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G o I N G t H e R e ---------------------------------------------- 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., Harrisburg 717-526-4171 www.stthomasroasters.com Don Helin published his first thriller, " y 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/ riller at the 2015 Indie Book Awards. Contact Don at his website, www.donhelin.com. "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. ey'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. ings 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. " at'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 e 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. " e 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." e 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. e café has a dark chocolate fondue that serves four and chocolate-dipped berries. I finally decided on a frozen hot chocolate, which was excellent. e 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. omas 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. ey 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. " ese include Colombian coffee, our own Linglestown blend, Almond Joy lattes, Americanos and London Fogs. ey 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. " ere were many challenges along the way, but I wouldn't change any of it." 02.16 | theburg | 33 Little Amps Coffee Roasters

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