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Yes, I said Bakery, not coffeehouse.  But it is a coffeehouse…and a bakery! This new addition to Harrisburg’s Midtown food and beverage scene seems geared to cater to a wide variety of tastes, and in a city of specialty shops, that is a very welcome thing. In fact, welcomes are in order for the woman who runs the bakery, Samra Alic, who recently moved to the U.S. from the Balkans with the dream of opening a European-style bakery in the States. The shop is located in a spot familiar to long-time residents; the former third-street alcove where Breads n’ Spreads once occupied (that was a bakery and coffeehouse which closed a few years ago). In fact, the new owners kept a good amount of the original classy, minimalist interior.

This is normally the part of the blog where I review the coffee, but I can’t do that here. Why? Because it’s already been reviewed! Dalicia, like several other restaurants, sources its coffee from Little Amps Coffee on Green Street, right here in the city. For those who don’t know, Little Amps started during the Recession here and not only survived, but thrived, rapidly becoming the beloved hipster hive of Harrisburg. So if you want to know about the coffee at Dalicia, see my previous review for Little Amps. Suffice it to say that the coffee is the typical yummy but strong fare that has made Little Amps famous.

The coffee isn’t really the focus here anyhow. The focus is clearly on the beautiful baked goods which line the countertops, baked by Samra herself. It doesn’t get more authentically European than that.  The shop is branching out into Serbian specialties as well, so keep an eye on the menu!

One touch that I appreciated was the row of tables and chairs that were placed in a gated alley abutting the building. I have to say, that was my favorite aesthetic touch; just hidden enough to be private, but still affording a nice few of the street beyond. That walkable, relaxed urbanism is yet another characteristically European touch. Yes, if you come down third street as part of your morning workday or weekend routine, check out this little piece of Europe right next door.

the new front…

freshly produced…

baked goods…

the old (new) inside…

now that’s pretty…

Hey readers, I know it’s been a while since I posted. The month of June has been incredibly active for me and my family. In fact, everything from Memorial Day weekend to Fourth of July will go down as one of the busiest and most stressful times that we’ve had in a while. Every family reunion, every doctor’s appointment, every day-trip and wedding.  And yes, every vacation too. We actually got one of those! This year we made the return to our old favorite beach from years past, Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.

After a four-hour ride, the first thing I looked for was coffee. Rehoboth Beach, and the town of the same name, is a really beautiful place, despite the fact that there has been an intense amount of building within just the past decade. Comparing the area now with the way it was only ten years ago is impossible; the endless shopping plazas and tourist traps have migrated up north from nearby Ocean City sending home prices through the roof and creating some truly epic traffic conditions. Harder to find is tranquility, though with the sound and sight of the endless ocean just to the east, it’s impossible not to feel it.  We were lucky to get mostly green lights down the main thoroughfare, though it still felt like it took forever. Maybe that’s just because I was eager for the beach.

I finally did find my coffee, right in the middle of the bustling Rehoboth town square. I had a feeling that there had to be somewhere interesting to go for coffee beyond the chain stores, and I was right. All of the little shops in the town square are obviously geared towards impressing tourists, but I was grateful to see that Rehoboth accomplished this through quality, not just quantity. Nothing felt fake here. I was afraid it would since, you know, tourists and their kids must be placated.

The Dreamer Coffee and Juice Bar is a part of that. As the name suggests, they don’t just do coffee, they do gourmet juices too. The fresh, citrus ingredients were tempting, but I had to go straight for the beans. Their signature coffee is called “Toby’s Estate.” It’s a roaster based out of Brooklyn, so it’s not too far away. I had no time to really sample, so I just asked for the house blend. The coffee itself had a slightly smoky, even burnt character (it must have been a dark roast that they gave me), but I’m into that. Better that the coffee have character than to be bland!  Of course that can get overwhelming, but this coffee managed to stay on the right side of flavorful just fine. In fact, what I was getting was a rather complex and intricate flavor; something that I would love to explore more the next time I come here (or go to Brooklyn for that matter). I had no time to ask about local events here, being in far too much of a hurry to get onto the boardwalk before the rain inevitably hit.

