The Coffee Pot, located in Freeburg, recently won our Coffee Bracket Challenge on Facebook. We are a tourism bureau that covers 21 counties and are geographically the largest convention and visitors bureau in the state.

We started their bi-annual bracket challenge in 2020 to coincide with March Madness. Since then, the bracket challenge has grown in popularity. To date, we've done six brackets showcasing attractions, events, burgers, pizza, ice cream, and coffee shops around our region.

This October, we decided to promote coffee shops to coincide with the 2nd annual Southern Illinois Coffee Trail. “We started the Coffee Trail last year and it’s been a huge success,” Communications Manager Jordan Jackovich states. “We wanted our bracket this fall to showcase shops that are on the trail along with mobile trailers that are not.”

Our hunch about communities rallying around coffee were correct. The coffee bracket brought in over 20,000 votes. The final round came between two mobile trailers: The Coffee Pot located in Freeburg and Stagecoach Coffee in Paris.

Voting remained open for one week, and the final count was close with the Coffee Pot receiving 3.7k votes and Stagecoach with 3.6k.

When asked about the support, the Coffee Pot owner Carrie Bauer said, “We are very thankful for each and every person who chooses us for their morning pick me up. Being 11 months into business and winning is just amazing.”

Be sure to visit the Coffee Pot’s Facebook page to see where they will be next.

For more information on how to participate in the Southern Illinois Coffee Trail, visit the website downstateil.org/dine/coffee-trail/