added the not stirred part, because it was screaming to be added.)

Stepping outside of Starbucks and big chains, there are some great small coffee places here in the Valley you must try if you haven’t yet. 

  • Reece loves to hit up Vali Coffee on his way to his office with The Shawn Team at The Downtown Dream in Tulare. He says right now is the perfect time of year to try the Pumpkin Pie Cold Brew – and guess what? It is about to get a whole lot easier for him to grab a coffee from them, because they are going to be opening up a shop at the Downtown Dream! Stay tuned on their socials for more details. 
  • Odalys is a big fan of the Nitro Bike because not only can she get an amazing cup of Nitro infused coffee, but she also loves that every cup is supporting a small, local, family owned business. Her order sounds delicious – she gets an Oat Milk Latte with honey syrup and lavender… mmmm! 
  • Ruben loves him a good cold brew, and according to him, The Human Bean in Visalia does it best (they also have another location in Tulare.) Apparently, he is the ultimate expert here, because he tells us that his blood type is COFFEE (lol.) He recommends not only the cold brew, but the Java Chips and the Granitas as well, and says that the customer service can’t be beat. Go give them a try and tell them Ruben sent you. 
  • Lily runs on Iced Oatmilk Lattes and loves that Component Coffee Lab in Visalia makes a great one and also provides the perfect atmosphere to get a little work done – you should check it out, it really does have great ambience. 

A few others on our team had favorites that aren’t Sbux and also aren’t one of the mom&pop shops either. 

  • You will see Leo with a coffee in his hand almost always – but what you will notice about this coffee in his hand, is that it is a to-go tumbler from his HOUSE. Can you believe it? He makes his own coffee and he is all about it… from saving money, to making it just the way he likes it, it is a home brew all the way for him. His mainstay is a Cafe Latte with extra half and half, but he also likes to change things up from season to season. So next time you see him, ask what he brewed for his daily coffee fix. 
  • Travis’s answer was one of our favorites, because it is so perfectly him. He told us that every morning on his way out of the neighborhood, to start his day with a nice classic cup of coffee, he likes to go to the Valero in Shannon Ranch. He loves the staff and the ease of stopping in to grab and go. 
  • Ever hear the slogan, “America runs on Dunkin’?” Well, so does Matthew and a classic Iced Vanilla Latte is his old stand by. We have a feeling if our brokerage was on the East Coast, there would be way more people that had this answer – everyone on the other side of the country seems to love this place.
  • Davian is a member of the Dutch Mafia, as Dutch Bros. fans like to call themselves. He loves the customer service they provide and goes there so often he even has become friends with a number of them. He respects the way they do business and run each franchise and the way they pour into (pun intended) their employees. He also can’t get enough of this super specific drink – he gets a medium Nitro Cold Brew, 3x sweet with 2 pumps hazelnut, 2 pumps vanilla, and 4 ounces of soft top with a caramel drizzle – only on the soft top (we told you, it was super specific.) He says if you are stopping to do a Starbucks run, he’ll take a water. Haha! 

We had so much fun documenting the DBRE crew’s fav brews! Did we miss any of your favorite local places? What about the best coffee shops on the Central Coast? Speaking of, did you know that our Brokerage also serves the entire Central Coast? We have agents who specialize in this area and we love taking a break from the Central Valley heat and popping over to cool off at the coast. 

Dani Blain Real Estate’s “Dreamers”

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All it takes is a couple of visionaries to invoke change and Dani Blain Real Estate happens to have two agents on our team who are doing just that. Our agents, Blake Shawn and Jacob Fraga are on a mission to transform downtown Tulare one building at a time. While some of us are passing the time in our new pandemic lives to learn how to make bread or raise a new puppy, Blake and Jacob (or Blacob, as we affectionately call them ?) have used the past four months, while selling real estate full-time, to launch a new project and make their dreams a reality – and we could not be more proud of what they are doing for our community. 

  • Blake Shawn and Jacob Fraga at their new co-working building
  • Jenifer Oliphant and Dani Blain enjoying coffee in the event area of The DowntownDream

As Tulare locals, these two have always wanted to see downtown become a desirable location for new businesses and the community to connect. With their first project, The Downtown Dream – they have officially gotten the ball rolling on this vision. They purchased a vacant building on the corner of L and Kern that will be home to Tulare’s first co-working space and they will use the enormous parking lot (that used to be the old greyhound station) for an outdoor event space. 

With so many changes to the office space landscape as we all knew it, Blake and Jacob think (and lots of experts agree) that the new era of telecommuting/working from home is not something that will disappear once the coronavirus is curbed. With the pandemic literally upending every industry and forcing companies to figure out new telecommuting policies, now more than ever, we have a workforce who has the flexibility to work from anywhere. For some that means home, for others it means a coffee shop with free Wi-Fi – and soon, for central valley residents, it could mean The Downtown Dream. 

The Downtown Dream is the perfect place to get into the zone… with ambiance in spades and work space options for every type of telecommuter; from creatives and entrepreneurs to students needing study group space, they have got you covered. Blake and Jacob, along with wives Mia Shawn and Miranda Fraga, have thought of everything and taken the Old Lewis Insurance Building and transformed it into an incredibly hip and “good vibes only” space. The coolest part? For less than the price of a Cold Brew a day, you can call it your home office! The Downtown Dream has many membership pricing options available to fit your needs and even has a photography studio with professional lighting and backdrops. 

Blake and Jacob’s ‘Downtown Dream’ is poised to be the start of something truly great in downtown Tulare. It’s not just about the co-working space, or only about planning community oriented events in their outdoor space, The Downtown Dream – it’s much bigger than that. They hope to be the proverbial pebble that creates the ripple effect of many new businesses who join them in their goal of creating a better community. The duo said they know they can’t do it alone… “it’s going to take a village to get downtown revitalized.” 

We encourage everyone to check out this incredible space while joining them for a fun-filled day at their Grand Opening on Saturday, October 10th from 5-8pm. In addition to a DJ-hosted celebration, they have everyone’s favorite food trucks lined up including Tacos San Marcos, Que Concha, Quesadilla Gorilla and many others planned. There will be some great specials running for people who are interested in monthly memberships or for event space. This event will be a way to celebrate the opening of this exciting new business, but also to kick-off the beginning of the revitalization of downtown Tulare.

When we asked “Blacob” what else they wished our readers could know about their new venture, they wanted everyone to know how thankful they were to work for “a brokerage that supports [their] vision to expand – a brokerage that thinks of community over sales.” This is foundational at Dani Blain Real Estate, growing a community for people to love living in and to feel connected. We feel equally grateful to have Blake and Jacob on our team and truly applaud them for taking this leap. We cannot wait to see what the future holds for Downtown Tulare! We are sure these two are going to continue to do great things, one building at a time. 

Be sure to keep up with all of the great things The Downtown Dream will be planning in their outdoor event space by following their Instagram and Facebook accounts, as well as their website. You can also read more about the Pre-Grand Opening event they hosted in September and additional specifics about the project in this article in the Sun Gazette.