Tag Archives: coffee

Furloughed? Little Amps offers free coffee to unpaid federal workers.

January 23, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

The sign outside Little Amps on State Street.

A month into a partial federal government shutdown, many furloughed workers are beginning to wonder how they’re going to pay their bills.

In Harrisburg, there’s at least one expense they won’t have to worry about—their coffee tab.

Little Amps Coffee Roasters announced today that they’ll provide one free, 12-ounce coffee per day to furloughed federal workers for the duration of the shutdown.

“We’ve been hearing a lot of fed-up talk from federal workers who come to our shops, and so we’re doing our little bit to help out,” said owner Aaron Carlson.

About 800,000 workers have received no pay since Dec. 22 due to an impasse over funding for a border wall demanded by the Trump administration. Roughly 380,000 have been furloughed, while 420,000, deemed “essential,” are working without pay.

The free coffee applies to both, Carlson said, and is available at all three Little Amps shops in Harrisburg. Workers will need to show their federal IDs to get the gratis joe.

Carlson noted that Little Amps is in the business of both selling coffee and fostering community. Indeed, many locals regard Little Amps shops as something of a second office, where work is conducted and meetings held.

“Who knows, maybe a furloughed worker affected by the shutdown can meet someone in the same boat or maybe someone looking for temporary help,” Carlson said.

Little Amps Coffee Roasters is located at 1836 Green St., 133 State St. and inside Strawberry Square, all in Harrisburg. For more information, visit their website.

Surrounded by friends, Elementary Coffee founder announces new location, new home.

January 10, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

The future home of Elementary Coffee Co., currently under (re)construction.

Andrea Grove stood amidst piles of boards, debris and other signs of an active construction site.

She also stood among friends.

Last night, Grove invited a small group to an in-progress storefront on North Street in Harrisburg to announce the first standalone location for Elementary Coffee Co., her 4-plus-year-old, Harrisburg-based roaster.

As candles flickered, a cork was popped and champagne poured. There was no electricity or heat in the icy room, but that didn’t mar the celebration.

“I can’t believe it took us this long,” Grove said, as a circle of supporters raised their glasses. “But I’m glad it did because now we’re all here.”

This spring, Grove will open a 1,040-square-foot roaster and retail location at the corner of North and Susquehanna streets. She had just signed a lease to move into the ground floor of a building whose last occupant departed nearly three decades ago.

Since the early ‘90s, when a French restaurant called The Coventry closed, the twin buildings at 254 and 256 North St. had done nothing but deteriorate. Boarded up, with their roofs collapsing and bricks popping out, they were marked for demolition—a fate that seemed all but certain.

Then, last spring, attorney Matt Krupp, who lives across the street, bought them from the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority.

At first, Krupp wasn’t exactly sure what the buildings would become. But he and his business partner eventually settled on a plan for two apartments upstairs and retail space on the first floor. Since then, a total renovation—more like a reconstruction—has been bringing back the small, mid-19th century brick-and-clapboard structures that had been given up for dead.

For her part, Grove had been seeking a location separate from her stand at the Broad Street Market where, on most Saturdays, a long, friendly, if chaotic, line forms to grab cups of her single-origin coffees and specialty drinks. She plans to retain the market stand, but will move her roaster from the market to the new space.

One thing she loves about her future shop, she said, is the location, as it sits at the seam of downtown and Midtown, just steps from the Capitol Complex.

“This area really is a merger of downtown and neighborhood,” she said. “It’s not either or—it’s both.”

Last night, amid the dim candlelight, Grove gestured to this and that—where the tables will be, where the roaster will sit. She pointed to an area that can be cleared out easily for musicians and even dancing, especially on weekends and during 3^rd in the Burg nights.

In good weather, there also will be outdoor seating, she said, both on the wide sidewalk out front and on the rooftop deck.

Grove said that she isn’t planning any major changes compared to her market stand—just more. More coffee availability, more simple food options, such as bagels and baked goods, and, of course, far more seating.

She’s also happy that she’ll be able to extend employment to her staff, who now work for her just three days a week due to the limited market hours.

Décor-wise, Grove described her future interior as “industrial contemporary”—faux leather, wood, raw materials. The interior is being framed out, so, with a little imagination, one can even imagine the tables, the counter, the people.

“We want to make this a space where everyone will be comfortable,” she said. “We want everyone to feel welcome.”

For more information about Elementary Coffee Co., visit www.elementarycoffee.co.

A Mug & a Hug: At Cracked Pot, good coffee and a good cause.

October 31, 2018 | by Stephanie Kalina-Metzger

Emily Schmidt learned at a young age that a good cup of coffee and a cheerful disposition can brighten a room on the cloudiest of days.

“My mom said that, when I was five, I always made the coffee and would go around serving it to company,” Schmidt said.

Later on, her desire to serve people continued into waitressing jobs.

“I just loved waiting on people,” she said.

Over the years, she would move to New York, return to Pennsylvania, marry and have three children, putting on hold a dream of one day owning her own place. Eventually, she returned to Pennsylvania to continue on to the next phase of her journey.

Schmidt described driving by the old property that now houses her dream come to life, The Cracked Pot coffee shop in Mechanicsburg.

“When I would drive by, I’d feel almost like a magnetic pull,” she said. “Then, one day, I decided to drive into the parking lot and spotted a sign saying that it was for lease.”

