Tag: Furnace Hills Coffee

Furnace Hills Coffee – Westminster, MD – 03/28/20

On By Rob GIn Going PlacesLeave a comment

The weekend is upon us and I had plans to go to Westminster for some goodies. I woke up around 3 in the morning due to the heavy rain, and it just kept coming. I left the house right around 8, and my timing worked really well. As I was driving up to Westminster in a heavy downpour, there was a moment where there was a bright light in the sky that felt like it was about 100 feet above my car, and a crash of thunder at the same time. It was a very cool experience, and it did not cause a jolt to my heart at all.

By the time I parked, the rain had slowed to a slight drizzle, so I wasn’t going to have to worry about getting soaked while getting in some walking. I made my way over to Furnace Hills Coffee, which I’ve been to a number of times. They make good coffee drinks, and they do things for a good cause, which makes it even more worthwhile.

I ordered a blended Peanut Butter Cup coffee drink. This has been my go-to drink, and it’s always really good. The combination of the peanut butter chocolate and espresso almost give it a roasted peanut flavor, which I enjoy, and it’s probably why I order it a lot.

I wanted to provide some extra support for the local small business, so I also picked up an espresso roast. Since I make my ice blended coffee drinks during the week (usually four days during the week), I thought this would be good to have as part of my base. And the great thing about this is the aroma. Their coffee smells really good, so I had the pleasure of that in the car, and I get that nice smell in the house now.

With all the things that are happening right now, one of the things that hadn’t crossed my mind is the small businesses who supply food, materials, supplies, and more to the businesses. With the businesses closed and employees working from home, that’s a huge chunk for some of these small businesses. So I’m happy to go out and show my support while I can.

Having a great coffee drink in the morning, especially when I was really tired, helped get my day off to the right start. It was the beginning of what I hope will be a great weekend!

Saturday Morning in Westminster, MD

On By Rob GIn Going PlacesLeave a comment

I decided to head over to Westminster this morning. The main goal was to visit Furnace Hills Coffee, but I also wanted to check out a place that I hadn’t visited before – Jeannie Bird Baking Company. I also had plans on going to the Downtown Westminster Farmer’s Market. I was able to visit all three, so I had a fun packed morning and was able to be on my way before the rain hit.

I started my morning at Jeannie Bird Baking Company. I had walked by it several times, but never took the time to step in. I read up on it and there were quite a few things about it that intrigued me. One thing that caught my eye was that they make their own English Muffins. I do enjoy a good English Muffin breakfast sandwich from time to time, so that was my main goal. When I got to the store, it was already pretty busy. I was waiting in line and could hear people behind me who knew some of the people in front of me. This was something that happened time and again, so it really had a nice, hometown type of feel to it. The employees seemed to know almost everyone as well, which added a comforting feeling to being there. I looked at all the different pastries and there were a few options that I was thinking about, but I wanted to stick with the breakfast sandwich. The English Muffins are not the same as what I’m used to from the grocery stores. They were a little smaller in diameter, but much thicker. So when I ate the sandwich, I was able to enjoy more of the muffin. I would normally order a meat as part of the sandwich, but I wanted to make sure I was able to taste the English Muffin, since meats sometimes become the primary flavor and minimize the other flavors in the muffin sandwiches. I was able to taste the English Muffin, and I enjoyed it. The outside was crispy, but the inside had that nice softness that you usually get. Since it was thicker than I am used to, I was able to really taste the bread and the enjoy the texture. By the time I was finished eating, the line was out the door. It is definitely a happening place. I will be going back, since they have so many other options that I plan on trying on future visits.

After I finished my breakfast, I walked over to Furnace Hills Coffee. They won’t be starting on the pumpkin drinks until October, so I decided to go with a Peanut Brittle blended coffee drink. The drink has caramel and peanut butter flavors. The first sip had a strong peanut brittle flavor, which was pretty neat. The consistency was good and the staff is great. Here is a not so great picture I took of their specialty drink menu.

I walked over to the Downtown Westminster Farmer’s Market while drinking my coffee drink. It was a small Farmer’s Market, but there were some good options there, which I will look into more the next time I visit there.

I bought two bags of coffee at Furnace Hills Coffee for my sister. One is called “Buddy Walk” and for every pound of coffee they sell, they donate $5 to the National Down Syndrome Society’s Buddy Walk. That is reason enough for me to get it, but the flavor of it is also good. I also got Erin’s Blend, named for their Chief Roaster.

Although my sister won’t get to enjoy these for a while, I will get to enjoy the aromas that are emanating from these bags. Even though I don’t enjoy straight coffee, but instead prefer the ice blended Frappuccino type drinks, I still like the smell of fresh coffee. Go figure on that one. I like and appreciate what Furnace Hills Coffee does. They not only make good coffee drinks and good roasted beans, but they do things for what I think is a good and honorable cause. You can’t get much better than that on a Saturday morning…

Labor Day

On By Rob GIn Going PlacesLeave a comment

Today has been a pretty good Labor Day. I had an early start to the day and decided to head out early for a coffee drink. My plan was to go to Westminster for a very specific coffee place, but I got there more than an hour before it usually opens, and I wasn’t even sure it would be open today. So I had to improvise and go to Wawa’s. I’ve been there a number of times for their coffee drinks and continue to be impressed at how good they are at their job. Since I am still going on the seasonal theme, I decided to go for a Pumpkin Spice Frozen Cappuccino. The dangerous part of this is that Wawa is currently running their Siptopia promotion. This means that a 24 ounce drink is only $3 and a 16 ounce drink is only $2. A lot of temptation and I felt that I should go for the 24 ounce drink. The drink itself was good. Mainly the pumpkin spice flavor, and no issues with too much ice. It’s a larger drink than I usually have, but the consistency lasted and didn’t melt to pure liquid, which is another plus. I also decided to get an apple cider donut. The flavor was good, but the donut was not as moist as I would prefer.

The coffee place I was going to visit (and will be visiting in the next month or so) is called Furnace Hills Coffee (www.furnacehillscoffee.com). I’ve had their coffee drinks before and they do a good job. I’ve also gotten coffee beans for family, and they have gotten positive reviews. The thing I like about this place is their mission. It is Special Coffee roasted by Special People. And that will have me continuing to back there as long as I can.

The rest of the day went well. I tried the new Mountain Dew flavor (Voo Dew). It is a mystery flavor, so I won’t even try to guess. My favorites are still Baja Blast, Pitch Black, Livewire and Code Red, but it’s nice to have something a little different for a change. I grilled myself a cheeseburger and had some beans on the side, so I think it is fair for me to say that this has been a successful Labor Day!