The rest of the vacation was incredible. A hotel with a commanding view of the beach, foggy mornings and warm afternoons, and the smell of that salty air. It all took me as far away from polar vortices as possible. A good reminder that fun is always happening somewhere, if only you make the drive to meet it.

a simple sign…

another simple sign…

with a complicated menu…

you know it’s summer at the beach…

their signature coffee…

As I write this, we are struggling, in the great state of Pennsylvania, to get somewhere close to average temperatures for this time of year. On the day that I made the journey down to Lititz to visit this place that I had heard so much about in Fly magazine over the winter, temperatures were struggling to even get into the mid-50s. Needless to say, I really needed a piping hot cup of coffee after the long, rather frigid trek down to the heart of Lancaster County.

Yes, Cafe Chocolate is right in the middle of Amish country in the nice little town of Lititz. Lititz is a good example of what exemplifies the archetype of the nice, Northeastern small town. It has lots of curio shops, bookstores, thrift shops, and other signs that the community is not only close (one friend called it a “bedroom community” where everyone knows what everyone else is doing), but that it carries an air of subtle cosmopolitan sophistication that belies its location in the heart of our vast, open farmlands. Don’t be so shocked; those who are close to the earth often do make the greatest artists.

Upon entering the cafe in the heart of town, I could tell right away that it was the chocolate, not the coffee, that was the main focus of this locale. And chocolate they do very well. From the chocolate waterfall in the window to the lines of chocolate goodies gracing the counter, this place is a cocoa lover’s paradise. The care can be seen in the rich darkness of the chocolate cupcake I bought on my way out. I just had to. Visit and you’ll understand.

So how can the coffee itself be described? I’m of two minds. First, a fair warning: the coffee is quite a bit more expensive than the norm. Anomalously so, in fact. A 16 ounce regular cost about four bucks. Really. The coffee I tried was a medium Sumatra from a local, fair-trade roaster out of New Jersey called Small World Coffee. Sumatras, if you don’t know, are a picky coffee for picky people. Folks either tend to love or hate a Sumatra because of their complex, earthy tastes and textures. As advertised on the Small World website, this did have more acid than the average Sumatra. A bit too much for my taste, but again, that’s the virtue and pitfall of Sumatra. As one of the few people who is on the fence about Sumatra, I do recommend this one…but only if you don’t mind a little extra earthiness and acidity. Overall, it was a welcome little caffeine-addiction quencher on a cold spring day.

This is, overall, a nice place to stop on your way through Lancaster county, especially if you need a nice dose of the sweet stuff. Take a special look at the outdoor area accessed through the back of the shop. That will be quite cozy on the non-rainy days. Until next time, stay caffeinated!

outside…

curios…

books…

nice out here when it’s not freezing…

oh yes. must try this…

Not to be confused with The Brick Haus, the dive bar of Harrisburg fame, of course. This little coffeehouse is located well off the beaten path in the town of Manheim, deep in Pennsylvania Amish country. I first found out about it when researching another coffee house in Lititz that I had read about in Fly Magazine several months ago. That was going to be first on my itinerary for late-winter coffee exploration. When I was looking at the map of the area though, this little cafe stuck out. Unlike the other coffee house (which will get a review of its own soon enough), this place seemed to have escaped the gaze of bloggers from the ‘Burg. Until I came along, that is.

The Brick  House is labeled as a place to eat, but you can tell that a major focus is clearly their coffee. They do indeed have a breakfast special and a lunch and dinner as well, with some very haute cuisine choices I might add, but even from the outside it looks more like a small bookstore than a restaurant. Now, I think that is a very positive attribute for a coffeehouse (or indeed a restaurant), because literature and coffee have tended to go together since the late seventeenth century.  This could have been one of those places; it’s a space filled with books, nooks, and crannies, located away from main street. I knew I had struck gold.

I ordered the house blend, as I usually do. It was very rich and not at all tart or citrus in flavor; I’m not really sure what the blend was, but it tasted rather like a Guatemalan coffee. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the coffee was locally roasted! It’s from Lancaster County Coffee Roasters. To anyone who doubts that freshness does indeed make the difference, just go to a local roaster already and learn why you’re wrong. They don’t have any local art or music events here (boo), but the dinner specials apparently draw very discriminating foodies from around the town (sweet). Needless to say, I’ll have to come back and try the food when I have the chance.

So anyhow, it was very enjoyable to find a place that serves locally roasted coffee and that few others seem to really know about. The town of Manheim was fun to visit; it’s a country town that’s not disconnected from the rest of the world. In that, it’s very much a delightful archetype of New England/Mid-Atlantic small town living. Well, I find it delightful, but then again I’m one of those incorrigible Yankees myself. Come to think of it, maybe their coffee spot doesn’t really need to screw up a quiet evening with loud hipsters and their cacophonous tunes after all. I’m thinking the coffee is enough.