Higher Cause

Schmidt arrived with a big idea.

Years earlier, before she and her husband made the decision to have their own children, they considered adoption, enlisting the help of Bethany Christian Services of Central Pennsylvania.

“I was always drawn to the kids who were older, and then one day it came to me—I wanted the shop to focus on a mission to help those who were aging out of foster care,” she said, explaining that kids can be in the system until age 21, but many of them want to be released earlier because they are sick of being jostled around.

“They travel with a trash bag sometimes,” she said.

Schmidt called about the lease on Mother’s Day, and Rosalie Hess Roland answered, explaining that they were in the building business and were in the process of turning operations over to their son. The historic house had been in the family since 1908 and was converted to a commercial building comprised of three units in 2000.

Schmidt felt that the third unit would be perfect for the shop and proceeded to share her idea to form a nonprofit to mentor young adults and teach them valuable business skills.

“She told me that God told her to put a coffee shop there, and I said that God didn’t tell me, so let me think about it,” said Roland, with a chuckle.

Fast-forward to last May, and the coffee shop with the unique name began serving baked goods made by volunteers, along with smoothies and, of course, coffee—from espressos to lattes and more—using Lancaster-based Passenger coffee, which is also focused on a higher cause, providing fair wages for coffee farmers.

The name “Cracked Pot,” according to Schmidt, is inspired by a Bible verse in II Corinthians that compares humans to clay jars.

“We all have flaws and challenges, and all of us have been through stuff,” Schmidt said. “We want those who work here to learn that they can trust us and that we care about them and where they are headed, regardless of where they’ve been.”

Fallen in Love

Two people currently train at the shop and are expected to meet pre-set goals, according to Schmidt.

The nine-month program begins with a phone interview, a face-to-face interview, customer service training and weekly goal setting. Phase two involves an outside mentor to assist in formulating goals for the future.

“We want to know how we can help them career-wise,” said Schmidt. “If they want to get into HACC, for instance, we will help them go on college visits.”

A six-member board, chaired by Roland, is in place to ensure that goals for the shop and its mission are being met along the way.

“We think it’s a good idea to help young people without a network learn the skills they need to successfully launch into adulthood,” said Elaine Shenk, satellite office director of the Harrisburg office of Bethany Christian Service of Central Pennsylvania.

Pastor Zack Wilt of Dillsburg said that, as an outdoorsman, he’s not usually a big fan of coffee shops, but the atmosphere has turned him into a convert.

“There’s something special about the place that you notice when you first walk in,” he said. “Their mission of wanting to love and serve kids on the back end of the foster system is very special, and now I’ve fallen in love with the place.”

Sue Ross, who lives in Grantham, said her granddaughter volunteers there and, in a day and age when service with a smile is sometimes unheard of, The Cracked Pot is a welcome haven.

“From the minute you enter, you feel very welcomed,” she said.

Schmidt started out with a dream that materialized into a mission. When she shares plans for the future, which include helping additional at-risk youth, her eyes light up and her smile becomes contagious, and you can tell that she’s exactly where she needs to be.

The Cracked Pot is located at 130 Gettysburg Pike, Mechanicsburg. To learn more, visit their website at www.thecrackedpotcoffeeshop.com or their Facebook page.

Coffee Connection: A Little Amps barista ventures to Central America to complete the coffee circle.

May 31, 2018 | by Kait Gibboney

Recently, a longtime dream of mine came true.

I’ve always wanted to travel and explore the world, but I had never left the United States. In early March, that changed, as I got to visit Costa Rica for about a week, touring coffee farms in the hopes of sourcing some product to bring back to Harrisburg.

The trip was hosted through Cafe Imports, one of the largest coffee importers in the industry. It’s my hope that, by sharing my story, you’ll better understand the coffee industry, the people who make it their passion to cultivate delicious coffee for us to enjoy at home, and what we can do to help them.

First, an introduction. I’m a two-year resident of Harrisburg and a freelance music columnist for TheBurg, But I’m also a full-time barista and coffee educator at Little Amps Coffee Roasters in the city. You usually can find me at the downtown shop by the Capitol slinging drinks and chatting up regulars. Cafes have this wonderful ability to bring people together, bonded by a common interest—coffee.

Ever since I became a barista, I’ve wanted to know as much about coffee as possible. Going into my first barista job, I didn’t know much of anything about it, other than how to work a Keurig. Over time, my knowledge grew, expanding beyond the everyday shop talk and moving more into the full circle of coffee: growing, producing, roasting, brewing and serving. Whether we think about it or not, coffee goes through a lot before it’s given to a customer. Right now, I’m going to focus on two important steps of the coffee life cycle that I got to know more about while on my trip—growing and producing.

Beautiful Symphony

Growing coffee is a labor of love that requires intention and passion to do right. It is also a science, taking into consideration factors like elevation, climate, weather and soil quality. Farmers like to experiment with where and how to grow specific types of coffee plants, which ultimately yields surprising differences in taste. A lot of farms that we visited had their crops nestled high in the mountains, living among other plants and flowers native to the area. One farm that we visited in the West Valley, Cerro San Luis, had about 14 varieties of coffee growing along the cliff sides and in fields high above the valley.

Most Costa Rican coffees that we tasted on our trip were honey- or naturally processed. These processes involve leaving differing amounts of fruit on the outside of the seeds while they dry. In part, this is done because the coffees grown there taste great using these processes. But they’re also used because they’re much cheaper than washing stations, which immediately remove the fruit on the outside of the seed for processing. I personally love natural- and honey-processed coffees because they tend to be more fruity and sweet.

