Monthly Archives: January 2013

This was another place where I didn’t really know what to expect. I had never heard of this establishment before. The circuitous, out of the way route to the coffeehouse made me wonder if anyone ever really came back this way at all, and the fact that the storefront was in an apparently low-end suburban plaza didn’t seem to bode well for my prospects here. As has so often been the case, appearances proved deceptive.

I will mince no words. This is the best coffeehouse that I’ve encountered so far on the West Shore. Yes, that includes the usual roundup from Camp Hill. In fact, I learned that they won a Harrisburg Magazine Reader’s Choice award in 2004 and apparently 2008 as well. So what makes it the best? As usual that would be a clever and quirky combination of atmosphere and the coffee quality. I went on a Sunday afternoon in January and it was still packed; needless to say, that was a good sign. There was a combination of the young, very young, and very old present; also a good sign. They got some extra respect for their large menu. Usually, it’s hard for a place to be serious about both food and coffee (usually emphasis on the one ends up detracting from the other), but such was not the case here. Indeed it doesn’t have to be so, and I was hoping that I would at least find one coffeehouse along my journey that was able to incorporate both. I guess this would be the place.

When I tried the coffee out, I decided as I usually do on the house blend. The house blend in this case turned out to actually be quite distinctive; Kenya, Papua New Guinea, and Columbia beans were blended with dark-roast Ethiopian. It was rich and creamy, with some really exotic, and delightfully subtle, flavoring. It helped that they actually had real cream, as distinguished from simple milk, available to add in. Now I must admit that I am biased towards richer, darker roasted coffees like this; the caffeine is usually less but the flavors always seem deeper and more well-defined to me. Others may take issue with that assessment and are more than free to leave a comment or two!

Well, this is definitely one place that I will be returning to. They do apparently have live music sometimes, so it will be interesting to see if they’ll be having any bands place during the Millennium Music Conference in a few weeks. I encourage anyone in the area to stop by!

An unassuming exterior but…

A nice interior.

The menu boards.

Now this place was unexpected. Not just unexpected because I never knew that there was a coffeehouse in this building since June. Rather, it was an unexpected pleasure because of how unassuming the facade of the building is. You see, Oxford Hall is known around here for being an international store specializing in Celtic imports from the UK. It’s a quiet little specialty shop located across the street from Coakley’s pub, at the corner of Third Street and Bridge Street (the main street running through New Cumberland.
A lot of Central PA folk know exactly where Coakley’s is, but don’t know much about the even more authentically Irish establishment right in the next block. The lack of flashy signs and obvious tourist-trap style draws keeps Oxford Hall quite out of the limelight. Until now of course.

The coffeehouse portion of Oxford Hall is tucked away in the back, away from the bustle of the main shop. It certainly bears little resemblance to the The lady in charge of the shop told me that it was designed to resemble the kind of cafe in Galway, Ireland where students come to drink coffee and tea and to socialize, and that it wasn’t like the “frou-frou” (her words) coffeehouses here in the US like Starbucks. When she had the courage to criticize our proudest of hipster institutions, it got me intrigued.

When I ordered my coffee, I was surprised to see that they only had one coffee option. It was decent to be sure; they keep their half-and-half creamer constantly refrigerated, which earned some big brownie points as well. I was honestly starting to feel a slight bit underwhelmed though, when the woman behind the counter interjected that coffee is not their actual specialty here; it was in fact tea. When I turned around, I felt kind of dumb. An entire wall (which I had not previously noticed) was packed from floor to ceiling with glittering glass bottles of specialty teas and tea blends. They pointed me towards a seasonal blend called “Nutcracker Sweet.” The smell of it alone knocked me back to Christmas Day. The first sip proved that my nose was on to something special. A very knowledgeable girl from Messiah College showed me around their hall of teas. She clearly knew what she was talking about, dancing quickly from tea to tea and explaining some of their custom blends.

I took the rest of my tea home, sipping in on the ride back to Harrisburg, wondering how I never noticed this place before! As teahouses and coffeehouses continue to merge, I have a feeling that I’ll be reviewing more of these delightful hybrids (and maybe some not-so-delightful ones). My advice is this. If you’re an Irish or Scottish expatriate looking for an authentic island of home here in the States, this is the place to be. If you are a foodie looking to sample some unique and fresh gourmet tea, this is definitely the place to be. Stay tuned for more!

The tea factory.

Authentic products from the Celtic UK.

Pictures from across the pond.

Just some of the huge tea wall.