Rise Cafe & Bakery

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Rise Cafe & Bakery

18 Jun

New Bloomfield. Most people have probably never heard of it. For those who do, it mostly means the county seat of Perry County, Pennsylvania. Everyone thinks that honor belongs to Newport. Newport is the cultural hub of the county, after all, home to multiple cafes and boutique shops. Newport is the hub of the hipster incursion from Harrisburg into what used to be a county with no red lights. New Bloomfield is just somewhere on the way to elsewhere. That’s what most people seem to think of it. To me, however, New Bloomfield means something else. It means freedom.

New Bloomfield was the first town I visited when we were finally allowed to, once again, take the long road home in June 2020. When the restrictions came off, I first wanted to hit the road and go somewhere new; somewhere I’d never been before. That somewhere was the Perry County Cafe in New Bloomfield. Scroll back to 2020; you should see it in its original iteration. Since then, I’ve traveled farther afield but never forgot about this beautiful little mountain town or the liberated emotions that flooded me as I gazed off into the rolling mountains beyond.

In truth, the town doesn’t feel all that little. It bustles. That’s true of all capital cities, though, when you think about it. A county seat is indeed a kind of capital. It’s the center of civic life for its county, and in a commonwealth (as Pennsylvania is), local government is the sole variety of government the average person is likely to encounter on any given day. Viewed through that lens, it shouldn’t be any surprise that New Bloomfield is full of people hurrying about looking for two things: coffee and a better world.

Perry County Cafe was always a cute little artsy place. It still is. There’s a good reason: Rise Cafe is owned by the same people. The original cafe had to be temporarily shuttered by the ownership for various reasons, but it came roaring back only a month and a half ago. Coffee is clearly a passion for these folks. So is impacting the community. From the chalkboard signs with inspirational messages and mission statements scattered about, doing good is central to the mission of Rise Cafe.

No, there was no political bent to that message whatsoever. I know you’re thinking about it. In an age where words like ‘community’ and ‘peace’ and ‘rising’ are increasingly used as dog whistles for ideological grandstanding, the kind, benevolent universality of Rise Cafe’s message of hope and civic unity was something I found even more refreshing than the coffee. You can see in their eyes and read in their words that their motives are pure. We need a little bit of ‘pure’ right now.

Speaking of the coffee, it was easily as good as I remember. Today’s house blend hailed from Papua New Guinea. Red Diamond is the name of the roaster. They’re out of Moody Alabama and are fairly well-known, though I hadn’t had any samplings of the brand until this. I haven’t had a New Guinea coffee specifically in a long time. Most shopkeepers opt for a ‘safer’ option familiar to everyone. Columbian and such are the go-to brews. This bold option was deeply complex, with very subtle notes of nut and (I think) umami I’d almost ruined with too much cream. Speaking of the cream…I was given actual cream. Heavy cream and it was glorious. My doctor will never hear of this madness; it will remain our delectable secret.

On that subject (delectable things), Rise also has a lovely selection of pastries and other sundries. Tempting as it was to sit at the broad window looking out on Main Street, I had to get going. Every weekend in June is a festival weekend these days, so I have to plan coffee sojourns around the larger events. For that, I can only grateful.

I’ve got plans. Oh yes, I’ve got plans. It’s time to start expanding the radius again. The goal is to travel to the valleys west of the Cumberland Valley or forge a northward course into the Pennsylvania Wilds. I’ll also be peppering this blog with reports on coffee from the various festivals I plan to attend, so stay frosty. Until then, stay caffeinated.