Category Archives: Uncategorized

Come with me on a trip down memory lane. Right at the beginning of April, I decided to embark on a mission that had nothing to do with coffee, and everything to do with getting back into the world of academia. I went back to my old alma-mater, Shippensburg University, to meet with one of my old professors who is soon to be retiring. You see, I considered this woman the one saving grace of my otherwise lackluster college experience. Don’t get me wrong, I did well in school, I was a Magna Cum Laude in fact, but the experience itself was stressful. Being away from home was hard enough. The worst thing was, having grown up in the city, going to a country school was a bit of a culture shock and I really didn’t mesh well with much of the student body. That’s a polite way of saying that my class had all the jocks, cheerleaders, religious fundamentalists, and other assorted folks that my city school did not have.

Enter my professor. Name withheld for obvious reasons. She taught my favorite subject. I remember the first day of class; some girl mouthed off to her, asking if she would teach creationism as part of the lessons, and the professor, looking like a sweet little grandma, strolls up to her face and told her exactly what she thought of that. From that day on, I knew I’d met someone with the guts and fortitude that I could really respect. We hit it off, and her class became an island of joy in an otherwise mundane enterprise. She’d teach late classes and I’d walk out of the hall, my mind full of tales of distant cultures, staring up at the moon and imagining ancient days gone by.

Flash forward to now, and I’m planning to continue that journey by getting my Masters degree in either anthropology or liberal studies. That’s why I was down there. To pick her brain, get some good info going forward, and start putting my plans into action over the summer. Coffee was just a sidequest along the way this time, and oh, how I wish that the coffeehouse I discovered had been there when I was a student. It would have been haven number two.

One Bean Espresso Bar isn’t a stand-alone building; it’s part of a local hotel on the main street called Shippen Place. It’s also not aptly named, given that it sports far more than one bean, offering a multitude of coffee styles and pours. They default to giving you a pour-over if you order the regular, so I thought I’d try their current Nicaraguan house blend. I have to say, it was one of the best Central American coffees I’ve had in a long time; it certainly had the characteristic nuttiness of the a Nicaraguan, and had that buttery mouthfeel that I look for in coffee of that region. The coffee itself was from Denim roasters. Apparently it’s a local coffee roasting company, so that made me happy; I always like to sample what’s being done locally with coffee roasting. I like to think that the different methods used by different people constitute a “human terroir” of sorts.

Now, I’ve talked before about how there are certain places where you can instantly get a feel that they just really care about the craft of coffee. That feeling was embodied in the person of Sean McCarthy, the guy running the shop that day. Just from our brief conversation, you could get that he was a fellow connoisseur of the bean. When I poured my cream in my coffee (heavy by the way, as it should be), I mentioned a bad incident at a coffeehouse up in Harrisburg where I put the cream in and it granulated. I expected him to give me the usual excuses that baristas give in that situation, saying it was normal for that to happen in some coffees. He did not. He immediately recognized the importance of milk quality and proceeded to give me a few lessons on the subject! Finally, I met someone as picky about coffee as I am. OK, so maybe St. Thomas Roasters is the same (which is why I go there so often). But it was so good talking to someone around my age who saw eye-to-eye with me on the specifics. Especially in isolated Shippensburg.

Yes, that was quite a trip. And as I drove out of town, full of information and caffeine, I realized that I really did miss the old place more than I thought. There were good times there, even if there weren’t as many as I would have liked. We like to see ourselves as survivors of a bad situation, and when we do that, sometimes we lose focus of how complex a situation is and view things through the lens of negativity that we should not. For sure, this coffee shop gives me hope that wherever I go, I’ll find a place where there are at least a few like minded folks who care about the things that really matter. Especially coffee.

well lit interior…

modernistic…

nod to the alma mater…

something new…

There it is. The longest title for a coffeehouse that we’ve had so far on this journey. This coffeehouse was a chance discovery; I wasn’t specifically on a mission to find a new coffeehouse to blog about, rather I was genuinely in need of a caffeine boost on my way home from Baltimore. I was attending a science fiction and fantasy convention called Farpoint, which draws thousands of people from around the Mid-Atlantic region each year. I had decided to make a day of it, going down early in the morning and coming home late in the afternoon. If there’s one thing you need to know about those kinds of events, it’s that they’re fueled entirely by coffee.

