The Screaming Bean in Aberdeen sells delicious drinks, tasty treats and gives back to the community at the same time.
Kristin Danley-Greiner, Patch Staff
|Updated Tue, Oct 29, 2024 at 4:39 pm ET
ABERDEEN, MD — As fall makes way for winter, coffee and tea lovers can find seasonal beverages, along with their favorite drinks, pastries and quick bites, at The Screaming Bean coffee shop. But there's more happening at the business than just nourishing bodies with beverages and food - they're nourishing souls and giving back to the community.
The coffee shop officially opened in June at 3700 Churchville Rd., Unit B, in Aberdeen. It seats 28 people inside and 14 outside, perfect for dining in with menu selections such as soups, salads, wraps, breakfast sandwiches and waffles. All coffee is from a local roaster and the sweets are bought from local bakers.
The Screaming Bean also is the only coffee shop in Harford County that serves honey teas and lotus drinks, owner Martin Grams told Patch.
"The former was created by two girls who discovered the right blends of decaf teas that are fantastic. Hot or iced, they have made people into tea drinkers, who confessed they were not tea drinkers before. Lotus is the original caffeinated refreshers - all plant based and no synthetic ingredients. Lotus is just like an energy drink but with much less sugar, people do not crash after five hours and they have strong flavor. Honey teas and lotus have become two of our top four best-selling drinks. Those are exclusives residents in Harford County will not find elsewhere," Grams said.
Every month, the coffee shop picks a local charity and half of one percent of the net profits are donated to that charity.
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“It's not just money that we're giving to them, it's also public awareness that the customers come in and they see the sign for a month they are aware of this charity that exists," Grams said. "While the charity changes every month, there is a permanent donation for disabled veterans."
One hundred percent of the profits from the sale of Particular Blend goes to the Disabled Veterans program that helps veterans who need financial and medical assistance. In fact, the coffee shop will ship that blend across the U.S. and Canada, Grams said.
The baristas at The Screaming Bean love serving up delicious food and drink. But it's more than that to them. The company's mission statement, etched on one of the walls, reads "Our job at The Screaming Bean is to make the world a better place than it was when we woke up this morning. But first, coffee."
"We consider ourselves a community coffee shop, which means all of our decisions are made on what is best for the community, from fundraising for charities to promoting community events. I have always said anyone will get a paycheck when they work a job but here at The Screaming Bean, we provide more than a paycheck - we provide purpose. Muffin Monday was the first of what is many planned events. To raise funds for Voices of Hope, a non-profit company in Aberdeen, we promoted 100 percent of the profits from the sales of muffins that day to the charity," Grams said.
On July 22, the coffee shop hosted an event called Muffin Monday where the profits from the sale of muffins went to Voices of Hope, a recovery community organization that advocates for behavioral health disorder prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery resources; eliminates the stigma of addiction through outreach events and education; and supports all pathways of recovery. As customers stopped by, they grabbed a drink and a muffin to support Voices of Hope.
But then Christopher Church walked in during the lunch hour and asked to buy all of the muffins that were left, including the ones in the kitchen waiting to be set out. Church shared that his brother, Jeremy, had been clean for four years and he wanted to do something to acknowledge his accomplishment.
Even though he bought all of the muffins in honor of Jeremy, Church left the coffee shop with just one. He asked that the muffins he bought would simply be given away to customers the rest of the day. When the doors closed for the day, the staff took the muffins still left to a local nursing home for the residents there to enjoy.
"The Screaming Bean was proud to make this event happen. It was a promise made before the doors opened and a promise that will continue to be kept - service to the community," Grams said.
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