NILES — The word “brouhaha” may mean an overexcited reaction to an event, but coffee shop Brew Ha Ha owner Joyce Bashara is celebrating her business’ 15th anniversary quietly and happily.

The coffee, tea, pastry, salad, soup, quiche and coffee-related knick-knack provider hit its birthday landmark on July 5, but Bashara celebrated her sixth anniversary as its owner, chief cook and self-proclaimed bottle washer last Tuesday, Sept. 3.

“We’re in our prime,” she said. “To me, this isn’t a job. This isn’t a business. It was a calling, and what’s happened here since I bought is just phenomenal. There are no other words to describe it.”

The year 2019 is important for Brew Ha Ha outside of anniversaries, too. In the coming weeks, Brew Ha Ha will have all of its coffee brewed by Maple City Roasters of Michigan City, Indiana. Previously, another business brewed the café’s flavored coffees, while Maple City Roasters brewed the rest.

“It will be roasted expressly for us at the time of order, not sitting in a warehouse waiting to be bought,” Bashara said. “We’re very excited about that partnership, because [the owner] does such a great job.”

Maple City Roasters’ approach is handcrafted, she said, making her award-winning coffees even better for her customer.

Outside of a brewer change and an occasional flavor switch in drinks and pastries, Bashara said not too much will change with Brew Ha Ha.

She said not much has changed since she bought the café in 2013, either. In fact, the first names of its two owners did not even change.

Bashara took over from the late Joyce Freshley.

In 2013, Bashara was driving through Niles after church with her late husband, Michael, on what they jokingly called “Date Day,” a time to get lunch, groceries and see a movie. Bashara had just found out her boss was fired, and she was obtaining all of her work.

The husband and wife passed by Brew Ha Ha en route to grocery shopping when Bashara noticed the café’s homemade banner. It read “After eight years, Joyce wants to retire. For sale.”

“I looked at my husband,” she said. “I said, ‘Hey, my name’s Joyce. I want to retire.’ It got a little snarky. He said, ‘Yeah, you could make such great coffee every morning.’ We were laughing all the way to Martin’s.”

At the grocery store, however, Bashara said she surprised her husband by saying she was actually interested in taking over Brew Ha Ha.

When Bashara met with Freshley, she noticed the similarities went beyond their names. They both were wearing lavender shirts from Meijer, drove Volkswagen Beetles and had August birthdays. Bashara would later find out they both lived in a particular neighborhood at different points in their lives.

“Less than five weeks after seeing the sign out front, I had resigned my job, taken the rest of my vacation time,” she said. “We had to go back to Wisconsin to close our cabin, and I was here running a coffee shop with no idea how to do it.”

Bashara did not drink coffee, let alone know how to prepare it. After a week with Freshley as her mentor, however, she felt better prepared to handle Brew Ha Ha’s counter and two drive-through windows.

Managing Brew Ha Ha and her life was made much easier by her customers.

“People I didn’t know seven years ago are now family to me,” she said.

Many customers helped her many times, she said. They were there when her husband fought vascular dementia. One man helped her drive her daughter from college to an auto shop and back while Bashara worked. Another man helped her install a television at home.

“The whole experience here has been a true blessing,” she said. “We take nothing for granted here. Every day is just amazing. There is no such thing as a bad day at Brew Ha Ha.”

Now, a memorial for her husband, Michael, is at the café. It rests among artwork by friends and customers — the Brew Ha Ha community — that Bashara said has supported her and her business through the years.