After a few hours on the road and a few hours of panel discussions, we were all hurting in the brain, so on my way home (after already having had a few cups in the morning), I pulled off the road and frantically Googled local coffee shops so I wouldn’t fall asleep at the wheel on the way back north. New Freedom Restaurant and Coffee Shop came up in the search and so I set my course. Bear in mind, I’ve never been to New Freedom itself, so that was in itself an adventure. New Freedom, located near the Maryland border but still inside Pennsylvania, is one of those blink-and-you-missed-it towns that populate Appalachia, and all too often those little burgs don’t have much in the way of coffee shops. Here was a decidedly pleasant exception.

It certainly doesn’t look like the archetypal coffeehouse from the outside. The edifice it’s part of looks more like one of the multitude of family restaurants strewn throughout the hills of the Pennsylvania countryside. It looks like food is the focus, not the coffee, though the sign on the inside corrected my perceptions immediately. When I came to the busy counter, I was greeted by the busiest person in the place; the owner Vicky, who was running back and forth trying to get the mid-afternoon crowd taken care of. It’s cool when someone is still able to be as nice as she was despite being harried from all sides. I asked for whatever the house blend happened to be.

The coffee was indeed a step up from the typical diner coffee. In my condition, I wouldn’t have stopped if it wasn’t. The coffee they used was Citavo Fine Coffee; they occupy a place in the market between “common” and “craft”, with a Columbian and Arabica being the bulk of their production. This was almost certainly the Arabica that I was tasting, judging by the acidity, but it was a pleasantly balanced cup. That’s probably because the coffee is ground on site in their rickety little metal machine (in which the owner takes much pride). This is likely why the coffee tasted quite a bit fresher than average restaurant fare as well. Pride always shows.

This is a nice little stop if you’re headed north from Baltimore and can stand a five minute detour from the big highway. It’s obviously a family place, so it would make a good place to rest on the road and re-energize. Check it out if you find yourself straying off the beaten path near the Mason-Dixon line.

the entrance…

unique coffee…

the grinder…

the boast…

If there was ever a time when Central Pennsylvania needed hot liquids, it’s now. We’re in the middle of a massive cold spell, and most people I know are beginning to hibernate for the year if they weren’t doing so already. Even a party I went to for New Years Eve Eve on Saturday night was slow, as people trickled in wearing more fur than finery. Not so I. When the weather gets cold (which I don’t like too much), I tend to do little things in defiance of the conditions. One of those things was a road trip out Jonestown Road to Jonestown itself to sample a new coffeehouse that just recently opened its doors.

One thing that’s pretty inescapable to the sensitive eye is the difference between traveling west of Harrisburg and traveling east. Traveling west or directly north leads you into the mountains and valleys of Appalachia and the unmistakable off-the-grid traditionalism that the region is famous for. Traveling to the east, you start shading into Yankeedom and the culture changes to one of small towns that are more trusting of strangers, more open to the outside world, and more likely to place a priority on local art, shifting cultures, and civic development. It’s that culture that is fertile ground for coffeehouses here, just as it was in Europe. I’ll post more about that later; for now, suffice it to say that eastern Dauphin county is a great place to road-trip.

Swatara Coffee Company was begun last November by Navy man John Noll and his wife Joanna Guldin-Noll and has become quite a community fixture since that if the line behind me was any indication. It was Joanna who greeted me with a warm welcome when I walked in from the frigid street bleary-eyed from a long drive with zero caffeine. In fact most of the people here seemed like a congenial bunch.

