Monthly Archives: March 2022

As March draws to a close, so does my march through Lewistown. Yes, this all happened over the course of about two hours, but I thought that putting it all into one gigantic post would lead to a case of TL;DR among my readers. Admit it, I can get verbose. So here we go, walking down the mean streets of Lewistown in pursuit of a second dose of caffeine. Actually, these streets are anything but mean. As I implied in the last post, this city is very much a country town writ large.

The Square Cafe and Bakery serves as a great example of this larger theme of city body/county heart. As self-consciously bohemian as East End was, with its copious art displays and advertisement of their upcoming music offerings, Square Cafe exemplified the opposite pole. When I walked in, it felt as much like a family diner as a ‘traditional’ coffeehouse, in fact, moreso. I should have expected that, given the source of this coffee tip. It was Katie, the barista at Walnut Cheese Nook. Judging strictly by presentation, the people here share a spiritual note with the folk of Walnut.

Indeed, as I took in my surroundings, the “Bakery” part of the name was far more evident than the “Cafe” portion. An entire table of fresh baked goods was arrayed in front of me (in this part of PA, you better believe it’s fresh), along with a kind of salad bar/buffet. The girl at the counter seemed almost surprised that I’d even asked for coffee given the sizable lineup of people here for an afternoon snack! Oh yes, it’s clearly popular. In fact, it seems most popular with the working class folk who populate the fairly cosmopolitan downtown. Speaking of cosmopolitan, this place is right around the block from the historic Embassy Theater. It’s actually an old Vaudeville theater that got its start in 1927.

The coffee at Square was…a case of deja vu! They use the very same coffee that I’d started out tasting on this Lewistown mission: Rich Coast Coffee. It’s clearly more popular than I’d suspected even from the vast array of choices and local homages in evidence at Rich Coast HQ. As for the appraisal…reread my entry on Rich Coast. It’s good stuff, in other words. Though I must say it tasted both more watered-down and yet somehow fresher than my own brewing. That’s not surprising given that the very kind and harried girl who welcomed me had to run to a coffee machine in the dining room and brew it from scratch while I waited! Either people who come here drink a lot of coffee or not much, and I’m really not sure which it is. They probably should, since Rich Coast is a legitimate local roaster and the view of town afforded from the large windows of this shop is phenomenal.

So yeah, to sum up, this coffeehouse seemed more representative of the rural, proletariat side of Mifflin County than the urban, bourgeois side. Make no mistake, Lewistown has both. Consider this: As a coda to the trip I stopped at a small new-age shop run by a mother and her daughter. I asked both of them about the state of the metaphysical community in Lewistown and the owner responded “We’re building it.” I wasn’t surprised. Even along the great thoroughfare of Rt. 322 which carries tens of thousands of college students north, the traditionalism that permeates these mountains remains strong no matter how many buildings are added.

In terms of the Coffeehouse Journey, it begs a question. Can a coffeehouse be essentially proletariat, or is it a product of middle-class sensibilities by its very nature? Since taverns cross the line regularly it seems strange that coffeehouses so rarely do. Coffeehouses are steeped in Enlightenment-era values born of intellectual freedom and the free time needed to express it, but those same philosophies are egalitarian to the core. This in turn means that coffeehouse culture itself can and should evolve as long as those values are kept at the center. Coffeehouses might look quite different in the future. They’ll still be coffeehouses, and I’m willing to bet the discerning eye will see common threads.

On the next leg of this segment of the Journey, we’ll be heading deeper into the Alleghenies. No, I’m not going all the way to Altoona. We can assume they have a coffee culture of sorts because they’re a larger city. I aim to find out if any more small towns nestled in the mountain folds have a coffeehouse culture all their own. Until next time, stay caffeinated.

the walk downtown…

the storefront…

the goodies…

the seating…

the…buffet?

the theatre next door…

the street duck nearby…

the alleghenies…

the strata-faction…

After getting my fill of Rich Coast fare, it was time to head out to Lewistown proper. The two coffee shops I wanted to visit were mercifully both on the same street. It’s a testament to the strength of the coffee culture here that two coffee shops are able to occupy not only the same street but the same stretch of the street without knocking each other out of business. I decided not to chance parking on Main Street itself and instead chose an adjacent street that was already pointed back to the highway. That would end up being a good decision. The first truth of Lewistown that I discovered was that parking was five cents for an hour. Coming from Harrisburg where it’s a quarter per 15 minutes, that was a pleasant surprise.

The coffeehouse I walked to first was called East End Coffee Company. That’s not just a name, they do roast their own proprietary coffee. More on that later. Getting here was enough of an adventure. It turns out that Google Maps doesn’t understand Lewistown very well, especially not the fact that the buildings in the downtown square are mostly stuck together into one large edifice. It took a few tries, but I finally found the storefront a few hundred feet from where good ol’ Google promised it was.

It certainly looks like art matters here. The shop has the “vibe” of a community art center, and indeed there is regular activity here in that regard. I’m talking about the big “E” word: Events. I take them wherever I can find them, and you can find them here every first Friday of the month. On those days, a local musician typically comes to perform. On April 1st, a fellow named Tim Dunmire who performs at local churches will be playing. That’s another thing; even though there were no overt signs of religiosity in the coffeehouse itself, it’s clear that being churchgoing folk is just kind of a given up here in Mifflin County. That’s another contrast to Harrisburg. As cosmopolitan as the town is becoming in terms of visitors, the guiding ideals of it are clearly still small-town Pennsylvania.

