Best Find: Burlap & Bean Coffee

What we like:

It's hard not to linger at this six-month-old coffeehouse in the Springton Pointe shopping center on Route 252. The brown leather sofas and earth-tone decor, punctuated by the smell of fresh coffee, provide an ambience like that of a bed-and-breakfast - without the bed.

Entrepreneurs Brent Endicott, 30, and Benson Endicott, 28, work hard to cook up a drink the way customers like it. This can range from the brothers' home blend, called Heritage coffee, to exotic teas, cider, frozen drinks, lattes and capuccinos. Drinks range in price from $1.50 for plain black coffee to $4 for a cold concoction that starts with "hot" chocolate. Cup sizes go from 12 to 20 ounces.

But here's what makes the shop stand out: The brothers roast and grind their own coffee beans. The beans come from South and Central America, Africa and Indonesia, from countries that embrace fair-trade practices, the brothers say. The roasting is done in a chrome-plated machine that sits out in plain view. The result in the case of the Heritage blend is a light-flavored coffee without acid aftertaste.

Rocky Romeo, 53, a retail sales consultant, drove 12 miles from Media to enjoy it one recent morning. He said he felt comfortable spending time at the shop, as though it were his own living room. The coffeehouse has a free wireless Internet connection for those, like Romeo, who carry a laptop.

There has been such a call for the brothers' coffee that 12-ounce packages of eight bean blends are for sale at Martindale's Natural Market, 1172 Baltimore Pike, Springfield. The two hope to parlay this interest into a wholesale business, and if all goes well, they would like to open a second coffee shop someday.

Where: Shops at Springton Pointe, 204 S. Newtown Street Rd., Newtown Square. Phone: 484-427-4547. Web: www.burlapandbean.com.

Hours: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Thursday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Closed Sunday.

- Bonnie L. Cook