My favorite farm that we visited was Finca Genesis, run by Oscar and Olga Mendez.

Their farm specializes in natural- and honey-processed coffees, although they produce some washed, as well. Their crops and drying beds are located high in the mountains, among other indigenous plants and animals, crucial to maintaining excellent soil to grow coffee, according to Oscar.

By embracing the natural environment around them and the plants that already grow there to provide shelter and pest control for the coffee, the couple consistently produces award-winning products. My favorite quote from Oscar Mendez perfectly encapsulates his view on how coffee should be viewed by us, the preparers and consumers.

“I have a lot of respect for cuppers and roasters, as they know that what they are tasting is a beautiful symphony—a culmination of the world’s natural beauty and the hard work of many different hands,” he said.

Personal Touch

Unfortunately, green farmers and producers aren’t earning their fair share of the profits. As roasted coffee prices have gone up in countries like the United States over the years, green coffee’s price has not shown much growth.

Before I left on my trip, I read an article from Standart, a coffee magazine covering stories on many aspects of the industry. The article, “What We Hope to Learn,” by Chad Trewick, outlines a summary of problems facing the industry among green growers and producers and what we should do in the coffee market as a whole. It made clear that there is a disconnect between those buying the coffee to roast and sell and those producing the coffee to be sold.

“Roasting and retail companies note higher costs of living and value additions that are exponentially higher than those of coffee producers—but many in coffee-producing countries argue that their increasing costs receive little attention in the face of the prices the market will pay,” Trewick wrote. “What seems clear is that, in order to sustain a certain quality to the consumer, we need to increase the value to producers or they will continue to abandon coffee production.”

He stated that a solution must be reached, whether it involves redistributing profit margins throughout the value chain or increasing consumer prices, or some other solution. Without a compromise and without incentive to continue growing and producing, the coffee industry will suffer from a lack of people at origin, resulting in less green coffee and, ultimately, less coffee to drink, and higher prices for the consumer.

I offer another solution to this problem through something I experienced shortly after my trip ended. Two exceptional people on our trip, Jared Truby and Chris Baca, co-owners of Cat & Cloud Coffee in Santa Cruz, Calif., proved to me that it takes a personal touch to keep the coffee industry going. Cat & Cloud Coffee has a podcast that is fairly well known among the coffee community. After finishing up the trip with us, they went on to visit Honduras for a few days. Tune into their podcast to hear their full account, but I’ll try to summarize a part of their trip that connected with me.

While traveling, they met with Damien Chavez, a second-year producer at his farm in El Cedral in Santa Barbara, Honduras. They had received some of his coffee awhile back that they had roasted and served in their shops, and it ended up being both a staff and customer favorite. On this trip, they were looking to meet with Chavez in person to create a relationship between grower and buyer. They then learned that he was looking to increase production and provide better quality control through a purchase of a de-pulper, an expensive piece of equipment. Truby and Baca ended up buying the equipment for him, which will allow him to continue to produce the amazing coffee that their customers relish.

Through this trip, it become clear to me that we should do our part to get to know the people at origin, invest in their livelihood, and encourage growth, however small the gesture may be. It has been amazing to get to know the incredible coffee community in Costa Rica, and it has opened my eyes to the possibilities of what relationships could be between the growers, the green buyers and the consumers at home. If farmers and producers can provide amazing coffee with limited equipment and money, just think of what they can do with more.

You never know how huge the impact may be to their future and to the future of coffee.

Visit Kait at Little Amps Coffee Roasters, 2nd and State streets, Harrisburg. For more information on the coffees they offer, visit www.littleampscoffee.com.

A Cup & a Cause: Newport café serves up good coffee, good works.

December 29, 2017 | by Casey Kelly

“Coffee, people happy.”

It was those three words that encouraged Greg Holcomb and Jess McNaughton to take a leap, and the slogan continues to remind them why they did so.

In late September, the couple officially opened their coffee shop, Buffalo Brew, right on the square in quaint Newport.

The simple—but true—three-word statement came from one of McNaughton’s students at Newport High School, where she was a Pre-Employment Transition Services (PETS) instructor. This student was the one who made McNaughton particularly motivated to do something that would make a difference.

The goal of PETS is to bridge the gap between high school and employment by providing students with work experience and skills. Although the program, a partnership between United Cerebral Palsy of Central PA and the PA Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, was separate from the school’s life skills classes, McNaughton said the two groups often combined for certain events or projects.

After Thanksgiving 2016, McNaughton came forward with her proposal to open a coffee shop at the school that her students and the life skills students would staff. The idea was approved, and the shop is still open at the school today.

Newport schools Superintendent Ryan Neuhard said that the coffee shop addresses new aspects of a changing educational environment. He also credited a media center the school recently added for allowing for more social interaction between the students. All of this was in response to a national shift in educational expectations.

“There’s more of a bigger push for preparing the kids for college and making them career-ready,” he said. “Not only are we preparing students academically, but now we are also tasked with developing our students for that next phase of life. This program was perfect in the realm of being able to provide an opportunity for these students to work with other students and adults.”