The coffee I got was a Guatemala Antigua. Now, this particular kind of coffee has words like “complex nuance”, “gentle”, and “light body” associated with them. This fit the archetypes well, being downright airy in the mouth. That’s the makings of a good breakfast blend of course. This particular one did have a bit of the characteristic thinness that can happen with lighter roasts, but only a bit, and that was made up for by the smooth mouthfeel that made me practically inhale the coffee. Honestly, this was a great breakfast coffee and I will be returning for more the next time I venture east.

Something else here that impressed me: the hours. Oh, am I ever disappointed by coffeehouse hours in general. So many cafes have downright wonky hours, either focusing only on the breakfast rush or the later afternoon loungers. I know, I know, coffeehouses have budgets, it takes money to run a business, and so on and so forth. It’s still annoying. Swatara however has wonderful hours; typically 6 am to 8 pm on a weekday.  They even extended their hours for the Christmas tree lighting in the square. Well done there with the whole “convenience” thing, Swatara!

I’m glad I braved the frigid temperatures to come out here. It’s something I have to do more often in the winter, especially if the reward is a picture-book small town like Jonestown. I’m in no way one of those people who believes that “the journey is the destination.” No, I gotta believe that there’s something truly cool over the horizon to justify getting out of bed. Swatara Coffee Co. is good justification for sure.

the sign…

the list…

the welcome…

the view…

the tree…

the town…

This last coffeehouse visit was more of side quest. The main mission was to visit a grad school that I might be attending soon; Villanova University. I was there visiting a History professor to get a good gauge of their program in person and to take a tour of the campus as well. It was a great experience, mostly because of the old-college atmosphere that college towns have once you get close to Philadelphia and the big east-coast cities. I know it isn’t exactly logical, but ambiance is a big consideration for me in choosing a potential school. That, and also the people in the surrounding area. Never one to mince words, I’ll just come out and say it: I never want to end up in redneck-land again. It’s just not for me.

There are some wonderful folks out in the country of course, but after living in a city all of my life, my mind missed that background buzz of activity, as well as the atmosphere in a city that’s openly welcoming to the intellectual life. To the life of a questioner of things. Yes, Villanova is technically “small-town Pennsylvania”, but truly it isn’t. It’s a product of the Yankee Northeast, not Appalachia, and you can see it in the sepia-toned Edison lighting of boutique shops and the hoppy smell of the many humming microbrew pubs.    You can see it in the coffeehouses as well, of course.

La Colombe certainly exemplifies the upscale “college town” coffeehouse. From the industrial interior to the fast pace of the staff and clientele, the venue gives off a hip presence; an immediacy. This isn’t a place that you just sit and chill alone; it’s a place to hang out with friends and grab a cup of something that will help you stay awake through the inevitable all-nighters you’re about to pull. La Colombe is actually a U.S. based coffee roasting company headquartered in Philadelphia with several locations. The Bryn Mawr location that I visited was one of twenty nine scattered throughout the country, with a pedigree reaching back to 1994, when the coffeehouse craze of the 90s was really taking off (thank you Friends, Seinfeld, and the city of Seattle).

The coffee I got was a Corsican; a kind that I rarely get to sample. It was advertised as having “deep, dark chocolate tones and a bold coffee flavor.” I got a nice hint of chocolate, but only a hint. It honestly felt like another coffee I’d had recently at a place nearer to home. It didn’t strike me as full-bodied, but rather carefully refined and well-crafted in spite of a lack of forwardness. Perhaps mine just wasn’t as strong as I’m used to taking it, but this truly struck me as more of a well-put-together breakfast blend than anything else. Still it was quite good and did a lovely job of sustaining me through the frantic drive home through the (in)famous Turnpike traffic.

