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Monthly Archives: August 2025

White Magnolia Coffee Company, Frystown PA

My era of peaceful sleep may be coming to an end. Road construction is an endless affair in Pennsylvania, and it doesn’t end with residential zoning. Our sidewalks require replacement, and there’s no telling what hour of the morning that will “require” the workers to start beeping and drilling in front of my bedroom window. All I can do is hope the township shows some mercy, and in case it doesn’t, savor every minute of productivity I can. I should have done that anyhow. Maybe there’s a lesson there.

The White Magnolia Coffee Company is worth expediting. It was also worth postponing a return to the Baltimore suburbs — at least temporarily. I thought I’d been to this town before. It’s called Frystown, and it’s a few miles south of Interstate 78 on the way to Allentown. I remember doing a sweep of coffeehouses here several years ago, slowly heading west towards Reading to sample what the countryside had to offer. Jonestown, Myerstown, Bethel. I visited them all, and you tagged along.

Why I hadn’t noticed this place before is simple: It’s incredibly new. White Magnolia has only been open at this location for two short months. They’ve only been operational as a coffee truck for the past two years. That makes them a product of the coffee renaissance that’s materialized over the past half-decade throughout rural Pennsylvania. And of course, since shining a light on that culture is a major goal of this blog, I had to jet out on the road to visit this location as soon as the blip appeared on my map app.

Frystown is rural in the extreme. The photo below shows almost the entirety of Frystown. In this town and its surrounds, farming isn’t just done on an industrial scale. It’s a lifestyle that saturates the days of the people who work these rolling fields. It’s honestly one of my favorite regions of Pennsylvania. It’s oddly tranquil. That’s why. No loud noises, unless you count the horses. Fields lead to churches, which lead to more fields and more churches.

Speaking of churchly life, religion is subtly on display at White Magnolia, from the attire of the staff to the inspirational message I found displayed, referencing God. The building itself, though, was a work of modernity. From the bright colors to the beautiful stonework and glass accoutrements, this coffeehouse could have been a modern art museum. It’s not the first time on this Journey that we’ve seen that juxtaposition of cultures. If you know me, you know I like it. If you know me, you also know why.

Fun story about the name: Apparently, the logo came first. I was informed that someone drew a lovely picture of a white magnolia as a possible logo (likely when they were first brainstorming the cafe idea), and the name references the picture. I thought the magnolia reference seemed strangely out of place up here in Yankeedom. Nothing’s out of place when creativity runs wild.

The coffee shocked me in several ways. There’s no other way to put it. I hadn’t imagined that a cafe so recently opened and in such a rarely-traveled location would invest in a boutique coffee like Mama Java, but there it was. More on that brand in a minute. It was certainly a proper Guatemalan in every respect. A deep chocolatey flavor and grounded, leguminous quality were on prominent display. One thing absent was bitterness, even the normal amount. The lack of astringency could have resulted from water quality. They’re on a well. There’s a sign on the front window that tells you so in case it makes you antsy. Nobody inside seemed to care, and it was quite busy.

I’m not surprised if you haven’t heard of the company from which this coffee originated. Mama Java is based in Carlisle, PA. My mind went to one place: Oh, I see, a feminist statement. The words we use are funny. Often, there’s a difference between a word or statement’s textbook definition and that of the cultural consensus crafted around it; a consensus built by a combination of trend and agenda. When you think of ‘feminism’ or ‘women’s issues,’ what do you think of? The words are coded through ideological curation.

The owners of Mama Java aim to challenge what they call the “narrow definition of success” in contemporary society. That line got me intrigued. They assert that being a mother is “one of the most impactful jobs in the world.” For every bag of coffee purchased, a dollar is donated to Lifewater, a Christian water charity that helps those in poverty, especially mothers. Here, we see a simultaneous critique of the free market and an acclaim of motherhood as something of objective value. The centrist consensus in our culture tends to aver the opposite.

In the postmodern consensus, recognizing nothing as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ or of unassigned ‘value’ is the ultimate liberation. Everyone gets something out of that, at least on the shallow surface. Economic conservatives get to be greedy. Social liberals get to be libertine. Nobody gets judged, but they all get to judge. Unfortunately, reason and benevolence become casualties of the Culture Wars. Mama Java flips the script on this absurdity by rejecting both ideas at once: They believe in a world made fairer by recognizing transcendent values.

At the beginning of this Journey, I made it clear that I didn’t want to review religious coffeehouses. The coffeehouse as an institution is a child of reason, not faith. Reason is the most effective tool for discerning good from evil. Witness the rational discernment of natural rights from natural law that led to the revolution, resulting in the American Constitution. I still stand by that position unreservedly. However, when the defenders of rational ideas are people of faith (like the folks behind Mama Java seem to be) who defend those ideas because they care about doing good, the waters get muddied.

As we coffee drinkers say, here’s mud in your eye. It comes courtesy of some very good people at Mama Java and White Magnolia.

The next entry is likely a few weeks away. That depends on my insomnia, my work schedule, and the loud nuttiness outside our houses. I want desperately to head south to the Baltimore suburbs and write about a series of coffeehouses near Pikesville. I hope that will be September’s adventure, because after that comes autumn, and with autumn will come a new direction for the Coffeehouse Journey. Oh, I meant that literally. The direction is probably northeast into the Poconos.

I’m also planning an advertisement blitz to get the word out about what we do here and why. The audience here is small, and in a way, I love that. Coffee culture outside of hipsterdom is niche, and as long as something remains niche, it remains pure. That said, it wouldn’t hurt to spread the message beyond Central Pennsylvania. Feel free to give suggestions!

Until next time, stay caffeinated.