Road Trip

McNaughton’s idea was inspired by a café in Wilmington, N.C., called Bitty and Beau’s, which is run by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. While customers love their products, Bitty and Beau’s prides itself on drawing people in for the unique customer service experience and feelings of acceptance and inclusion.

“That’s what they do—it’s a coffee shop, and they only employ adults with disabilities,” Holcomb said. “We road-tripped down there, slept in the car, got up and went in the place as soon as they opened and checked it out. It was a real, genuinely good feeling just being there and seeing how the people felt.”

McNaughton recalled sitting in the shop amazed at the operation for around two hours when Holcomb finally said, “All right, I think it’s getting kind of weird that we’re just sitting here now.”

After returning, the couple continued to toss around the idea of opening up a similar place. In addition to the trip to Bitty and Beau’s, McNaughton had been watching how the café in the school was helping students with social interaction and other life skills.

“It was just kind of this thing that wouldn’t go away,” McNaughton said. “It wouldn’t go away.”

When Holcomb and McNaughton stumbled upon the real estate listing for their current location, any lingering hesitation vanished.

“We saw this place and thought, ‘Well, if we’re gonna do it, this is the spot,’” Holcomb said. “So we took a leap.”

Friendly, Accepting

Indeed, Buffalo Brew is centrally located.

It’s situated right on 2nd Street in Newport, so anyone commuting to or from Harrisburg drives right past. It’s warmly decorated with wood and brick accents. Despite being new inside, it feels homey and welcoming.

Two Harrisburg-made products are on the menu: coffee from Little Amps and baked goods from Dalicia Bakery. McNaughton said they also plan to start serving bagels from Bagel Lovers Café, another Harrisburg business. She did stress, however, that the concept of Buffalo Brew is to be a genuine coffee shop—they serve bagels and baked goods, but no food that requires any serious cooking.

“We want to specialize in coffee,” she said. “We want to teach our employees to make coffee drinks. The goal behind this doesn’t suit a French fryer or flipping burgers.”

Buffalo Brew now has six employees, three of whom are former special education students at Greenwood and Newport high schools. Of those three, McNaughton had two in the PETS program at Newport. Holcomb and McNaughton both said they want to employ as many people with intellectual disabilities as possible and hope to hire more as the business grows.

Holcomb and McNaughton want Buffalo Brew’s atmosphere to be friendly and accepting. Both stressed how much they value the importance of being able to have conversations with people and how face-to-face communication is quickly becoming a lost skill. Holcomb said his business plan revolves around “friendly conversation, being personable and selling good products.”

They want Buffalo Brew to serve as another location in Newport for people to spend time together where everyone is accepted. McNaughton said teachers have come into the shop to grade papers, and another group of ladies hopes to knit together there.

“Sometimes it is a little surreal, but we just went with it,” McNaughton said. “We did it.”

Buffalo Brew is located at 24 N. 2nd St. in Newport. For more information, call 717-204-7606 or visit www.newportbuffalobrew.com or their Facebook page.

Coffee Capital: Just across Forster Street, warm drinks, friendly staff, await.

October 31, 2017 | by Ann Beth Knaus

The saying, “out of the mouths of babes,” resonates with Rick Hawtrey, owner of Capital Joe Coffee, right across the street from the Capitol Complex.

It was Hawtrey’s young son who urged him to move from Wisconsin in the mid-2000s, when his job as an information technology consultant had him traveling on a weekly basis to places like Washington, D.C., New York and Harrisburg. So, Hawtrey followed the boy’s advice and moved his family to central Pennsylvania in 2009, putting him closer to work and allowing him more time with his family.

It also set him down a new and unexpected path.

Hawtrey, a native of Milwaukee, purchased the Forster Street building that houses the coffee shop two years ago, using it then as the office for his IT business. But when the state, one of his biggest clients, couldn’t make timely payments for services because of a prolonged budget impasse, it got Hawtrey wondering what to do next. That’s when he realized he was in a prime location, not just for an IT shop, but for a coffee shop as well.

“We love coffee, coffee loves us,” he said. “We weren’t experts, but we put in the time and did the research.”

He approached Square One Coffee in Lancaster. Even though Capital Joe could have roasted its own coffee, Square One brought another dimension as a highly regarded roaster of small-batch coffees. Capital Joe, then, could tap into this established reputation and brand recognition.

Whatever We Can

Capital Joe’s charming 19^th-century building sits across from the Keystone Building.

Visitors who walk through the door are hit immediately by the aroma of brewing coffee and treated to an invitingly quaint space with small table and chairs, old photos from around the Harrisburg area, and even a flat-screen TV mounted on the original brick walls. An indoor lounge anchors the back side of the building.

There’s a mission with each cup. Next to the tip jar are jars to support the Bethesda Mission and Morning Star Pregnancy Services. Anyone in uniform—police, firefighters, paramedics—is treated to a discount.

“We do whatever we can for the community,” Hawtrey said.

Mathias Cabell is usually the first face customers see. Cabell, Capital Joe’s general manager, had worked at Hawtrey’s IT company and previously sold cars at Red Lion Chevrolet in York County. Like Hawtrey before him, Cabell also relocated to the area to be closer to work, and his personable style and bright smile attract customers immediately, Hawtrey said.

“I knew nothing about coffee, and it has been a learning experience,” Cabell said. “But I went through the Square One training program, and I’m learning something new every day. I feel comfortable, and Rick believes in me, so that is why I do this.”