From outside…

Wall of coffee…

Nice library…

Town square…

Hello readers! Those of you who frequent this site probably noticed my long absence. The especially astute will notice that it coincided with the holiday season.  Yes I know I do this every year, and apologize for my vanishing act every year. Like it probably has been for many of you, this past season has been a doozy. Got a new vehicle and a new TV. December was spent traveling around visiting family, helping take decorations up and down, and having dinner after heaping dinner. January has been spent in busy season at my job, dodging the cold weather whenever possible, and watching the sunlight return one extra minute of daylight at a time. Wherefore art thou, equinox?

I simply haven’t had time to visit any coffee houses. The good news is, this year the coffee houses came to me! My Mom bought me a lot of new gourmet coffee for Christmas (somehow she guessed that I enjoy such things), and I’m going to showcase a few of those new finds here in lieu of new coffee spots. In fact I have several places that I want to visit in the near future, one of them in Baltimore, so stay tuned. Plus, I’m revamping the site with an all-new system for grading the overall “coffeehouse experience.” Until then, enjoy a few tastes of what I got for Christmas!

The one right below is from Gold Box Roastery (obviously) based in the city of Newcastle in the UK.  My first impression was that it makes a good afternoon or lunch blend. It’s made from Arabica beans sourced from Dubai. It has a very refined flavor, but not quite as good as the bouquet which is really spectacular and nice to smell in the kitchen! That being said, all of the specialty coffees from this roaster receive over 80 points (in cupping), so this is high quality stuff. I would say that, flavorwise, it exemplifies the Arabica bean in its floral and nutty overtones.

Now this coffee was fun. It’s the brand created by Joey Kramer of Aerosmith for some reason. This is definitely more of a breakfast blend, having a more “bright” and acidy quality. It’s a medium roast, but treat it as a light roast.

I saved the best for last. This is an offering from Green Mountain Coffee in Vermont. It’s a venerable name and easily recognizable to anyone who really gets into the coffee world. It’s a fair trade organic blend, and they don’t say what it’s blended from. From the earthiness of the overall package I’d guess somewhere in South America. It’s a more typical (and I would say better quality) blend than the previous coffee (sorry Aerosmith), but I’ve always favored heavier, less acidic mixtures. Have this with cookies or with dinner if you don’t mind a late night.

An unexpected pleasure, right in my own backyard. The most fascinating thing about this cafe is that I had never heard of it, despite living less than two miles from it. Granted, it is in an out-of-the-way location; a small plaza on Colonial Road. But the originality of this enterprise is so unique that it really deserves to be more well known. The theme of the cafe is the culture and coffee of the African country of Ethiopia. For those who don’t know, Ethiopia is a mid-sized nation on the eastern coast of the African continent, known in popular media for deep poverty…but known to scholars for its deep history.

The coffee of Cafe D’Afric is exclusively Ethiopian; the woman at the counter who took my order co-owns it, and she told me her husband (the other owner) travels regularly to D.C. in search of new Ethiopian coffees to bring back to the coffee shop. They also serve a wide range of Ethiopian foods, with their menu available online. It should be noted that this transformation into a restaurant only occurs on Saturday afternoons and evenings. In addition, as you can see in the photos below, the entire cafe is set up as a celebration of Ethiopian culture beyond cuisine and coffee. Traditional Ethiopian garb is available for purchase, and lovely artworks cover the walls.

All of their coffee is of the Arabica bean, so that’s what I got. Arabica in general has a high acidity, creating that “winey” taste that almost smacks of tannin. They are also sweet and soft in general, with fruity hints. This was, then, an archetypal Arabica. I was hit with that acidic tang right off the bat, something I usually don’t favor, but the aftertaste was really nice, having that characteristic flavor reminiscent of a kind of tart berry. Maybe it was my imagination; the point is that if you like sweet breakfast-style coffees, this is a really great place to catch a bit of caffeine and a bit of culture!

The inside…

Outfits from Africa…

Artwork…

More artwork…

And this is my apology….a special post about a locally available coffee that I just found and enjoyed. Actually my Mom found this fun new Arabica and delivered it to me, knowing that I always look for interesting new brands. Yeah, I’m spoiled. Only-child syndrome.

new coffee.