A quick warning before I sign off; if you’re going to come here, you’d be wise to do so sometime other than rush hour. I fought through the Philadelphia Main Line to get here and then fought through the Schuylkill Expressway to get home. Overall impression: Expect well-done coffee, but also expect a rather frenetic pace and a solid dose of east-coast hipsterism. Hey, at least my stubble was in good company.

the entrance…

the gear…

the patrons…

the vegetation…

So a guy walks into a coffeehouse…and suddenly coffee is far from his mind as his eyes are suddenly overwhelmed by the sight of bookshelf after glorious bookshelf. Last time I wrote here, I promised you something revolutionary, and Red Emma’s is a coffeehouse that lives up to the task. Named for famed anarchist Emma Goldman, this space is a safe haven for anyone on the radical left.

Radical. They say that word over and over again on their website, proud of Red Emma’s reputation as a gathering space for the radical left of Baltimore since it first opened in 2004. As to my political leanings, I’m a Bull-Moose Progressive like the Roosevelts. Old left or radical center, it’s hard to pin down political nomenclature, but one thing is for sure; this place welcomes everyone. They say that there’s no use radicalizing the already radicalized, so they want to reach out to preach to people who are not yet in the choir of resistance.

Red Emma’s is a worker’s collective. Everybody who is part of the collective owns an equal share of the business. They are against bosses and hierarchies, with decisions made by consensus, kind of in the vein of the anarcho-syndicalists. Indeed, I got ten percent off of my book purchase because of my union membership! It’s a fully vegan establishment as well, which is good news given the large vegan community that has always existed among the far left. Indeed, there’s a lot of evidence to show that abandoning meat would be a good way of fighting global warming and democratizing the world’s food. I’ll stick to my burgers and just turn off the lights.

So how’s the coffee anyhow? As bitter as October in Russia. Just kidding. It went down as smooth as a well-written manifesto. Yes, that was corny as hell, but forgive me. Their brand of coffee is called Thread Coffee. It’s transparently-traded and roasted on-site by the collective. I had the Guatemalan (I think) house-blend and I must say it was really well-balanced. Most South American coffees seem rather mellow acid-wise, but this one was especially buttery-feeling. Really a joy. Almost as good as St. Thomas. It never fails to show when there’s an expert roaster among the staff.

My advice to people looking to check it out is this: don’t be afraid of the unknown. I know, some of you will walk in and be a bit intimidated by a revolution in progress. Understand that this one is under the guidance of some genuinely good people. The energy here is positive, and this group is trying to make a difference in their community in a way that is long overdue. Bringing people together for conversation and free discussion of the issues of the day is, in fact, what the first coffeehouses in Europe were all about. The cities became the crucibles of change that would result in the flowering of democracy and civil rights, and the coffeehouses were the loci of this cauldron of thought. If we are to say that coffeehouse “culture” is indeed “about” something, then human dialogue and free expression goes to the core of it. When you’re here, imagine that you’re on the streets of Paris as the intellectual mix of the Age of Enlightnment was taking shape. You’ll find that this thought comes mighty easily. An interesting question then: can a place be called revolutionary if it is, at its heart, merely a return to form?

the street…

the gathering space…

the bookstore…

the literature…

Wow, how long is has been since I’ve posted! No, I’m not running out of coffeehouses and bags of beans (may I never). Spring and late winter is just always busy for me, helping to get things ready for summer at the house, buying mountains of bird seed for my grandmother, planning for vacation with the parents, paying all of my bills a month or two in advance so I don’t have a tsunami hit me in the fall. Ah, but that’s boring. You came here for a review, and today I went out to bag one in the form of a new cafe in my own backyard that I just learned about. It’s called Brew Cumberland’s Best, and I hope you can guess the location.

Actually the location gave me deja vu. I knew I’d been here before, but I hadn’t been *here* before. This same building has been multiple coffeehouses for multiple owners over the long course of its existence. This particular iteration sprang up apparently two and a half years ago. Yes, it’s been that long since I’ve been in New Cumberland. Blame the closing of The Why’re on that. Anyone over 30 will know what I mean. Well, any hippie.