In addition to roasted coffees, Capital Joe offers 10 varieties of loose-leaf teas and a small selection of baked goods that are made by Hawtrey’s wife at their second location in the old police station on Main Street in Mechanicsburg. They offer three types of muffins, three kinds of biscotti and two types of cookies. In the fall, many of the treats are infused with pumpkin and seasonal spices. But the pumpkin spiced coffee is always available. Hawtrey and his team also are planning hot caramel apple cider, shoofly pie latte and lavender lemonade and lavender lattes, and soon will introduce a baked oatmeal cake.

“Our staff is always coming up with new ideas for drinks, and we are always looking to expand our menu,” Hawtrey said.

He hopes to open more shops, beyond the Harrisburg and Mechanicsburg locations. His first priority, however, is making sure his staff feels as though they are part of the family, especially as the business grows. For now, the Capital Joe philosophy is simple, Hawtrey said.

“Good drinks to make people happy.”

Capital Joe Coffee is located at 418 Forster St., Harrisburg, and 36 W. Main St., Mechanicsburg. For more information, visit www.capitaljoe.com.

Your Move: At the Game Table Cafe, the pursuit of fun isn’t trivial.

August 31, 2016 | by Valarie Potell

Here’s a Clue: If you want a Monopoly on fun, take a Risk on a new spot on the West Shore. It may not be Candyland, but it does offer some 400 board games, along with great coffee and treats. You won’t be Sorry!

Since April, hundreds of gamers have rolled the dice and moved their thimbles into the Game Table Café, which stocks every board game from A to Z (seriously, from Above & Below to Zooloretto).

“Board games are a really nice way to spend time together as a family,” said Tom Keegan, the café’s owner and “game curator.”

In that role, Keegan makes sure the café has games that are fun to play—both classics and new releases. Board games, says Keegan, have seen a renaissance in recent years, and he credits three key reasons: the improvement of game designs, the cultural connection with games and the need for people to connect with friends and family.

“People put their cell phones aside for an hour and a half or two hours and interact, enjoying each other’s company and doing things in another world,” he said.

Since most people are not well versed in hundreds of games, the Game Table Café has “game gurus” who can teach anyone who’s interested in learning.

The gurus also serve as baristas in the café, where patrons can grab baked goods, snack foods, sandwiches and coffee. One of Keegan’s goals has been to work locally, both with local board game developers and with PA food companies (he uses beans from Lamont Specialty Coffee and Fine Teas, based in West Chester).

Keegan, a self-described “coffee nerd,” said he and his wife acquired a taste for fresh roasted coffee while he served 30 years in the U.S. Army. When he was nearing retirement, he began contemplating the next step and knew that he wanted to open his own business. After visiting the Game Haus Café in southern California, Keegan said to himself, “This is it, we’ve got the vision now.”

He saw a potential for success and a way to turn a passion into a business, as he grew up playing board games with his family and shared that tradition with his own kids.

“It’s amazing what you can learn about someone playing a board game, such as whether they’re a sore loser or whether they can bluff,” Keegan said with a laugh, adding that there are games he can’t play with his own wife because she knows when he’s bluffing.

Keegan said that the Game Table Café has gotten off to a great start, meeting or exceeding his business expectations each month. The café has reached capacity a few times already and hosted several large, corporate team-building events. The café also hosts events for the local Rotary Club, church groups, birthday parties and the like.

While some games are straightforward and easy to learn, others can be intimidating and overwhelming. To ease the learning curve, the café hosts learn-to-play events, which introduce patrons to games. Keegan said the first such group started in June with people learning to play Magic the Gathering, an event that attracted as many as 18 people on some nights.

For anyone interested in visiting The Game Table Café, there is a $5 cover charge if you would like to play games, though you can check out the café and order food without paying the cover. That $5 charge entitles patrons to stay and play as long as they like. There are also membership program options, including an annual membership.

“People have not only enjoyed coming, they’ve enjoyed it enough they want to come back,” Keegan said, adding that they’ve sold about 200 memberships already.

Friday Night is “family night.” Families who come into the café with three or more people and order meals for each person pay no cover charge. Keegan said they are also working on developing other monthly events, including a date night and “single mingle.”

Keegan also has big plans for the fall. To further his goal of working with local businesses and giving back to the community, he said he plans to partner with other local “geek industries” for an upcoming charitable event.

But, mostly, he just wants to bring people together for a few hours, a rare period of time that doesn’t include staring at screens.

“What really gets us excited is when we’re busy, hearing people laugh and seeing families together,” he said.

The Game Table Café is located at 4900 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg. For more information, call 717-695-0836 or visit www.gametablecafe.com or their Facebook page.

Author: Valarie Potell

A Coffee Quest: What’s the secret to a great independent coffeehouse?

January 29, 2016 | by Don Helin

I love a good coffeehouse.

The smells. The bustle. The things I imagine being created behind all those laptops. Besides, everyone always seems so happy to be there.

And that made me wonder: What makes a coffeehouse great? Why do some succeed and others fail? And why do people flock to our area’s independent coffeehouses when there’s always another Starbucks up the road?

The Cornerstone Coffeehouse

When you walk through the front door of the Cornerstone Coffeehouse, you know you’re in a special place. You immediately hear the sounds of people talking and laughing. You sniff the enticing aroma of food cooking and then eyeball the wide variety of coffees and teas.

