Review: Backyard Beans Coffee Company Family Drama Fall Blend

(2021) We have not reached the darker days of the year: dark coffee, dark brews, fireplaces, and War and Peace-sized tomes to swing us back around to the New Year. Judging by today’s weather, warmer fall days are still very much in place. While on assignment, it was decided to add a Backyard Beans Coffee Company stop to the weekend ride. What came back in the handlebar bag is the Landsdale-based coffee company’s fall blend light/ medium roast, Family Drama Fall Blend.

We are smitten with the Montgomery County, PA, coffee shop. Their support of cycling shines with their hosting the Instigators weekly group rides during the season, their on-course tent at UnPAved, and their promotions of cyclists on their social media. Coffee shops that give cyclists a little coverage get large returns. Rolling up to Backyard Beans, at the corner of Main Street and Wood Street, it was exciting to walk through the door knowing beans would be making the return trip.

These warm autumn days are perfect for lighter roasts. The lower level sun rays beam through warm tones of fall leaves that are nearing their peak brightness. The honey-colored light suggests warm coffee, but possibly cold brew. Wouldn’t you know we came back with both? The compostable bag cut open, we scooped fresh beans into the grinder and waited to try the fall blend.

What poured out into the mug was equal to the afternoon sunshine outside. Family Drama’s warm aroma of Central American beans wafted into the record warmth air. Moments later the brew was enjoyed. Flavors of nuts and citrus came to the front as the lightness kept us coming back for more. This is the coffee to enjoy when it’s not quite dark roast season but no longer cold brew season. It even brightened the mood one cloudy fall afternoon where it felt like rain could happen at any moment. The cup’s warmth inspired the sun to peek through the dark gray clouds to encourage a ride.

Cup after cup was consumed as the roast attached itself to the day’s duties. It felt like Family Drama should happen daily, a weird sentence to suggest. Yet that’s how it felt- enjoyable drama. We kept coming back for more Drama.

Backyard Beans Coffee Company produces seasonal blends. Their social media proclaimed that only a few bags of this light/ medium roast remain before the Drama is gone for good. We will be back for the next seasonal coffee, but until then, we will keep sipping the warm nectar while staring out the back window. We’ll need it for the rest of this week- it is forecasted that three nor’easters may pass our office. As quickly as the sunshine came out, the sky was predicted to be dark for a while. Guess we’ll need the whole bag over the next few days to create our own autumnal sunshine.