Anyhow, the cafe bills itself as “Not Just Coffee”. It lives up to that quite handily with its assortment of pastries and such, and although I didn’t have time for breakfast, the place did have that lovely bready smell. I elected, as I usually do, to go with the house blend. It was a Guatemala coffee, and if you know anything about Guatemalan roasts, they tend to be softer, less powerful, but more nuanced than the bolder varieties like Columbian. This particular Guatemalan was the archetype of that; very balanced, with a flavor that you kind of had to search for, but was tasty when you found it. That’s what most people like in a breakfast blend, and cudos to them for providing it well!

As for the atmosphere, I’d say “artsy” fits best here. Definitely a bohemian vibe,  it keeps its distance from cutesy-hipsterdom and stays wonderfully mellow. Must be the distance from Midtown.  If the space was a bit larger, this would have been a lovely place for one of the poetry readings that I regularly attend in Harrisburg. It’s a bit dark, with plenty of hardwood accents, but in a cozy sort of way, and I could see it especially being a warm gathering place during wintertime. Another cool feature is their drive-through window. I’m glad that finally a place that’s not Dunkin-Donuts is doing this.

So yeah, it’s great to be back out there chugging coffee, and I’m glad to have started here in New Cumberland; a place I’ve neglected for far too long. Keep reading, because next month I’ll be reviewing a coffeehouse that I’ve wanted to visit for a very long time. I’ll give you a hint; think fin de siecle revolution. Until next time, stay caffeinated.

the outside…

artsy…

cozy…

yes, they do drive through…

A man walks into a coffee house…that isn’t really a coffee house. More like a coffee…alcove? That’s how best to describe Take Five Espresso Bar, located as it is in the Central Market House in York. For those who don’t know (and until Saturday I didn’t know), Central Market House is York’s equivalent of Broad Street Market. It’s a big, brick edifice right in the heart of the city that allows different food and curio vendors to set up shop inside. It’s a bustling place, full of wafting nostril-candy, just how a city market should be, but perhaps a bit moreso this Saturday due to the freakishly warm weather we were having. But despite the warmth, I, as usual, was still thinking of nothing more than a nice hot cup of coffee.

Take Five is located fairly near to the entrance of the building, tucked away next to a shop full of edible gifts. I went right to the counter and was greeted by the barista, Phyllis, who could tell that I was quite thirsty and enthusiastic to try the lineup of self-serve dispensers near the counter. I asked what the house blend was and she pointed me to the breakfast blend. Now, I’m not much a breakfast blend person in general. I like my coffee rich and powerful.

She told me that the roast was half Colombian and half French Roast, so I figured that it would be about a medium, probably a little earthy and definitely muted, bittersweet flavors. Many people aren’t aware that French roasting is a process which mutes the natural characteristics of whatever bean is used. A good thing for the lighter breakfast blends for sure. The coffee I had was a very good example of this. It was so smooth and non-acidic in fact that I could drink it happily without adding any cream or sugar! This was really one of the smoothest, nicest breakfast blends I’ve had in a while. Some cafes simply offer a weaker version of typical roasts; passing off watered-down coffee for stomach-friendly fare. These folks here actually made an effort to craft a breakfast coffee with rich flavor and low acidity. They also pulled it off. Hence me now blogging about them to the world.

If you come through York, this is a great place to get a morning cup. It’s worth going through the city traffic to get to both this cafe and the marketplace in which it has resided since 2012. In fact, one can only get a morning cup here. That’s my one caveat about this cafe: they open nice and early but they only stay open until noon or 2PM depending on the day. They are also closed Sunday and Monday. It’s really not their fault though, it’s the schedule of the market itself constraining them. So yes, if you find yourself in York on a weekday morning, this bustling yet friendly kiosk is quite the oasis of decent beans. Happy quaffing.

the outside of the market…

the cafe itself…

the impressive stash…

I had to see it to believe it. See, earlier this year I read about a new coffeehouse that catered to gamers opening in nearby Mechanicsburg. And not just any gamers, but to board-gamers specifically. Now, gamers in general are a niche market, but board-gamers always struck me as a dying breed now that we’re mostly playing online. Judging by the number of people who apparently frequent the place, this is not so. In fact, the husband-and-wife team who own the establishment pointed me to the packed calendar of events and gaming groups hanging above the countertop. The patrons were really nice people; one even held the door for me when I walked it. Us nerds are a brotherhood of sorts.