“You can choose from 12 different roasts or flavors of coffee, and about 25 different types of tea,” remarked co-owner Al Pera.

Besides the java itself, great coffeehouses often set themselves apart with the high quality of their food and their events. Cornerstone has both.

“We now have a full lunch menu with healthier options since many of our menu items are either organic or gluten free,” said Pera.

Live music fills the air on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, and you’re welcome to stroll through the art gallery, which features a different artist each month. For you foodies, the owners offer weekly cooking classes in their culinary kitchen.

The staff is another key differentiator, as veteran staffers get to know regular customers and the customers them.

“I am really proud of our staff,” said General Manager Nicole Miller. “We have people who have been here for a long time. For example, our baker, Cindy, has been with us for 12 years.”

That stands in stark contrast to the face-of-the-month at a certain coffee chain behemoth. Speaking of which, I asked Pera if it was difficult to compete with Starbucks.

“I don’t compete with Starbucks,” he said. “We’re just different. For example, we order our coffee on a Monday, they roast it and get it to us by Tuesday. We also have many fair trade and organic coffees to choose from. You can sit down and enjoy your coffee in a nice porcelain mug if you’d like.”

I had to agree with the quality of the food as I nibbled on a tuna melt and spooned down a bowl of thick and tasty split pea and ham soup for lunch. I followed it up with a refreshing glass of iced tea.

After 21 years, Cornerstone has not lost a beat, outlasting many other shops that have tried to compete.

“We at the Cornerstone care for the Camp Hill community, and the community cares for us,” said Miller.

Little Amps Coffee Roasters

Aaron Carlson describes his introduction to coffee roasting as half serendipity, half opportunity.

He’s from central PA, but spent years as a musician, traveling around the country before returning to Harrisburg.

“I fell for the style of coffee we do here while living in Oakland, Calif., a few years ago,” he said. “Blue Bottle Coffee was roasting in an alley behind my house in small batches. They’re now a $70 million company, so I thought, hey, why not give it a try?”

For about a year, Carlson roasted coffee in a warehouse, doing mail order and delivery. He opened his first shop on Green Street in Midtown Harrisburg in 2011. Things went well, so he opened a site downtown about two years later. He recently added a kiosk location inside Strawberry Square.

One of his first challenges was to communicate the value of carefully grown and lighter-roasted coffee. Back then, many of his customers wanted drinks that obscure the flavor of the coffee, made with caramel or, as he says, “that gooey pumped stuff” that chains offer.

“That’s OK when it’s cheap coffee or over-roasted,” Carlson said. “Now, my customers’ favorite drinks seem to be focused on the coffee itself and not what’s dumped into it. It’s trickier to roast, but the lighter roasting brings out a better flavor and makes it a little sweeter, so the demand for this style of coffee is expanding. I do all of my own roasting and actually sell roasted coffee beans to other coffeehouses.”

Little Amps also offers a number of events, such as live music most Fridays at the State Street location, and is starting to do more cuppings—coffee tastings—at the Green Street shop.

I asked Carlson what he sees for the future.

“Hopefully, more fun and good vibes,” he said.

Cafe Chocolate of Lititz

The main street of Lititz is a maze of small shops, restaurants and bookstores. Tucked among these places, about one-half block from the General Sutter Inn, is the quaint Cafe Chocolate.

“The Cafe Chocolate has been here almost 10 years,” said owner Janice Dull. “I bought the café about 2½ years ago. It was a fairly easy transition because I trained under the previous owner for a few weeks.”

The shop serves a wide variety of drinks—hot chocolate, espresso, cappuccino, chai latte, to name just a few. But the signature drink is the Turbo Hot Chocolate: a mug of hot chocolate with a shot of espresso to fire it up. And fire up it does.

“We don’t really see Starbucks as a competitor,” Dull said. “Our products are healthier and not loaded with sugar. We make our own whipped cream and use 65-percent dark chocolate. My customers love the many gluten-free dishes we serve, such as Portuguese chicken and rice, West African peanut chowder and even cupcakes.”

I enjoyed looking through the cafe’s menu, which includes flatbread pizza (either whole wheat or gluten free), a vegetable curry Siam with black rice risotto and, of course, “Chili con Chocolate.”

I spent a lot of time trying to decide on a dessert. The café has a dark chocolate fondue that serves four and chocolate-dipped berries. I finally decided on a frozen hot chocolate, which was excellent.

The Cafe Chocolate has a motto—“Chocolate for Life”—and it couldn’t be more appropriate

St. Thomas Roasters

Judging by the popularity and success of St. Thomas Roasters, you’d never imagine that it began 15 years ago almost as a notion.

“We had never run a business before and had no experience selling coffee,” said Geof Smith, who runs the shop with wife, Pam. “But Pam had always wanted to own a coffeehouse, different from her experience in the health care field, so when I left AMP, we made the plunge. We researched trade shows and other coffeehouses before we started.”

Learning how to roast coffee was a challenge. They started by roasting their own beans, but soon became a wholesaler, roasting coffee beans for a number of other businesses, which now include such popular spots as Char’s at Tracy Mansion, Café 1500 and Karns.

Linglestown is home to a number of upscale housing developments and is also on the commuting route to Harrisburg, so the shop has a steady flow of customers. At 10:30 on a Friday morning, when I met with Geof Smith, the place was already packed with patrons of all ages.

