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Monthly Archives: July 2023

Of Cars & Coffee (or, Cascadia by way of Paxtonia)

The week had finally come. My backpack was packed, on my back, with a few bottles of water and other supplies, just in case. I thought all the T’s were crossed, and the I’s were dotted. Then, the engine started to shimmy, and the check engine light started to blink, and I knew that my perfect chance to head out into the mountains was royally screwed. Cut to a week later. The car is fixed (I hope), but this was the weekend of the big Roots concert in Harrisburg, so I couldn’t trek off into the Appalachians in search of coffee. What was I to do?

Credit this post to my Mom, who took pity on her immobile son and found a new vintage store in the area, which also happened to be selling coffee from far afield. Grammarly may have a problem with every move I make, but having a family that understands me and my oddities and proclivities more than makes up for it. In truth, there was an actual journey involved here. We went out the road to Paxtonia, near Skyline View. That’s on the outskirts of Harrisburg, or rather, what most people consider Harrisburg. There’s still a Harrisburgness to the area. By that, I mean that even though you can see the mountains from your car, there’s still a city-paced tenor to the movement of life.

Going into the shop (just called Home Goods) was interesting in several ways. It’s wall-too-wall nik-naks. There was an entire shelf of silver and glass vases and such, which would have made rather awesome terrariums. I was tempted to pick up a few, but the coffee had to be the focus. My Mom had gotten some here a while back, and we soon made our way to the specialty foods shelves. Not only was there a large selection of coffees from all over the country; the opposite side of the coffee shelves had specialty Italian food! I was in heaven.

We picked up two bags of coffee from the West Coast…or at least I thought we had. Although the themes of the coffee were Western, the origin was a bit closer to home: White Coffee Corp. from Long Island, NY. It was called “Moose Munch,” so I had assumed it was from Oregon or Washington. Perhaps I’m stereotyping. Anyway, both blends were labeled “Arabica,” which tells me next to nothing besides the fact that neither is Robusta. For more info, I had to get brewing.

The first I tried was their signature Northwest Blend. It reminded me a bit of Maxwell House, actually, but with a few citrus notes suggesting an African origin. The notes weren’t too overwhelming, though, and there was a cocoa flavor on the back of the presentation, so that says Columbian or even Guatemalan to me. When they said “blend,” they meant it! I’m willing to wager that beans from both sides of the planet went into this offering. The next on the list was the Maple Vanilla. It was broadly similar to the Northwest Blend but with a touch of maple flavoring and a bit of vanilla which made the whole blend seem a bit more full-bodied. I actually prefer this specialty flavor because it’s more robust overall, yet the roasters didn’t give in to the temptation to amp up the flavor. An excellent weekend coffee!

OK, so, let’s hope that the next few weeks bring some chance of getting back up into the woods to search for more coffeehouses! There are a few more “hurdles.” August brings my family reunion, doctors’ visits, and other swell events like them. As such, don’t expect another post until late in the month, or maybe even until September! This coming month is nutty. I love summer, but I’m already looking forward to the opportunities for easy travel and sweat-free hiking that autumn will bring. As an aside, does anyone else think coffee tastes better when the weather is cold? Enough speculation. I hope to see you all in a few weeks. Until then, stay caffeinated.