Wagging Tail Coffee Co.

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Wagging Tail Coffee Co.

17 Jul

Into the wilds.

A few months back, I’d hinted that we’d expand the Journey into the Pennsylvania Wilds region. For readers unfamiliar with this part of the Keystone State, the Pennsylvania Wilds stretches across a great swath of the north-central part of the state. Here, eight major forests covering over two million acres blanket the countryside in an ocean of green. The Pennsylvania Grand Canyon and the glorious Cherry Springs dark sky site are fixtures of the region.

People come here to escape from an overabundance of civilization, which means if you want something like fancy coffee, you often have to make a journey of it. That sounds like a challenge.

Lewisburg is (unofficially) the line of demarcation between the Wilds and the Valleys of the Susquehanna to the south and east. Elevation starts to increase, as does the level of solitude on the drive north. Watsontown, a town of about 2,500 people, lies only a few miles to the north, in the panhandle of Northumberland County, but it’s clear when you drive Route 147 north from Sunbury that something has changed. Outside Watsontown, this thoroughfare becomes 180 and heads north into Williamsport, the Paris of the Wilds. Oh, we’ll be heading there eventually.

Confession: My dad drove me. We had been planning to tackle a coffeehouse together for months, and then finally, on July 8th (between heat waves and thunderstorms), we got the perfect opportunity. The area north of Sunbury is the ancestral home for branches of our family tree, so I figured this would be an interesting jaunt for that reason alone…as long as we don’t stop and talk to anybody for hours. Stealth mode time.

It was a wild ride into (and out of) Watsonville. You go immediately from a veritable superhighway down an off-ramp into small-town America. Something I loved right away about Watsonville was free parking. There was also a “glass shop,” wink-wink; a place for the silicon arts, hint-hint. I didn’t like our inability to get a satellite connection for Google Maps. OK, truthfully, it’s liberating to know there are some places the signal doesn’t reach.

It was a short walk from our parking spot to Wagging Tail Coffee Company. Adorable is the word I’d use to describe the cafe, and I don’t blithely toss that word around. It was pink. It was white. It looked like one of the confectionary sweets sold here. The walls were festooned with oddball phrases, some clearly the product of a passionate dog lover (see below).

One thing I learned right away: This isn’t the only Wagging Tail location. It began as a food truck back in 2019. Then, another popped up in nearby Allenwood in 2021. Next, this shop opened in 2022. Just last year, another branch emerged in the nearby town of Muncy. That’s right: During what might have been the most challenging years in American history, the Solomons (the owners’ last name) crafted a rapid and bountiful expansion for their startup. It’s a pity I didn’t get to chat with them when I visited. I bet that story is worth hearing.

The coffee is certainly worth tasting. Apparently, Wagging Tail contracted with Fresh Roasted Coffee, LLC. They’re a local roaster located south of Watsontown in the larger burg of Sunbury. Alright, the name “Frest Roasted Coffee” might sound a bit vague and generic to the uninitiated. Fortunately, their coffee is neither of those things! Instead, what I found was a shockingly stalwart breakfast blend. Yes, you heard right. I found a breakfast blend I like. The roast is proprietary, and the barista was tight-lipped, guarding the recipe like a state secret. I don’t really blame her.

I’m going to speculate, here. I think it was an Indonesian coffee. It had a dense mouthfeel but lacked the undertones of chocolate that many South American blends with a similar acidity possess. There was a prominent fruit flavor, but it wasn’t citrus like an Ethiopian usually is. This was more of an umami flavor. Overall, the flavor profile spoke to a convergence of regions. Either way, it was a beautiful mystery.

Slowly, but surely, we’ll be winding our way out from Harrisburg again over the fall. I want to head further into the Wilds. There might be a few fall festivals worth attending around Williamsport, and the deep country town of Liberty also looks promising! Expect a few local coffee trucks to be reviewed as the Journey heads to various late-summer festivals. Until then, stay caffeinated.