“Our customers have a number of favorite coffee drinks,” he said. “These include Colombian coffee, our own Linglestown blend, Almond Joy lattes, Americanos and London Fogs. They have a chance to enjoy their coffee and listen to entertainment on most weekends.”

I asked him about Starbucks.

“Starbucks is a competitor, but not a threat,” Smith said. “I must give them credit because they started the whole coffeehouse scene, enabling many of us to continue on with our own models.”

He sees business growth in roasting coffee beans and selling them on a wholesale basis to his customers. He currently roasts about 20 types of coffee beans by doing roughly 11 batches each day. He roasts between five and 30 pounds each time.

“We’re delighted we took the plunge 15 years ago,” he said. “There were many challenges along the way, but I wouldn’t change any of it.”

GOING THERE

Cafe Chocolate of Lititz
40 E. Main St., Lititz
717-626-0123
www.chocolatelititz.com

The Cornerstone Coffeehouse
2133 Market St., Camp Hill
717-737-5026
www.thecornerstonecoffeehouse.com

Little Amps Coffee Roasters
1836 Green St., 133 State St. and Strawberry Square, Harrisburg
717-695-4882
www.littleampscoffee.com

St. Thomas Roasters
5951 Linglestown Rd., Harrisbur
717-526-4171
www.stthomasroasters.com

Don Helin published his first thriller, “Thy Kingdom Come,” in 2009. His novel, “Devil’s Den,” was selected as a finalist in the 2013 Indie Book Awards. His latest thriller, “Secret Assault,” was selected as the best Suspense/Thriller at the 2015 Indie Book Awards. Contact Don at his website, www.donhelin.com.

Coffee Country: He had poured thousands of cups. Then he decided to trace the origins of the coffee he served.

June 30, 2015 | by Susan Ryder

Chris Scott. Photo compliments of Counter Culture Coffee.

That morning cup of Joe, water poured through a filter over grounds or delicately French pressed. You add a bit of creamer and sprinkle in some sugar, or maybe you leave it black. After a slurpy, hot sip—ah—the day can start.

But where does this delicious concoction come from, who grows it, and why should anyone care?

In March, Chris Scott, general manager of Midtown Scholar Bookstore, took a journey to Honduras to find out.

This trip was an unexpected one. He had planned to visit Sweden when he happened upon the website for Counter Culture Coffee, which supplies the coffee sold at Midtown Scholar.

“Honduras wasn’t anywhere that was on my bucket list,” said Scott.

He quickly adjusted his travel plans after he saw that Counter Culture was offering an opportunity to travel to the Central American country for people interested in learning more about its coffee.

He wanted to address a question that had been on his mind from pouring countless cups of Counter Culture Coffee from behind the bar at Midtown Scholar: “Here we are drinking a cup of coffee, but what all went into this cup?”

Plant to Mug

The trip began by giving participants an understanding of how coffee is grown and processed before it leaves Honduras.

An evergreen shrub, grown in high elevations in tropical climates, the coffee plant produces cherries. The cherry holds two seeds, which eventually become drinkers’ morning pick-me-up.

Cherries ripen at different rates, so workers must handpick the ripe fruit, about a 100-pound sack per day.

Scott and his group picked coffee, viewed the washing process used to remove the pulp from the coffee seed and watched how the beans were sorted. Lastly, they visited the coffee storage areas, where thousands of sacks of beans are stored and loaded on to ships, one of Scott’s favorite parts of the trip.

As a result, Scott received a 360-degree understanding of how coffee is made—from plant to cup.

“I feel like a part of the process on both sides,” he said.

A Passion, an Understanding

Scott also learned about the struggles of growing the product and how Counter Culture helps growers address them.

One of those struggles is climate change. Farmers said that warming temperatures have forced them to move their crop to cooler areas farther up the mountains, as lower land has become unusable for coffee. Counter Culture helps farmers learn how to diversify their crops by growing cacao, more suited to the higher temperatures, or educating farmers about shifting to animal crops instead.

“We seek coffee that not only tastes good but also does good, from our local communities to the communities around the world where we source our coffee,” says Counter Culture’s mission statement.

That “good” includes fairly paying growers for their crops. Counter Culture works directly with the farmers, eliminating the need for middlemen such as exporters and importers. Its website also lists how much each farmer or cooperative earns.

Farmers Moisés and Marysabel, who hosted a visit from Scott’s group, make $3 to $4 per pound, according to the company’s 2013 report, compared to the less than 50 cents per pound that globalexchange.org reports growers typically receive.

Scott explained that Counter Culture is similar to fair trade coffee with a few exceptions. Fair trade organizations require growers to belong to a cooperative, which charges them for their portion of the expense for the Fair Trade label. Counter Culture, Scott said, has created its own type of fair trade without the label and the expense to farmers.

Scott was most impacted by the Honduran people.

The coffee growers and workers displayed an immense amount of national pride and, despite their poverty, showed terrific hospitality to the Counter Culture visitors, he said. In coffee shops they visited, workers took special interest in them, insisting on making them their best coffee. Scott said this represents the mutual respect among those in the coffee world. One worker came in on her day off to meet these coffee visitors.

Another farmer, Oscar, roasted beans grown on his own farm; and in his home, proudly served the group his farm’s fresh coffee. Just a few days from field to service, it was a fantastic cup, Scott said.

“It instills in me a passion, understanding and respect for these people, that it’s so important for us to be serving a quality product,” he said. “We represent all the hard work these people did.”