From wall to wall, the main room is packed with row after row of old board and roleplaying games. That’s right, there’s a Dungeons and Dragons contingent here too (one which I am sorely tempted to join). There were many games that I had never heard of, and a few that brought back old memories. The one owner seemed to know what I meant when I began to wax historical about Star Fleet Battles and West End Games.

I have to cut to the chase and mention the coffee at this point. When I asked where they got their beans, I was pleasantly surprised by the response: they sourced from St. Thomas Roasters in Linglestown! Anyone who has read my blog for a long time knows that St. Thomas was one of the first coffeehouses I reviewed, and to this day it remains my favorite. You really need to see their bean-grinder to believe it; I mean the thing is a work of art. But I digress. The coffee was the typical smooth, balanced concoction that one comes to expect from St. Thomas. Just re-read my earlier post for a full description of what they have to offer. One caveat though: the coffee was anomalously expensive! Over three dollars for a 16 ounce cup. Of course, you’re paying for the ambiance here, and of course for the huge stockpile of games.

So in summation, if you enjoy playing the board games of yore that all of us Gen-Xers remember growing up with, you really need to stop by this place. One caveat: to opt in on a game night usually takes a five dollar cover charge. It would appear to be money well spent though, so don’t shy away. Especially don’t shy away if you’re feeling up to the challenge of rolling a good old d6 or two.

from the road…

games…

more games…

heraldry…

Been a while since I posted here…because it’s been a while since I had the time to travel. Yeah, the past month has been busy, especially with my side project(s) and election season. I won’t even comment on that. Maybe I will, in fact, devote an entire post to that. You are warned. Anyhow, with the days getting shorter and shorter, the coffee in my life has been more critical than ever. I’ve been scouring the grocery stores (including our new Giant in Harrisburg) to find some new, interesting brands, especially local brands. That brings me to an interesting find here at the Choc O’ Latte Cafe in Millerstown.

I decided to go to Millerstown because of a random Google search I did of the area west of the Susquehanna River to see if there were any nice, small towns with independent coffee shops located between here and State College. Mostly, Route 11/15 and some of 322 North are known for their pawn shops, porn shops, and truck stops; not for the artsy, progressive culture that’s really necessary for “coffeehouse culture” to take root (look for a post on that coming up). So was there coffee? Not diners and Dunkin’ Donuts, I mean real coffee. Yes, there was coffee and plenty else besides.

The Choc O’ Latte Cafe is hard to miss when you come into the town, situated as it is right along the town square. Millerstown has less than a thousand residents, so most landmarks are hard to miss, but the Cafe with its stylized letters and big flag out front are especially hard to miss. The inside is cozy, with a big window onto the square which is now taken up with a plethora of Christmas doodads.

The coffee was quite good, though a bit less strong than I typically drink it. That’s OK, this was breakfast and they were catering to less-hardened stomachs than mine. The really great thing I noticed was that there was no metallic taste that usually comes with the not-so-strongly brewed coffees. Whether that was from exceptional water or from straight-up bean quality I couldn’t quite determine. The word that could best describe this particular coffee, a Columbian, was ‘smooth’. It wasn’t buttery, like the fuller-bodied stuff I usually drink, but rather was the kind of coffee that goes down easily due to its low acidity, and which pairs with food well. The coffee was born to be a breakfast coffee, and it was, in fact, itself born locally! The beans came from Rich Coast Coffee, a local company that I had never heard of, but that operates out of nearby Lewistown.

