Review: Broad Street Grind Finca Capetillo Light Roast

(2020) For now, The Broad Street Grind in Souderton, PA, is a takeaway location, but it has been on our list of places to visit mid-ride. Located in what used to be an auto repair shop, The Broad Street Grind has been in business since 2016. Though it is barely over our back fence, we have yet to lean the bike against their wall and take a step in. This past weekend we came in for a takeaway nitro and a bag of coffee. It will suffice as our Stops We Like category for now. 

On a quick outing into the neighboring county of Montgomery, we had the chance to pull into a parking spot out front, order two cold coffees, grab a bag of beans, and be on our way. We were excited for the aroma of the beans, but having ice in the nitro coffee takeaway always dampens things. How many times do coffee shops need to fight the urge to put ice in nitro? When asked what inspired the beans, the answer was the bourbon bean. While its name suggests a style of whiskey, the bourbon bean is the reason for the chocolatey taste in coffee.

Let’s change up a few things: We have championed dark roast - particularly Italian roast - for our daily cup of jolt, but here we tried a light Guatemalan bean. Oily beans are preferred but here Broad Street Grind’s Finca Capetillo red bourbon light roast features a matte look. This was a strong swing in the opposite direction. The flavor had us from the start.

The first sips of a freshly brewed pot of Finca Capetillo are indeed light in flavor. Described as caramel, chocolate, and pear, the sweetness is refreshing. What an odd sensation to be refreshed by hot coffee during a heat wave. There was more and we sipped to find it. The sweetness was light and delightful while the acidity was nowhere to be found compared to the often preferred dark roast. And zip? This coffee has quite a bit of kick to it to carry one well through the afternoon and into the evening. This is the perfect hot coffee for the hot summer months of riding. 

We have had Broad Street Grind’s Finca Capetillo light roast daily. It’s one of the exciting parts of navigating the first bits of each morning. Grinding and brewing a coffee that is light and refreshing makes summer quarantine manageable. It almost transports us to the coffee shop itself. Well, almost. In the meantime, we will continue to socially distance on bike rides; we won’t storm a coffee shop, bikes leaned against the building, sweat dripping off of us while in line, awkwardly standing/ sitting outside the establishment all because we feel it is our constitutional right. There will be a time and a place - soon we hope - when we can do that. Until then, the light roast does the trick. 

We almost always try to support locals, which is why we prioritized stopping at Broad Street Grind during a drive through Souderton, PA. Souderton is the perfect round-trip from our office. Maybe we could convince ourselves to ride out there next time. Jersey pockets are just big enough for a bag of coffee beans. Then again, they also offer delivery service in a ten-mile radius as well as a coffee subscription program. And the European cycling season has commenced. Maybe we will let them do their thing while we watch FloCycling.