For those who don’t know, International Coffee Day is on October 1st this year. This day is also used to promote fair-trade coffee. Fair-trade is a form of business which attempts to pay a fair price to the producers of a product, instead of scouting around to pay the lowest possible amount of money to people who belong to vulnerable populations. That’s called “free trade”, and it relies on the “invisible hand” of the market to “trickle down” wealth to all participants through self-regulation. I bet you can’t guess which one I support. But let’s leave the political rants for November. It’s coffee time.

This coffee, unfortunately, wasn’t fair trade. It was pretty darn good though. I must say that this roast, Gavin’s Grogg, is definitely for lovers of dark blends. It’s nutty, it’s rummy, and I was pretty sure I could taste some citrus in there. It is the darkest dark roast that ever darked in the dark. I have no idea who produces it, but I think it might come from a roaster in Lititz. I’ll be letting my fingers do the walking and try to find out online just where this thing came from, because now I want more. My next post will be about a very interesting new cafe that opened up near me. Stay tuned…

Hey all, I realize it’s been a while since I last posted. Summer has been exceedingly busy, especially towards the end. Where I work that’s when busy season starts to kick in as we prepare for all the book orders coming in from everyone starting the academic year. That makes this post a little late. I actually visited The Kind Cafe in Selinsgrove, PA during my family reunion, which happened back on the second week of August.

For those who don’t know, Selinsgrove is actually a college town. When you think of Pennsylvania universities, you typically imagine the small suburbs clustered around Philadelphia, or the mountain enclaves like Lock Haven and Happy Valley. Selinsgrove is neither and both, being on the major artery of 11/15 and only an hour from Harrisburg. It’s actually the college town attached to Susquehanna University. It’s a very good, very expensive university with multiple focuses, including fine arts, and the layout of the town of Selinsgrove immediately reflects the fact that it houses a student population. Little curio shops, boutiques, and yes coffeehouses, all fight for space along the busy main street corridor. Selinsgrove’s artsy charms stand in contrast to the very rural, working class, conservative towns that surround it as one winds up north through the Appalachians.

The Kind Cafe was not only my refuge from the family reunion chaos. It was a place I wanted to go just because of the name. Obvious hippies. After visiting, it was also a place that I promised to come back to the next time I made my way up north. The Kind Cafe is a breakfast and brunch restaurant in addition to serving coffee and they really bill themselves as a nexus for student activity, hosting events and festooning their coffee shop with shelf upon shelf of books and community bulletins.

I ordered the freshest medium-dark roast, cut with a third of a cup of decaf (I was already strung out from too much family reunion). The woman at the counter was kind enough (get it) to make some decaf espresso to put in there, even though I had inadvertently shown up about 15 minutes before closing time!  It was really rich and creamy, even a little floral at the end, without the bitterness that sometimes comes with the darker roasts that I favor. All of their coffee seems to come from a local roaster called Freshroastedcoffee LLC. That was definitely a plus in my book, not only because you could genuinely taste the fact that the beans had not been stored for an eternity in the back of a truck, but that it truly showcased the very deep roots that this place has in the community.

So yeah, if you’re in the area, stop by. Definitely stop by if you’re a card-carrying liberal-arts bookworm like me. It is a bastion of proud intellectualism amid a sea of…well, not all that much unless you’re getting ready for hunting season! Oh, and look for my next updates to come along pretty soon as the weather turns colder and the other college towns of PA and Maryland start heating up. Until next time, stay thirsty, folks.

The outside…

Nooks and crannies…

Plenty of reading material…

A few weeks ago I posted a coffeehouse review with the proviso that I’d be back reviewing more coffeeshops within the next few weeks, all hailing from the Harrisburg countryside. Well, I just made good on that promise by visiting a new one from Mount Joy, PA which is right outside the small city of Lancaster. I’ve been wanting to visit Higher Grounds for some time, given that it’s a well known local spot.

The thing I immediately noticed when I came in was the color scheme. It was all bright yellow and blue inside, distinguishing it from most cafes which seem to go for a more rustic look. A few may think it garish, but I just thought it was not only unique, but also really cheerful. To me, color is an invitation to art. There were also many little nooks and crannies, twists and turns  in this place. Around every corner was a small alcove that afforded a degree of privacy. You may notice that this positive critique is similar to the last coffee spot I reviewed (Square Bean in Dillsburg). I noticed that too. I like when a shop doesn’t feel like a shop, but rather like a community space.