I talked with the owner, Angela, about the town and the coffeehouse, learning a little bit of Millerstown lore (such as the local historic home that I did not get to visit regrettably), but also learning that I had come right in the middle of the breakfast buffets that are done every Saturday from 8-11 in the morning. It’s a flat $10 to buy in, but the food looked hot, good, and pretty much bottomless. Next time I’m up, I’ll have to try it. I was in a bit of a rush to get back to a family Thanksgiving meal, so Angela tossed me a sweet sticky bun and I ran off into the frigid morning just a little bit warmer.

On the way out of town, I ran into something interesting. I ran into Gnomes, specifically. Little Gnome houses with Gnomes inside them are strewn along the walkway along the river that makes up part of the community park. I put a photo at the bottom to show you some of what I saw. The park itself was beautiful, with an amphitheater and a community center on a sprawling patch of green beside the Juniata River. Friendly natives, good coffee, plentiful breakfast…there’s all of this plus Gnomes. If you’re on your way to or from a Penn State game, make this town a pit stop.

outside…

the beans…

tchotchkes…

inside…

an old friend (ask Angela)…

This next entry caught me quite by surprise. Just when I thought that Harrisburg’s offering of new coffeehouses was tapped out, I was on my way to the Speakeasy on Forster Street late one Thursday night and happened to look to my right. There it was. A brand new coffee shop had seemingly sprung up out of nowhere like a flower blooming through the pavement. OK, maybe that’s hyperbole, but I was starved for caffeine that night and…well, I resolved to go there as soon as possible.

As anyone in Harrisburg knows, there’s really only one inconvenience to going out in downtown Harrisburg, and that is the parking. You’re lucky if you get a space during the busy day, especially near the Capitol building. I was lucky that day (luckily), and the only issue was the cost to park-three quarters for fifteen minutes! OK, I’m done with the Harrisburg whine-fest. I live here, so I get to do it though.

So I get there and the first thing I noticed about this place is that it looked…fresh. The door was obviously recently painted, with a recently-chalked chalkboard nearby. I went inside and the interior was…equally fresh. The unmistakable smell of a newly-painted home and recently sawed wood hung in the air and the windows were utterly streakless. Turns out, Capital Joe had only been here for three weeks when I arrived.

The coffee itself was a genuine surprise. Most of the coffeehouses around here either get generic beans or source from the ubiquitous Little Amps, but Capital Joe gets theirs from Square One coffee; a micro-roaster out of Lancaster. Since I do belong to a paranormal investigation group (ask me), my eyes immediately went to the beans labeled “Sasquatch.” Sasquatch is a dark roast, with the characteristic low acidity; it is also very full-bodied and tends to feel as much like a meal as it does a beverage, for those who usually prefer lighter breakfast coffees. If you need a morning boost in the city, however, it is a thing of beauty. The people here really know their coffee terminology too.

Something that truly impressed me was the variety of creamers and other amenities available here. Non-dairy creamer was present, along with dairy milks actually stored in a refrigerator! It’s important for those of us who are lactose intolerant (or just who happen to be picky eaters). There’s a stock of honey and raw sugar too for those of us who prefer the natural touch.

Please note, there’s an added advantage to coming here if you work downtown: they open at 6am. Really, a coffee shop should open as early as possible for obvious reasons, but many don’t. You won’t face that kind of disappointment here. And ultimately that fact defines the vibe here…there’s really nothing to disappoint. Sure it’s not the tricked-out hipster hub that Little Amps is (not yet at least), but I found none of the annoying qualifiers that typically keep me from having a less-than-wonderful coffee experience. The staff is nice and coffee-wise, the milk is fresh, and the coffee itself is both local and tasty. I am thrilled to welcome this little caffeinated alcove into the city!

the entrance…

outside…

inside…

interesting coffees…

always coffee time…