RSS

Monthly Archives: October 2025

Pressed Coffee & Books, Pottsville, PA

Work sucks. Not just mine, either. Work has the tendency to interfere with good times all around. This coffeehouse was recommended to me by a dear friend. My plan for the past several weeks had been to come up here and go with her. A few weeks ago, her car broke down. Then, I got swamped with work. Then, her commitments resurfaced again. Finally, I decided to just make the run myself…and dedicate this post to her. Not giving her name unless she wants me to. So, here it is, my long-planned Pottsville coffee run.

Pottsville is one of those towns in northeast Pennsylvania that really wears its coal-mining heritage on its sleeve. The Journey has taken us to towns in the coal region before, but never so far north into the heart of it. Here, ‘Central’ Pennsylvania merges with the ‘Upstate’ region made famous by The Office. Like its cousin, Scranton, Pottsville is a post-coal-boom town. Unlike Scranton, it’s nestled into a cozy valley between ridge upon ridge of anthracite-laden mountains.

All of this gives Pottsville a character both familiar and unique. There’s no mistaking its heritage. There’s copious infrastructure for a town of Pottsville’s population. The small city has a compact and urban feel. There’s a thriving downtown mixed with more hardbitten streets. Pottsville sits at the junction of several roads. Traffic is atrocious, as is the cost of parking (likely needed to keep those roads maintained). There are also a lot of places to go; as stated, the main drag is thriving, even as the cars are somehow more numerous than the pedestrians. I got the impression that there’s a light and dark side to this city, much as the encroaching autumn itself is bright and shadowy at once.

A definite bright spot in Pottsville is Pressed Coffee & Books. It’s been here for a long time (about seven years, I was told), but it’s not that well-known outside the Pottsville area. That needs to change. Pottsville is far more famous for being the home of Yuengling, a massive brewery that sells its beer nationwide. Yuengling is known as a working-class beer in a town of working-class folk. It’s down-to-earth, and, in some ways, a bit conservative.

None of those monikers apply to Pressed. The word I would choose is ‘cozy.’ Another good word is ‘academic.’ Bright, light, airy. Stars Hollow. That’s what I’m thinking of. Did anyone watch Gilmore Girls? Remember the town of Stars Hollow and the ivy-decked halls of Yale? That’s what Pressed made me think of immediately. Long before I spotted the sign pointing to books, a feel of autumn at college permeated the cafe. If you know, you know.

Oh, but of course I did follow that sign. My bedroom is a library. When I see a book that I really like, there’s this nagging voice in the back of my head warning me that if I don’t buy it, I may never see it again. That’s led to books being piled under my bed, in my car, etc., on numerous occasions simply for lack of shelf space. I arrived just as the last of the first batch of coffee had been sold, and new coffee needed to be brewed, so I wasted none of that time.

Thankfully, for what should be empty crawlspaces in my house, I resisted the urge to buy any of these. A lot were romantic, or fantasy, or romantic fantasy. Few were the sciencey works I normally crave (though there were some venerable classics on the shelves), so I could take a breath and put the wallet down…at least for now.

Something else I spotted: A large machine in the corner. Apparently, Pressed has an electronic coffee roaster. It is among the first of its kind, and I’ve never seen another in all my travels around the area. The times, they are a-changin’ indeed. I wasn’t entirely sure at the outset whether they bring in their coffee from elsewhere or roast it themselves. It was the name that threw me off: Downtown Roasters. Downtown could be anywhere, so I had to make sure it was a local creation. It is.

I got “The Coaltown.” It was a blend of African and Central American roasts; Ethiopian and Guatemalan, specifically. I imagine you’re thinking the same thing I am: What an odd brew. Ethiopian coffee tends to have a sharp, citrus flavor. Guatemalans are the opposite in most respects, manifesting a rich chocolate or even earthy palette.

I had no idea what to expect with this. As it turned out, Coaltown was exactly what I should have expected: a total blend of both regions. I described it in my head as a maelstrom. Constituent flavors duked it out with each other in a hurricane of juxtaposed notes. Surprise: It actually worked. The Guatemalan mellowed out the harshness of the Ethiopian, and the Ethiopian contributed zest to what would otherwise have been a full-bodied mouthfeel exclusively.

It wasn’t just the shop itself exuding an erudite serenity. The staff all had that air about them. Realistically, it’s probably more accurate to say that the shop embodied the kind attitudes of the people who own it, began it, and staff it. This coffeehouse is obviously a labor of love. Finding places like this is mine.

Until next time, stay caffeinated.