Essentially, if an espresso shot is poorly poured, or coffee left to sit too long, it’s a disservice to the growers as well as those partaking, he said.

Ironically, farmers aren’t drinking much of their own best coffee.

“People who grow it can’t afford to drink this quality of product,” Scott said. “It’s too valuable.”

Scott overflows with fervor about the trip. He said that many of the employees at Midtown Scholar scold him with, “Shut up about Honduras already!” For a man who had no expectations for the trip, he came home with a lot: lasting friendships with trip participants, Counter Culture employees and coffee growers.

He also left with something else—responsibility.

He can’t drink or serve a cup of coffee without thinking about Oscar, Moisés or Marysabel and whether their dedication and pride are being adequately represented.

You can enjoy Counter Culture Coffee at Midtown Scholar Bookstore, 1302 N. 3^rd St., Harrisburg. www.midtownscholar.com

Great Coffee Is Elementary: Harrisburg’s coffee culture revs it up at the Broad Street Market.

January 30, 2015 | by Stephanie Kalina-Metzger

Andrea Musselman recalls her first sip of coffee at the age of 8.

The family had stopped at a convenience store while on a trip, and her dad bought a cup and passed it around.

“It was that disgusting, artificially sweet cappuccino, and I finished it all. I was bouncing off the walls for the rest of the night,” she said with a chuckle.

As she grew older, her tastes became more refined, and her quest for the perfect cup intensified. When she left home to attend college, she began brewing coffee in her dorm room.

As she recalls her relationship with her favorite libation, her eyes light up.

“I love everything about it—the packaging, the warm mugs, the taste, the smell, just everything,” said Musselman.

After graduation, the Harrisburg resident pursued her passion by joining the team at St. Thomas Roasters in Linglestown.

“They created a position for me, so that was exciting because they never taught anyone to roast there before,” she said.

The businesswoman spent three years honing her craft at the small coffee shop before deciding that it was time to spread her wings. She crafted a business plan and chose the Broad Street Market as her base of operations for her new company, Elementary Coffee.

“I wanted to do something for myself—interacting with people and promoting my product. Ashlee Dugan took over as the new [market] manager in June, and she is re-envisioning the market and bringing in new vendors. I think it’s a low-risk venture that is community-oriented, and it’s a great way to meet a variety of people,” she said.

Today, Musselman continues her relationship with St. Thomas Roasters, using their beans and roasting them according to her own style. “I am testing out some milder blends at the moment and, as I build up more interest, I want to start purchasing my own beans, working with the wholesaler,” she said.

For brewing, Musselman uses a Chemex Coffee Maker developed by chemist Peter J. Schlumbohm in 1941.

“It’s an individual pour-over method that’s all about control. It’s going back to basics where coffee is presented in a very manual form,” said Musselman, who eschews automatic drip coffeemakers, which she says produce a substandard product resulting in a flatter, sometimes bitter and less full-bodied flavor.

Each week, Musselman features three different coffees from regions around the world.

“I like African coffees and typically try to feature one from South America, Africa and Indonesia,” she said.

She also offers her own creation—a latte-based coffee flavored with cardamom and maple syrup called “Abacas.”

“It’s like a latte version of Turkish coffee, and it’s gaining in popularity, which is exciting because it’s something I developed,” she said.

Musselman prefers to keep it simple, hence the name Elementary, so there aren’t many food offerings at her stand. “I prefer to focus on the coffee,” she said.

But, for those seeking a little treat to pair with their java, she offers the artisanal chocolate of Frederic Loraschi. Based in Hummelstown, Loraschi has been wowing customers with his high-end chocolate creations for years and has created a mocha mix that Musselman uses for her hot chocolate.

“I was looking for a good mocha powder and found he had a hot chocolate mix that’s amazingly rich and decadent,” she said.

And, for those in the mood for something just a little different, Musselman offers Stroopwafels, too. Stroopwafels, or “Stroopies,” hail from the Netherlands, and the round waffles with the caramel center fit nicely atop a steaming hot mug.

“I found this place in Lancaster that makes them,” said Musselman, who grills the gluten-free treats onsite.

Musselman is expanding her business by partnering with Harrisburg resident Brad Moyer, a brewer at Bube’s Brewery in Mount Joy. He, along with his assistant, Steve Nott of Linglestown, searched for a local roaster and were impressed with Musselman’s expertise. They shared their techniques, joining together for the perfect pairing.

“When we started, we were putting the coffee beans in the beer and letting them soak for a week or so. Andrea came up with a better way. She suggested that we cold brew the coffee, filter out the grounds and then take the concentrated product and pump it into the tanks,” said Moyer, who reports that Elementary Espresso Stout has been popular with patrons and sales have been brisk.

“Our collaboration has worked out well due to the harmonious blend of knowledge about two artisanal crafts,” he said.

As for the future, the wheels are turning in Musselman’s head as she thinks of new ways to get the word out about her coffee. She’s toying with a few ideas, like offering “flights” of coffee, where customers will have the opportunity to try several small cups and learn more about each selection. For now, however, she’s been satisfied at how well things are going since opening in November.

“It’s good to be part of the community, and I think it’s headed in the right direction,” she said.

Elementary Coffee Co. is located inside the brick building of the Broad Street Market in Harrisburg. For more information, including weekly featured brews, visit their Facebook page at Elementary Coffee Co.

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