I got the house blend, prepared for me by Kathy, the owner, who started this business with her daughter Ashley ten years ago. Higher Grounds is its own coffee brand. It’s not roasted on site, but it is roasted especially for this coffeehouse, so you are getting a singular blend. That’s always a positive in my book. The house blend was good and smooth. It was also balanced, but on the light side. Since I was there in the morning, I wonder if they specifically blended it that way as a morning blend. It sure seemed like a good breakfast blend to me if that was intentional. It’s clear that there was a wide variety of roasts to choose from, and I regret not trying to mix some of them together. Oh well, there’s always next time!

The only true criticism I have to give Higher Grounds is the same that I had for a few others: what a shame there are no regular community events! I’d love to see a place so obviously crafted by people who care about both coffee and the creative impulse to invite a poetry reading, music night, or something similar. The space is just so darn visual that I could easily, as an artist, avail myself of the space for the purpose of inspiration alone. I highly recommend it for that reason, but be sure to come during the late morning if you want privacy; this coffee house does a brisk breakfast business! I’m happy for that. It means it won’t be leaving Mount Joy anytime soon.

The outside…

closer…

the selection…

Here we are, at the top of the year. Been a while since I posted last; I’ve kept very busy with all the great music and art festivals happening in Harrisburg where I make my home. I finally got a three-day weekend with no jazz, blues, or wine festivals on the horizon, so I thought I would avail myself of the opportunity to search some places off the beaten path for some potential new coffee spots. I found several good new places and in the next few weeks will be rushing out to review them all and report back on what I’ve discovered.

It’s odd, once you get outside of the city it becomes progressively more difficult to find an independent coffee house. My personal theory is that the coffeehouse is a uniquely civic phenomenon. That is, it’s a part of urban culture. It doesn’t matter the size of the town, rather it’s the cosmopolitan, open sophistication of it that gives birth to the intellectual soul of the cafe. That spirit can exist in the smallest community; a spirit that wages insurgency against the dragging anchor of provincial mindsets. That spirit is found in some of the tiniest towns. Montpelier, Vermont is one. I think Dillsburg PA is another.

The coffee shop is called Square Bean Roasters, located right on the main drag (Baltimore Street) in Dillsburg. It’s a pretty unassuming place, tucked back in its block away from the traffic. Inside, Square Bean presented a different side. The moment I got inside, the space seemed small, not much more than a counter and a few chairs and tables; however that’s when I started to explore a bit further. Walking around a wall full of books and navigating a few tables, one rounds a corner to a larger, more spacious area full of even more tables situated beside some small windows. Pretty cozy. A long hallway with an alcove full of town bulletins rounds out the nooks and crannies that populate this oddly shaped, yet strangely comfy space.

The coffee is their own brand. That impressed me right away. They were serious about the name “roaster”, and although, unlike at St. Thomas roasters, I never caught sight of the actual machine, you could tell that they had a full-scale operation underway. The woman at the counter informed me that there were no less than seven varieties to choose from that day in response to my perennial question: “So, what’s the house blend?”. The one I chose was called Midnight Silk. Come on, with a name like that you pretty much have to choose it over “Rainforest Crunch” however much one loves the rainforest. I was genuinely impressed by the subtle craftsmanship that particular coffee showed. It was a particularly dark blend, nice and rich, the way I usually like my coffee to be. It wasn’t quite dark enough to get rid of the body of the drink; a good thing in my estimation. Unpleasant levels of acidity tend to be leveled out by a good dark roast, and this was a good one because it was nice and creamy (after one adds cream of course, but you know of what I speak). I could swear I got some blueberry hints, but it could have been my imagination. Complex is what I’d call this coffee. Actually that fact reminded me of the coffees made by Ambreen Esmail of Cafe di Luna, a former gem of my hometown.

I asked the woman in charge if there were any events that happen in the coffeehouse like poetry, music, and the like. Sadly, she said there weren’t any in the foreseeable future. The only sorrow I left with, therefore, was the knowledge that more people don’t know about this pretty little spot. Perhaps it will ultimately be for the best. I can only imaging the amount of pondering and prose that has taken place at those quiet little tables within all those nooks and crannies. Keep watching the blog for more entries in the coming weeks as I take readers to Scranton, Ephrata, and all those little towns along Jonestown road that never seem to get any attention. They’re about to. Until then, drink up!

The entrance…

The setup…

The nooks and crannies…