As for the coffee, what’s the one, specific kind of coffee I never like to have? The one that just isn’t my style at all? If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know. I’m really not a fan of the citrus-flavored fare typical of Africa. I appreciate the art, but it’s just not my personal preference. This roaster broke that streak with their Rwanda Misozi Kopakaki (try saying that three times fast). The label read “exceptionally sweet with big fruit notes.” Bingo on all counts, and it’s a dang good thing that they miraculously managed to balance the two. That is the culinary equivalent of a high-wire act, and East End absolutely nailed it. The citrus flavor was much stronger than I thought I’d enjoy, but there was a richness to the bean taste itself that melded the citrus seamlessly into it. It imparted an acidity without leaving me feeling like I was guzzling orange juice, which is what the label had me afraid of. It’s unique offerings like this that keep me energized for these small, local coffee scenes.

It’s worth mentioning that this isn’t the only storefront East End has. There’s another one in Reedsville. That’s pretty close to Lewistown since it’s still in Mifflin County. I might check it out if I have a chance, but the rest of the Alleghenies region comes first.

And with that, we’re heading down the street exactly one and a half blocks to the next coffeehouse of interest: The Square Cafe and Bakery. I’ll be posting that update in a few days and including some last-minute notes about the area as a whole. Until next time, stay caffeinated.

the approach…

the storefront…

the relaxation…

the beans…

the potential copyright issues…

OK, folks, we’re going to be tackling this one in chunks. By “this one,” I mean the whirlwind tour I took of the Lewistown area on March 10th. I’m writing this on March 13th and I still can’t believe that it’s only been two days since I ventured up the road. Once again, I ended up sandwiched between two bouts of bad weather. A few days before I set out, it had been 78 degrees but incredibly windy. Now, as I sit here typing, there’s snow on the ground outside and the wind is fiercely blowing the now-arctic air about. This trip is very much a monument to serendipity.

I took the same route (322) that I did to go to Walnut Cheese Nook. Lewistown is only a few miles further down the road, but that road winds up through the mountains. The Alleghenies loom like grounded asteroids on either side of my car, hazy ridgelines stretching out of sight to places I’ve never been. It’s time to go to some of these places. Lewistown is a good place to start because the town really is a regional lynchpin. It’s the seat of Mifflin County and is located about halfway between the state capital of Harrisburg and the storied Happy Valley and its city of State College. We all know the home of Penn State, and I’d be shocked if some folks didn’t think it was the capital.

What immediately struck me as I made the final few miles was just how cosmopolitan this area is! The billboards advertising diamond rings and other finery reminded me of that stretch of the highway immediately before New York City. In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been a surprise given that State College is only a few dozen miles to the northwest. Hundreds of thousands of people pass through this town on their way there any given Sunday of autumn. Whether or not it’s changed the character of Lewistown’s residents themselves is a matter of some debate. More on that later.

My goal was Rich Coast Coffee. Rich Coast has a long history in this area, having been in business since 1978. They supply coffee to several local establishments, both in Lewistown itself and up in State College, where I’m sure the student appetite for coffee must be voracious. Mine was (and is). Hence Rich Coast’s longevity, no doubt. See, it’s rather interesting that there are so many coffee options in a town of under nine thousand people. That made me increasingly sure that the local coffeehouse culture is driven in large part by the economic (and academic) perpetual motion machine that is Penn State University.

When I found Rich Coast, two thoughts came to mind: First, it’s located right next to a brewery which is awesome. Second, there probably wouldn’t be an actual coffeehouse inside. This was confirmed as I walked in and saw the gigantic warehousing system that makes up most of the otherwise unassuming building. The woman at the counter looked at me apprehensively as I gazed around the room looking for any hints that coffee was brewed and was apparently one of the few people within a decent radius who had never heard of it. She came around once I explained the mission and the blog. People like blogs!

I bought the Original Waffle Shop and the Happy Valley. Unfortunately, I had to wait until I got home to brew the coffee myself before tasting and reviewing it. I decided on the Waffle Shop since it sounded especially distinctive. Only rarely in the course of this journey has the package description been spot-on. This was one of those times. I immediately picked up on the peach and citrus flavors lingering in the background. For a Colombian, it was surprisingly light on its feet. Again, the packaging called it “delicate” and I’d agree. I initially thought I’d misjudged and made it too weak. I was gratefully mistaken. I gave it a minute and the myriad flavors coalesced nicely. Fun fact: The Waffle Shop is apparently a fixture in State College. It might be worth a look, though that will be in a different series of posts likely far in the future.

From here, we’re heading into Lewistown proper. Pay attention: This is where the chunks come in. The next two legs of this single journey will play out over the next two posts, consisting of two coffeehouses and a lot of local scenery. I’ll be posting them throughout March, typically a few days apart. April or May is going to take me further into the mountains I hope, around Huntingdon County. I’m not going to Altoona though…because we already know it has a coffee culture! I want to see if any of the small towns in the mountains have little bohemias. I’ve got a feeling that’s where the story is. Until then, stay caffeinated.

the road…

the entrance…

the funky beans…

the endless warehouse…

the merch…